Department of Homeland Security holds hiring event for veterans

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently held a two-day hiring event in an effort to employ hundreds of veterans for both mission critical and support positions.

Thousands of veterans attended the event, called Continue Your Service to America.

“Hiring veterans is a top priority for the Department,” Under Secretary for Management (USM) Claire Grady told event attendees. “DHS is committed to providing veterans an opportunity to continue their service to America. Veterans are a proven, highly- trained, and highly-talented group of individuals, and we look forward to welcoming new employees hired from this event to the Department of Homeland Security.”

The event supports recent Executive Orders requiring a hiring surge for border security and immigration law enforcement.

DHS launched a campaign this year to use resume mining to hire more veterans. Hiring managers and HR staff searched for veterans’ resumes on USAJOBS that contained keywords related to skills and experience the Department requires for current hiring needs. DHS also held webinars to instruct veterans on how to upload their resumes to the site and make them searchable, which over 4000 veterans participated in.

DHS ranks third among federal agencies behind the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs for the number of veterans hired each year. While 27.9 percent of the Department’s employees are veterans, DHS has increased its hiring of veterans with disabilities by 70 percent since 2009.