Federal, state and local agencies attended an ASU career fair on Tuesday to network with student veterans interested in other forms of government service.
The ASU Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement hosted the Campus to Government Career Fair for students to meet with recruiters from government agencies and learn more about careers in public service.
Organizations, including the FBI, Peace Corps and Department of Veterans Affairs, attended the job fair at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex in Tempe. State, county and local organizations also recruited at the event.
Ellie Lindman, the strategic Peace Corps campus recruiter for ASU and a graduate student studying global technology and development, said she always enjoys these events to listen to students' stories and professional goals.
"Opportunities like this are huge for students, because there are numerous opportunities that maybe they weren't aware of previously," Lindman said.
Kai Murphy, a sophomore studying criminology and criminal justice, said he appreciates the University working to bring students into contact with these organizations.
"It just gets me the experience of broadening my horizon and giving me more options," Murphy said.
Murphy said he has always been interested in public service and is considering attending law school, so specific job fairs like this one are useful to him and his goals.
Britney Sharp, a recruiter for the FBI Phoenix Division, said she loves coming to events like these and connecting with those who have already served.
"Sometimes it can be really hard to have been in military, and then when you leave it, you're trying to find another field of work that you feel you are providing a service and you are giving back," Sharp said.
The University does a good job of accommodating student veterans with online programs and resource centers specific to their needs, Sharp said.
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Shonda Hightower-Hinton, a human resources compliance analyst for the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services and a veteran of the U.S. Army herself, said one of the things she loves about working for the agency is that they prioritize hiring veterans.
Hightower-Hinton said she is grateful the University provides these opportunities, as her husband attended ASU as a veteran and was able to receive his teaching degree.
Events like the Campus to Government Career Fair show student veterans "you're wanted, you're welcomed, you're targeted, you're important" instead of leaving them behind, Hightower-Hinton said.
She said veterans looking to transition to a public service career need to "push through and get involved."
Wanda Wright, the director of the Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement and a former colonel in the U.S. Air Force, said, as a veteran herself, she had a hard time finding a job when retiring from the service in 2011. She now wants to help veterans attending school find employment at government bodies, particularly those in Arizona.
"Transition is difficult," Wright said. "You leave an institution that you've been in for six years, and it really pulls you together with other people."
Wright said the University needs to support veterans when they come out of military service, as they do not have some necessary career skills to make the transition into other sectors, like resume writing and interviewing.
"There are things about the military that are wonderful for a person," Wright said. "They learn, they become leadership, they have growth, all those great things, and so we want to make sure that they have the best opportunity that they can to provide what would be great assets to these companies."
Osama Elhadiri, a senior studying electrical engineering and a student advocacy team member for the Pat Tillman Veterans Center, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
Elhadiri said the job hunt can be difficult for veterans following service, making events like this good opportunities.
"You kind of try to steer yourself away from the internships and all that because you feel like you're a little too old for it and you try to aim for full-time positions," Elhadiri said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. You have to go through the same ladder that everybody climbs."
Wright said it's her obligation as a veteran to help other veterans.
She recalled a phrase a friend would say regarding hiring veterans: "Hire a vet, increase your net."
"When you put us in charge, we lead and we take charge, and we go about the business and we do the work," Wright said. "Corporations and government entities want those kind of people."
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Senna James, Emilio Alvarado and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at apruiz@asu.edu and follow @andiruiz2405 on X.
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Andi Ruiz is a politics reporter at the State Press dedicated to serving her community with truth and honesty in her reporting. She has been working in broadcast and news since high school and was recently an anchor at The Cut Network during her first year at Cronkite. She is going into her second year at ASU as a Barrett Honors student studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in political science.
