Fort Bragg’s Directorate of Human Resources is collaborating with Hiring Our Heroes for the second year in a row to host the 2022 Fort Bragg Career Summit Aug. 25 at the Iron Mike Conference Center. The event is open to service members, veterans, military spouses and caregivers. 

“Just as we do a good job bringing soldiers into the Army, we want to do an even better job helping them leave the army,” shared acting Director of Human Resources at Fort Bragg Tony Castillo.

Attendees can come in and meet the employers prior to the actual event at a networking reception on the evening of Aug. 24. On the morning of Aug. 25, they will have guest speakers and workshops to help teach professional skills such as resume writing and navigating LinkedIn. The second half of the day is the employment fair. 

“You have service to country while you’re in the Army, but I submit to you that service to country is also when you leave – still becoming a productive member of our society and getting another career out there and using those skills and the training and the education you’ve received in the Army on the outside to help our country as well and help themselves,” added Castillo.

Interested individuals can register ahead of time or the day of at https://events.hiringourheroes.org/event/38f41b76-56e1-4daf-92f5-002cc366200f/summary 

“If they do preregister, it is very beneficial to them because … Hiring Our Heroes will connect them with a career connector that will dialogue with them and say hey here's some helpful hints, here's a checklist of things to do to set yourself up for success at the summit,” said Tom Blackburn, chief of the transition assistance program.

According to Castillo, the transitioning assistance program that they have at Fort Bragg is number one in the Army. They process over 7,000 transitioning service members a year, but this year they are processing about 8,000. They expect over 400 participants and over 100 on-the-spot job offers at this year's Career Summit. A total of 99 employers have been approved for the employment fair. These include national companies such as Amazon, Wells Fargo, and Microsoft, as well as local employers such as the Fayetteville Fire Department and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Attendees may choose to wear their uniform or to dress business casual. There will be a photographer at the event offering professional headshots of the prospective employees.