More than 200 jobseekers were in attendance and some had the opportunity to be interviewed on the spot from various companies of the public and private sector.
“This is the first time that we held this event in the past few years because of the pandemic. We started preparing for this event sometime in February of this year,” said Gerald Mundy, MFSC transition and employment program coordinator who helped coordinate the event.
Angel Natal, work and family life specialist at MFSC who was the overall organizer of the event, shared his thoughts on how it provided transitioning service members the opportunity to prepare for jobs in the civilian sector.
“We decided that this was a good time to start it up again. It is a part of our curriculum to provide the opportunities for transitioning members to meet face-to-face with potential employers,” Natal said. “We call this a hiring event because we provide the employers the venue to go ahead and meet transitioning members and also the opportunity to interview right on the spot, so it does provide a lot of good opportunities for our service members and their families.”
This year, 35 employers participated in the event such as Navy Region Hawaii, Federal Detention Center, U.S. Secret Service, USDA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and some state agencies. Four Skillbridge companies also participated, which is a big aspect of transitioning today.
Skillbridge is a program that allows a service member, once they are within six months of their discharge date, to do an internship or apprenticeship with a company while they are still in service. It allows them to be with the company for six months and learn everything, and potentially when they get out, work with that company.
“This is a very good program that is heating up now in what we see, and transitioning members want to get involved in that. Skillbridge has been around since 2014 but took off in Hawaii around 2016. In the state there are over 30 Skillbridge companies,” said Natal.
Overall, the hiring event was successful which was in line with Natal’s projections.
“One of the best things was the diversity of the participants in that all branches of service showed up to include DoD personnel as well as spouses and veterans in good numbers,” said Natal.
The next hiring event is scheduled for next year in the spring for March 17. For more information, about MFSC Pearl Harbor, visit the MWR Great Life Hawaii website at jbphh.greatlifehawaii.com.