Lafayette job fair helps military veterans find work
Lafayette job fair helps military veterans find work
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) Hire a Veteran Day is coming up on Monday.
Patrick Mcmanus works with NextOp of Lafayette and says his company is looking to do just that.
"Veterans bring such a diverse experience to a company. They are experienced, they are trained, they are professional and there is great pride that they bring to a team."
Even with all of those attributes, Mcmanus says he sees veterans struggling to find work after the military.
He says companies are failing to see how those military skills will translate into a civilian role.
"Civilian companies don't understand how the skills translate from the military to a civilian job, so to be able to understand what they did in the military will translate to skills. It's for companies to understand and for the veteran to understand how to translate those skills into what they would want to do."
Mcmanus believes the most important skill that translates from active duty to workforce is the team player mentality.
"I think it's the working in teams. They've worked in teams their entire career in the military, they've been team leaders, they know how to follow instructions and how to give instructions in order to make the mission happen."
Perhaps a strong job market will make things easier.
"With bringing more veterans into the workforce here in Acadiana, we can help make a grander impact not only on them and their quality of life, but the employers that are also present in our community."