We've changed "Career Fairs" to "Expos"
Monday, August 10, 2009 at 02:24PM Today RecruitMilitary is announcing we are changing how we refer to our "career fairs". Effective immediately, we are going to change the name of these events from career fairs to "RecruitMilitary Opportunity Expos". Within the recruitment/trade show industry, there are a large number of companies that produce what are commonly referred to as job fairs or career fairs.
As RecruitMilitary has evolved within the military-to-civilian niche, we've learned a lot about how organizations and candidates interact. The biggest need among the 200,000 military veterans who transition out annually is to find a job or career. Pretty simple. But the recession has helped candidates and organizations alike consider that everyone has a lot more options than that. And we help not just the transitioning group, but everyone who has honorably served.
We're working with more than 65 franchisors nationally - they are all seeking veterans and military spouses to work with. We have more than 100 educational institutions who are seeking new students from the military niche. With discounting and financing programs for veterans, franchising makes a lot of sense to potential entrepreneurs. With the new GI Bill, going back to school makes more sense than ever.
So our events have evolved into large scale expos - where all legitimate organizations with opportunities - educational opportunities, franchising opportunities, and job and career opportunities are very welcome, and all these attending organizations are flourishing in their recruiting efforts due to the great candidate traffic.
How did we come up with the name change? We asked you - our customers and opportunity-seeking candidates. Here is what you told us:
Customers - we surveyed 62 different organizations and the majority of these respondents stated they liked the name "expos" better than "fairs" or "events". Interestingly, the majority of respondents were direct employers - and yet, they still voted for expos ahead of fairs.
We asked 209 different veterans what we should call the events. The overwhelming majority selected "All Veterans Total Opportunity". This was selected from a group of choices that included career fairs, career and education fairs, and several others.
Internally, after much discussion, we decided to shorten that to RecruitMilitary Opportunity Expos. As many of our readers and customers know, we produce these expos in huge and popular venues: NFL and MLB stadiums, museums, and other terrific, media popular locations. So an expo is the right name - and the opportunities (all well vetted and legitimate) better describes all of the choices our exhibitors bring to each expo.
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Reader Comments (5)
Hi Drew,
I wanted to share with you a new article series geared toward service members interested in pursuing Information Technology (IT) careers. Authored by Lt. Col. Paul Capicik (USAF Ret), a 26 years Air Force veteran, former CIO, and military program manager for American Sentinel University, these articles are valuable to any service member looking to transition or advance in their IT career.
I have attached here for you one of Paul’s recent articles.
If you think that Recruit Military readers would find this content useful, I invite you to post the articles as a guest post. Your readers can also keep up with new articles as they come out at the American Sentinel University blog at http://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/
Many thanks,
Tai D. Giang
On Behalf of American Sentinel University
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Tai D. Giang
Caridan Marketing Labs
41 E. 11th St, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10003
p: 212.699.6402
m: 626.534.1292
f: 646.219.1121
tg@caridan.com
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Careers in IT – One GI’s Journey
In our series of discussions regarding IT Careers, I’ve talked about whether IT is the right career for you, what you can expect working in the field, the diversity of positions available, the IT managerial path, and the career outlook. When talking with students and prospects, I often hear, “There is not enough time now,” or, “I am deploying, etc., so I can’t do it now.”
I thought I would pass along a real-life story that touches on how one GI made the journey while facing many of those same obstacles and who today leads a successful and rewarding career in the field. In fact, he has advanced to the middle management level.
Setting:
Young man graduates from high school knowing exactly what he wants to do and goes off to college. He does alright, but discovers he doesn’t want to pursue the path he had planned.
After floundering somewhat in school, he decides to enter the Air Force. He’s tested and chosen to go to the Information Technology tech school to become a network tech. Then it’s off to his first assignment.
Stage 2:
He really likes what he is doing and dives into learning all he can. In the meantime, he gets married and over the next few years has two children. Interested in getting more training and education in the IT field, he finds that the Air Force only fills part of that need. Plus his base starts rotations to the Middle East.
So here he is, wanting to get a degree, married with two kids, eligible for food stamps, and facing periodic deployments. How can he afford the time and cost for pursuing his degree?
Stage 3:
He finds he has several things in his favor. He is highly motivated and has validating experience for the IT career path. He knows promotions and quality-of-life benefits are at stake. He finds that his deployments do allow continued course completion. Military TA funding picks up much of the cost. His spouse supports the temporary commitment of time and money.
Stage 4:
He commits to putting in the time and effort required to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science (BSCS). At the same time, he requests more military training and support to help improve his unit’s capability to support the mission, but gets refused.
Coincidentally, he links up with a veteran who has a small business helping local businesses become automated. He starts doing this on the side, applying development knowledge that he learned in his BSCS degree courses.
Then, he takes a network certification course. He really enjoys the fulfillment of the off-duty jobs, however becomes further discouraged with the continued military hold back.
Stage 5:
Our GI decides to make the big break and enter the civilian world. Now, with his education, certification, and experience, he gets hired by an investment firm as a junior programmer (his networking skills helped him get that position). After the company changes hands, he finds a new job with a power management company as an application developer. He earns a few advancements and now works in middle management. He is considering getting an MBA in preparation for future advancement to senior management.
I relate this true story because it illustrates what it takes to be successful:
• You don’t always know what career path to pursue. Hopefully these articles will help you with that. Also, if you aren’t happy in your job, you will likely look elsewhere or not be successful in your current position.
• Most people face a number of obstacles in becoming successful. Whether it is time, money, motivation, or luck, with the right attitude and persistence there is usually a way.
• Utilize your military benefits. If you are active-duty make sure you use as much of the TA money made available to you as possible (currently, that’s $4,500 per year). If you are a veteran, use those GI Bill benefits before they run out.
• The IT career field is full of interesting and diverse paths. In this GI’s case, he successfully went from a military networking setting to a small business IT venture to an investment firm finally to an international power management company.
• A degree and certifications are key to providing valid credentials. This GI set himself apart and established worthy credentials to companies that, as he said to me, “didn't know me from Adam.” His education showed a commitment to standards and achieving hard goals. (I look for this as well now when I am conducting interviews.)
So don’t think you can’t do it because of time, money, work or commitments. You can do it, and there are flexible online programs as well as the benefits and support to help you make it happen.
And ask about your TA, Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30), and even the new Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits while they’re still available. Schools may also offer reduced military tuition rates and military scholarships help extend those benefits, further minimizing your out-of-pocket expenses, so why wait?
About the Author
Lt. Col. Paul Capicik, USAF (ret.) is the military program manager for American Sentinel University. Prior to joining American Sentinel, Paul spent over 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and another 12 years in the private sector as a CIO. For more information on American Sentinel University, online information technology degree programs or IT certification training programs, visit http://www.americansentinel.edu/ or call 1-866-922-5690.
Hi that was great stuff I really like reading on thisfind a life coach subject Could you tell me more on that I love to explore.
Great tips, thanks for sharing.
RecruitMilitary is well trained for civilian where as carrier in the I.T industry is best and stages is best.
During the Vietnam war, I served as a Naval Intelligence specialist within the Special Warfare Command. I lost my job in 2001, have submitted more than 6,000 applications and resumes and have had no offers. I have been living off my 401k for 9 years and, after one more withdrawal, I will be completely penniless. I am highly educated and have broad business experience, including international. Can anyone please help me before I end up in a cardboard box, too ashamed to let my grandchildren visit?