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One year ago, Anne Pokelwaldt offered to accompany her husband — a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Navy — to the THE PLAYERS’ military job fair. She’d previously worked in the financial services industry and had paused her career to care for her children. Returning to the workforce, she was teaching middle school math at the time of the job fair.
As Pokelwaldt and her husband browsed the many booths staffed by an eclectic group of employers, she spotted one in particular that intrigued her. It was the table for PLAYERS Proud Partner Morgan Stanley, represented by Jacksonville Branch Manager Elizabeth Cambareri.
“Since I was previously in the industry, I thought, ‘Well, let me see what she has available,’” said Pokelwaldt.
As it turned out, there was an open position. And a couple of interviews later, Pokelwaldt was working as Cambareri’s direct assistant.
Saturday, March 4, Pokelwaldt was back at the job fair, this time standing behind the table and representing her employer.
The event, in its 12th year, is hosted by THE PLAYERS Championship in partnership with the Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition. It is free and open to military personnel, veterans and military spouses. About 30 companies participated in this year’s fair, which was held at Patriot’s Outpost.
“It’s always what we consider the thing that kicks off PLAYERS week, even though it’s unofficial,” said job fair chairman Bill Hickey, who with retired Brigadier General Michael P. Fleming, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Matthew Tuohy and Jacksonville Military Affairs and Veterans Department operations manager Harrison Conyers, was among those who initially launched the annual event.
The Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition is a public-private partnership between the city of Jacksonville and local companies to emphasize hiring veterans. More than 500 companies belong to the coalition’s network.
Other the years, the job fair has helped hundreds of people, like Pokelwaldt, find the employment they seek.
Hickey said veterans make excellent employees. Because of their experiences in military service, they’re punctual, resilient and dedicated, and they know how to work toward goals.
In addition to the many employers at Saturday’s job fair, a number of educational institutions and other sources of assistance were represented.
CareerSource Northeast Florida was on hand to offer its services, helping veterans become job-ready.
According to Jerry Carter, CareerSource program manager for veterans, the program is particularly beneficial to veterans just exiting the military or who have experienced long-term unemployment or have a service-connected disability. In many cases, young veterans simply have not previously had to do a job search.
“We work with them on resume-writing, interviewing skills, how to look for jobs, how to market themselves,” said Carter.
Rick Mullaney, executive director of public policy at Jacksonville University, explained that JU offers a master’s degree in public policy, which has numerous applications.
“Public policy really affects everything, from health care to criminal justice to the environment to education to foreign policy to military service,” he said. “So, it’s a very attractive degree to a lot of veterans.”
Mullaney, the son of a career military man, has participated in the job fair for several years.
“We’re excited to be here,” he said. “We really do love our veterans.”
At the table for Florida State College at Jacksonville, C.K. Williams explained that his job is to evaluate military transcripts to get veterans college credits based on their work in the service, saving them from from having to take some classes.
FSCJ offers a two-year degree and is a pipeline to the University of North Florida, where students can pursue higher degrees.
Also at the table was Glenn Turner, education and career lead specialist and Army ROTC recruiter at FSCJ. He helps veterans seeking to go back to school, particularly those who, through the ROTC program, want to graduate as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He also advises veterans on classes to take, because they can receive assistance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We try to guide them so they can be successful and maximize their benefits,” said Turner.
The school also participates in a new Veterans Upward Bound program, offered as part of the federal TRIO program.
