Engineering group hosts job seminar

Cannon Connections: Clarence Plank Job seminar participants listen to information about jobs on base for military spouses, retirees and dependents.

Family members of military personnel got advice and help in getting their resumes into the job market.

The event was a job fair held on base Nov. 5 and sponsored by the High Plains Chapter of the Society of American Military Engineers.

Shelly Schmidt, project manager for Merrick and Company at Cannon, said this is the first job seminar at the base.

“We have a lot of people moving to Cannon pretty much from everywhere,” Schmidt said. “We have such an influx of people moving here. We have a large deficit in civil engineering, and we are really trying to find people with certain skills that they can bring.”

The job seminar was geared toward spouses of personnel. The one-day event drew 60 people.

“We pretty much focus the jobs on people who have access to the base,” Schmidt said.

Lt. Col. Anne Coverston, 27th Special Operations Civil Engineering Squadron commander and president of the High Plains Chapter, said she has 40 jobs open in civil engineering, and other departments are looking for people.

“It would be nice to have the job seminar annually,” Coverston said. “It is geared more toward the spouses, dependents and retirees. We’re going to be having more people coming, and they will want to know how to apply for a job.”

“It is a great way to reach out to certainly thousands of people,” said Janell Cotton, whose husband is an airman. “It was definitely a way to put a face on the companies that were hiring, and it gave some hope.”