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thedrifter
03-27-08, 07:26 AM
Vets have mixed outlooks on job prospects


March 27, 2008

By David Schwab, staff writer


Being a war veteran is a mixed blessing for Mike Flores.

The 24-year-old Chicago Heights resident who had a seven-month tour in Iraq in 2004. After ward, he finished his service with the Marines in the United States.

Now he's back in the south suburbs. He works as a delivery driver but is searching for a more lucrative career.

Unlike many job seekers, Flores has one big crutch to lean on - the plethora of programs available to military veterans. He also has one big strike against him - a serious back injury suffered during the war.

"With a disability, it's hard for me to look for a job," he said.

Flores was at a forum Wednesday hosted by the Illinois Department of Employment Security at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.

The program was intended to inform veterans about job opportunities.

Interviews with three young military veterans during the forum, two of whom served in the war and one who didn't, revealed post-military experiences in terms of re-entering the work force vary greatly.

Bryan Cook, 25, another war veteran, is more optimistic than Flores about job prospects.

Cook, of Beecher, doesn't claim to have any disabilities.

He serviced helicopters in the Marines and thinks that experience gives him a leg up on other candidates vying for aircraft-service jobs.

His only obstacle is "knowing who's out there and what they're looking for."

Out of the service for just a few months, Cook said his fiancee is encouraging him to "find what (he) loves doing," - which he believes he will.

Last year, IDES, one of the major outlets for veterans seeking work in Illinois, provided service to almost 60,000 veterans.

Gregory Haynes, IDES veterans' program manager and keynote speaker at Wednesday's event, said the number of veterans looking for work in Illinois is down.

But that's not necessarily a good sign, he said. The decline in veteran job seekers probably is attributable to longer tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This fact makes Haynes sure that in the near future, the number of veterans returning home will skyrocket.

To Haynes, being prepared for this eventuality is something his group needs to constantly be aware of and something about which he believes all citizens should worry.

"It's a duty and obligation to our society (to place veterans in jobs)," Haynes said. "It should matter."

Salomon Lujan, 23, is from Chicago Heights. He got out of the Marines two months ago. Unlike Cook and Flores, Lujan didn't go off to war. He did all of his service in California, working in the transportation sector of the Marines.

For him, finding a job is tough, but his difficulties so far in his short time home don't seem to have much to do with his service.

"It's tough because of the economy," Lujan said.

Unlike Flores, Lujan, is optimistic about his job prospects.

Lujan said he wants to study criminal justice and become a police officer.

Flores, meanwhile, may go into the heating and air conditioning field, though he doesn't sound particularly enthused about the prospect. He said it's tough to disclose his injury to employers, and it limits the kinds of jobs he can pursue.

He said he already knew most of the information presented Wednesday. He said he'd already visited the IDES Web site - www.ides.state.il.us - numerous times without much luck.

But within the first hour of the forum, Flores said he did find out one new fact - there were several job fairs in the area geared specifically toward veterans.

He said he plans to attend one Friday.

David Schwab can be reached at dschwab@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8832.

Ellie