Hiring Our Heroes

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Soldiers, vets, and their families were getting down to business in Alexandria today, at the "heroes for hire" job fair. More than 500 soldiers looking for a job showed up, to apply at some of the 90 different companies represented. News Channel 5's Natalie North has the story…

Sgt. Curtis Lee just got back in November from serving a 13 month tour in Afghanistan. So he is switching out his uniform and boots…for a suit and tie. That's why he came to the "hiring our heroes" job fair on Thursday. Lee says, "I served my country twice with two deployments already so I want to go back to school and get back into the civilian world again."

And getting back into civilian life means a new job. Sgt. Lee has the advantage of a degree in marketing, but even with an education, he says looking for a job isn't always easy. Lee added, "I'm glad that their doing this. It's giving soldiers who are coming out of the military avenues where they can go to work and still serve the community. So this job fair is doing that."

Cenla Chamber president Deborah Randolph agrees, and says it's important to keep vets active...even after active duty. Randolph says, "This is a win-win situation. It's a win for our veterans or soon to be vets who need a good job, and it's a win for our employers who get to hire employees who have been trained by the best military in the world."

We followed Sgt. Curtis, as he met employers, picked up applications, and has some new opportunities, all thanks to a job fair, just for soldiers like him. Lee stated, "Actually I think it came out very good. I thought it was going to be very small and not a lot going on here, but there's a lot of people here and are actually had some good offers and information about it."

There were more than ninety employers who attended the job fair, and included local, regional, and state companies.