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Career Fair Helps Veterans & Spouses Enter Civilian Workplace

By Michael Abeyta

DENVER (CBS4) - The cacophony coming from the Lowry Conference Center in Denver is music to Charles Marcus' ears.

"Everyone's very friendly. They talk to you," said Marcus.

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For veterans and their spouses who are trying to enter the civilian workforce for the first time like him, that is a godsend.

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Charles Marcus (credit: CBS)

"I think the most challenging part is how to do the resume" said Marcus. "Everything is all electronic so if you don't have the right words in your resume you'll never be seen. Now they can actually talk to you. If there's more questions they can actually see and ask those questions."

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Marcus was one of hundreds of veterans and spouses who came to the USO job fair for former military members and their spouses on Wednesday.

Skip Vanderbach is the Center Director for USO Denver and coordinated the job fair. He is former Air Force, and he knows how hard it can be for veterans to get a civilian job after a military career.

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"How to translate what you did into something that makes sense to a civilian company that you may be coming out to is a challenge," Vanderbach said.

He also knows that if companies could just meet face to face with veterans, they would see that many times the men and women are a great match for them.

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"Marketing yourself on paper is not always easy to do. It's a lot easier when you can sit down face to face with somebody from an HR department. They can get a feel for who you are, not just what you are on paper," said Vanderbach.

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It's not guaranteed veterans who came here will leave with a job, but for Marcus, just having a chance to sell himself and his skill set is a great start.

"They find out what your background is and they're actually trying to find something with them that you would be interested in."

Michael Abeyta is a 4th generation Coloradan and a Multimedia Journalist for CBS4. His stories can be seen on CBS4 News at 5 & 6. He is on Twitter! Follow him @AbeytaCBS4.

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