Pfc. Derek Wilson, left, talks to Modern Technology Corp. representative Donald Polchinski at a job fair at Camp Casey, South Korea, on Wednesday. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — U.S. government contractors are using a series of job fairs at bases across the Korean peninsula this week to seek soldiers qualified for civilian jobs in South Korea.
Area I Transition Services manager Ken Schlueter said the job fairs, run in conjunction with Army Community Services, feature contractors such as Titan, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman Corp. The contractors are seeking potential hires among soldiers who are leaving the Army, he said.
The fairs began Wednesday at Camp Casey, then were to move to Osan Air Base on Thursday. On Friday there will be a job fair at Camp Henry in Taegu and on Saturday, the last and biggest job fair will be at Yongsan Garrison, Schlueter said.
At a Camp Casey fair last year, 19 of 28 soldiers pre- screened by Transition Services personnel left with job offers or “a foot in the door,” he said.
Contractors’ jobs in South Korea typically pay more than $50,000, but some lack benefits such as a housing allowance. Civilian jobs supporting the U.S. military in Iraq typically pay much more, Schlueter said.
Mark Godlewski, a former U.S. Army chief warrant officer with a maintenance background, was at the Camp Casey fair representing Modern Technology Corp. (MTC), which earned a contract 10 months ago to repair vehicle tracks at the camp.
MTC hopes to hire up to 40 people in South Korea in the next two months for jobs with wheeled maintenance, tracked maintenance, generator maintenance, supply and quality assurance, he said.
“Military people have the experience and the background and it assists MTC if we find guys in country,” Godlewski said.
The company expects to find 20 to 25 new employees among soldiers nearing the end of their service, he said.
A soldier transitioning to a civilian job with MTC or other companies enjoys many advantages, he said: “We can pay him more and he will be more stable (than when in the Army). He won’t have to deploy. He will work his job eight hours a day, he won’t have to do guard duty and he can have his own vehicle.”
Talking to the MTC representatives at Camp Casey was Pfc. Derek Wilson, 21, of Savage, Minn., with the 302nd Brigade Support Battalion. The heavy-equipment repair mechanic said he is to leave the Army in July and is seeking employment in South Korea.
“My fiancee doesn’t want to go far from the Philippines. I have been here three years and I extended a couple of times,” he said.
One appeal of civilian work is not having to do physical training, he said.
“I’m doing PT every morning at 4 a.m., which I don’t like to do,” he said, but “I work too much during the day to go to the gym.”
Another soldier at the Camp Casey job fair, Spc. Nathaniel Cassidy, 21, of Chicago, who serves with the 2nd Brigade Rear Detachment, will leave the Army in February, he said.
“I am just looking at how my job skills will transfer and how much education I need to get a good job,” he said.
As a trained combat engineer, Cassidy said he sees his future in management or with a company that specializes in security or mine clearance.
“The fair has given me a good idea of the types of skills that are needed. In the next two to three months I am going to get serious and do most of it (job hunting) on the Internet,” he said.
