Employment Assistance Program aids military members’ transition

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- When a military member separates or retires from service, a reality check might kick in when they begin looking for new employment. Many don't have a plan when they leave the military, but the Nellis AFB Airman and Family Readiness Center's Employment Assistance Program can help ease the transition.

"We are tasked with employment assistance, which means we help members transitioning out of the military, targeting resumes, transition classes, and plenty more," said Donald Murray, 99th Force Support Squadron community readiness consultant. "We also help military spouses in finding employment."

Murray works closely with many civilian agencies to give transitioning military members and their spouses a better chance of finding employment.

"I work with employers -- local, national and global -- to receive job announcements that we send out to military members and spouses," said Murray. "We have 210 employers right now that send us announcements for job listings, which starts the networking process between the employer and the job seeker."

Jenny Garcia, 99th Aerospace Medicine Squadron medical support assistant, has been through the program and is now employed at the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Medical Center.

"I was scheduled over the phone with Murray to meet and also to attend the resume course," said Garcia. "Going through the program, he showed me on his computer how the whole application for the jobs would look and what I was going to need to apply for the jobs. First, they collected anything from certificates or letters of recommendation as they would play a big role in applying for jobs."

After completing the program and finding employment, Garcia is grateful the program was available to her.

"The program was extremely helpful and very educational. Without it I wouldn't be here now," said Garcia. "I got the job because I used my spouse preference, plus I've been in the medical field for years; I use to work at Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews AFB so that helped too."

The A&FRC provides three job fairs throughout the year to give Airmen and spouses looking for employment information about a new career.

"We host three job fairs which run for about three hours throughout the year in April, July and November, where over 40 employer representatives talk about their hiring process, what positions are available, and they also take resumes at the time," said Murray.

At the job fairs, Murray said representatives from law enforcement, casinos, resorts, companies with government contracts, and technology companies are present and looking for new employees.

"A lot of companies reach out to us because they want to hire military members," said Murray. "We also have companies that refer other companies to us to set up at a job fair."

The next job fair is scheduled for July 16 at the Nellis AFB A&FRC. For more information about the Employment Assistance Program or the job fair, call the A&FRC at 702-652-3327.