Longtime Ossining resident Keith Henderson can”™t remember the last time he attended a job fair. The U.S. Army veteran had never been unemployed for more than a few months in the past 40 years. When he got laid off in November, he began searching for jobs the conventional way ”“ by submitting his resume online and waiting to hear back from companies.
He waited for nine months, but no jobs surfaced.
Last week, Henderson decided to attend a job expo at Camp Smith in the town of Cortlandt. He was pleasantly surprised to find 49 companies looking for military veterans like himself.
With employment numbers stagnant in Westchester County and other parts of New York state, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and First Command partnered with the New York National Guard and state Department of Labor to host the third annual “Hiring Our Heroes” career expo Sept. 10, open only to military veterans.
Among the prospective employees were war veterans who recently returned home from active duty and ones who have retired from the service years ago but haven”™t found a full-time job since. Henderson fits into neither category of job seekers. He had been employed even after he ended his military service 45 years ago, working as a paint and hardware supply retailer and late as a plant distributor. But for the first time, he”™s searching a lot longer than usual for a job that will help pay his bills.
Fifty years ago, Henderson served as a missile section chief in the Army, traveling to Korea for his first two years and then being stationed in New Jersey, Colorado and Texas for the next three. After his discharge, he worked as a salesman in the wholesale painting and hardware supply business for more than 20 years. But when K and N Supply went under, he found a new job as a plant distributor operating 30 greenhouses on a farm in Dutchess County for the next 20 years. He sold perennial plants to nurseries, homeowners and landscapers and since 1989 had stationed his delivery truck on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. After Henderson got laid off, he couldn”™t find a company that would hire him for the first time in all those years of employment.
When Henderson heard about the “Hiring Our Heroes” expo, he immediately knew he”™d be there. As he walked up and down the rows of the 49 booths in his purple polo and black khakis, few companies piqued his interest.
“A lot of them are financial companies,” Henderson said. “But I”™m more of a manual labor kind of guy. I saw that Brickman Group is hiring grass cutters. And I looked at UPS for loading trucks. I think I can handle it since I used to carry 100-pound bags of rock salt every day when I used to work at K and N Supply.”
With his mind set on expanding his job prospects, he said he would attend at least one other job fair before deciding to apply for a new job. He added that he wants to work for a national company so he can pay off his monthly mortgage and bills for his two-bedroom townhouse without depending on his two daughters to support him.
Other veterans have been unemployed since the economic downturn and have grown tired of bouncing around from one temporary job to the next. Ronald Webster from Montrose appeared in suit and tie with a messenger bag strapped over his shoulder and wrote his name on the sign-in sheet at the registration table before entering the job fair. Webster, a former military intelligence officer, said he wants to find a more stable job that will keep him stationed in one place.
“Everything was fine until 2008 and 2009 when the economy took a nose dive,” said Webster, a Dartmouth College graduate. “I haven”™t found a full-time job ever since. I was a substitute teacher for French and math all throughout the nation from Tucson, Arizona to Trenton, New Jersey. I”™ve been a sales rep, a copier salesman and I taught at a boarding school, too.”
Some Westchester County-based companies, including the Yonkers Police Department, Con Edison and Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, sent recruiters with active duty military service before to help ease the conversation for many prospective employees at the job fair.
“I”™m a veteran and I”™m pushing to hire more veterans,” Jackie Stern, Northern Westchester Hospital recruiter, said. “We have between 30 and 50 people on our staff who are veterans. We have job openings for positions ranging from housekeepers to physicians and we”™re hoping to get eager veterans because we know they”™re dependable, they go with the flow and are very calm and steady.”
Each of the companies received about 100 resumes prior to the job fair, said Terri Trapp, an investment principal at Primerica Inc. who represented her company at the expo. Others handed over their resumes as they walked in. Trapp said three people already interviewed for job positions at Primerica that day.
“We have displays of success stories of former marines, snipers ”¦,” Trapp said. “These are people who were on active duty and turned to the financial services. We put examples on the table, so people can see veterans that go into this line of work.”
Primerica had 10 job openings at the career fair, including positions for management trainees, investment specialists and customer service. Trapp said there”™s a strong possibility of hiring more veterans.
“Sometimes the employers hire on the spot,” Kathryn Poynton, director of hiring fairs at the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, said. “When you hire a veteran, not only do you get someone with the skill sets you”™re looking for, but you get a person who is dedicated and responsible. Jobs are looking to hire an employee who has hard work instilled in them.”
Poynton said 49 employers is a strong turnout. They try to keep the job fairs smaller so veterans have a chance to have in-depth conversations and network as they job hunt.
The Chamber of Commerce Foundation has held 600 job fairs since 2011 and has helped more than 20,200 veterans find jobs, Poynton said. Job seekers are encouraged to register with the Chamber of Commerce Foundation and upload their resumes online, which are distributed to employers who attend the career expos. The foundation holds job fairs several times throughout the year across the nation.
