EMPLOYERS HIRING VETERANS, TRANSITIONING SERVICE MEMBERS, FAMILY
A recent Gallup Job Fair and Recruiting Event took place Nov. 17 at the New Mexico Workforce Connection, 2918 E. Historic Highway 66. The Hire Veteran Job Fair was open to the general public but mainly focused on hiring veterans.
Nikki Lee, Business Consultant with Workforce Connection, said, this was a statewide event held by all the workforce offices in New Mexico.
“We noticed lately that here in the community that veterans don’t have enough resources and non-veterans as well, we want them to know that we are here and that we do have the resources to help them on their employment barriers,” Lee said.
Nine employers were on-hand looking to recruit candidates as well as offering several programs that provide training classes, assistance or temporary employment placement.
“Our main goal is job placement; we want to put people to work and to help build resumes, job search, mock interviews, and much more.” Lee said.
As a state agency, each staff member is required to put two people to work every week permanently — adding up to 16 people every month.
“We try to meet our numbers as much as possible ... sometimes we exceed and sometimes it’s lower; it depends on what’s going on in the area,” Lee said. “We are the hub of the reservations and we actually see about 200 people on a daily basis, as well as from New Mexico and Arizona.”
Connecting employers and workers
Lee visits employers in McKinley and Cibola counties to see what job openings are available and posts them on their website. Career Consultant Camille Livingston then works with the individuals who will be applying for the jobs.
First American Credit Union was on hand with Kelly Kayonnie, Assistant Branch Manager.
“It’s been going good, just been meeting a lot of people, familiar faces,” Kayonnnie said. “If anyone is interested in applying with First American Credit Union, they can always go to our full website which is: firstamerican.org and go to careers and it will let you what time of job openings that are available, just apply online.”
Annie M. Davis, a Human Resources Technician with the City of Gallup, said, “I came and brought with me the job vacancies that we have with the City. I’ve attended a lot of job fairs [and] this one is really good, it brought out a lot individuals seeking employment.”
Not the unemployment office
New Mexico Workforce Connection differs from a traditional unemployment office. Through unemployment, people may receive benefits, with NMWC, they can utilize different resources to get work, such as use of computers in their resource room.
Jesica Adeky, Job Developer for National Indian Youth Council, said, “The turnout has been really good, we actually had people scheduled and found out about our program, so it’s really working out well, for our Gallup field office, besides us getting the word out.”
Robyn Lee. TransCor Recruiter, said, “We transport prisoners, and we just got a new location in Milan, New Mexico. We’re here to recruit veterans to come work for us. The event is great and this is my first time; everyone was so friendly really interested in getting a job and I like it.”
Regarding veterans, NMWC has certain services to help veterans get jobs, including services for gaining skills, work opportunity tax credits, and a federal bonding program for individuals who were dishonorably discharged, Lee said.
NMWC is open Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm. As a state agency, all of their services are free. They are planning on doing another job fair in January.
For more information on NMWC, visit jobs.state.nm.us or call 505-863-8995. You can also stop by at 2918 East Historic Highway 66.
Story and photos by Dee Velasco
For the Sun
