MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif -- An Education and Career Expo drew nearly 200 interested Marines, Civilian Marines and military dependents to the event held aboard Marine Corps Logistic Barstow, California, Feb. 21.
Hosted by Personal and Professional Development, Marine Corps Community Services, the Expo featured informational booths from 13 educational institutions and 19 business and industrial employers from around Southern California.
Edmund Keifer, commissary officer, and Mercy Jauss, secretary of the commissary aboard MCLB Barstow, manned one table that offered employment opportunities with the Defense Commissary Agency to Marines looking for a career beyond the Corps.
“These are jobs not only at the base commissary,” Jauss said, “but with the DECA system worldwide.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was represented.
“The CDCR is on a big hiring kick right now,” said Andre Holley, a correctional officer at Chino State Prison. “After a ten-week academy, the starting pay is $4,400 a month with a top end of $7,400 a month.”
With a nationwide decennial census slated for 2020, Melissa Padilla, a recruiter assistant for the U.S. Census Bureau, said they still have to hire 75 percent of the workforce for the huge task.
“We’re looking for people who wanted a temporary, good-paying job as a census enumerator, office clerks, office supervisor, census field supervisors and recruiter assistants,” she said.
The Barstow Police Department manned a table at the Expo, offering police officer and police dispatcher positions.
“Public Safety Dispatchers start at $4,020 a month with a top step of $5,100 a month,” explained Officer Catherin Grieg. “Police officer trainees start at $3,900 per month, and police officers have a top step of $6,700 a month.”
One of the more exotic employers offering career opportunities was the firm Vinnell Arabia.
“We help train the Saudi Arabian National Guard,” said Sid McMannus, a Vinnell Arabia recruiter said. “We offer employment for ground-related positions such as mechanics, English language instructors, logistics, aviation-related positions, health and medical affairs.”
The Army’s Fort Irwin Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department was offering fitness related jobs.
“We have three fitness centers at Fort Irwin,” Matthew Livingston with MWR said. “We offer positions in sports fitness and aquatics training.”
One of the more popular tables at the Expo was for Welding and Metal Fabrication Trade School, headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga.
“The industry is starving for metal fabricators,” Chad Blais, a school recruiter, said. “We have a 98 percent success rate in placing graduates of the school with employers, whether it’s aerospace, railroad, military contractors, classic car shops, off-road shops.”
Blais said students can attend day classes and finish in six months or go to night classes and graduate in 11 months. Forty-two percent of the student body is former military, he noted.
Jennifer Kennedy, an education and career counselor with MCCS, considered the Expo to be a big success.
“Our goal in staging the Education and Career Expo is to find employers who reflect what the Marines aboard the base want to see’” she said. “Considering the bad weather today, we’ve had a good turnout.”
Kennedy said they will be staging Education and Career Expos about every six months.
-30-