Veterans who served in the Navy, Coast Guard, and Army who were looking for employment participated in the “Take A Vet To Work Day” program, hosted by the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Weapons Systems Support, on November 23.

The activity was organized in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Veterans Network (GPVN) and the Philadelphia Compound Veterans Committee.

Capt. John G. King, commander of NAVSUP Weapons Systems Support, shared: “Our organization has always been an advocate of hiring Veterans… ‘Take A Vet To Work Day’ is another veteran outreach event for us to partner with our community and provide information on our mission and employment opportunities. Over the last three years NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support has hired 135 veterans representing 25 percent of all new hires.”

Alex Archawski, president of GPVN, expressed that their organization considered the initiative as a huge event, as they help Veterans define their career objectives and assist them in the development of job search strategies, as well as with writing resumes and undergoing interviews.

Archawski shared: “The high unemployment rate for veterans may be due to veterans not knowing what they want to do for a career… They often send out generic resumes when employers want more specific resumes.”

Veterans who took part in the initiative registered for four functional areas: financial, procurement, supply chain management/supply operations and business systems (SAP Enterprise Resource Planning). They engaged in such activities as one-on-one shadowing with federal government civilian employees at NAVSUP; an informal lunch with veterans who were recently hired by the federal government; classroom and hands on training on the USAJOBS online job application system; and command overviews.