The New York-based banks joined Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG at a job fair hosted yesterday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for service personnel aboard the USS Intrepid, a museum in the Hudson River.
“We’re looking for the right talent at the right time,” Suni Harford, Citigroup’s head of markets for North America, said while gripping a stack of resumes collected at the fair.
The veterans are aiming to work in an industry where jobs fell in 2010 for a fourth straight year to an average 7.63 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or 8.4 percent below a 2006 peak. For veterans, unemployment rose to 12.1 percent in May from 10.6 percent a year ago. President Barack Obama said on June 22 he will withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by September 2012.
The veterans said they hoped they had skills to fit a job at one of the more than 100 employers recruiting.
“This was the first time at a job fair I felt like I was getting a job,” said Dyron Snipe, in the National Guard while getting a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Westchester. Snipe brought 100 resumes. “I just want to be hired by one, but I have a good feeling, for the first time.”
A military background can signal to recruiters that the applicant is disciplined, has a clean record, and can pass drug tests, giving them an edge over civilian candidates, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment