JobLink Career Center targets local veterans

David Orlando has been back in the United States for one week.

A veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, Orlando has served his country for 30 years.

“All my friends joined right after high school, so I joined up too,” he said.

Searching for a new job, Orlando turned to the Orange County JobLink Career Center on Monday afternoon for help.

Orlando and other locals seeking employment attended the center’s Veterans Day Job Fair to meet with 11 potential employers.

The event showcased businesses like A Southern Season, General Electric, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Carolina Meadows that were hiring.

Ken Ray, an employment consultant with the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, said more than 200 people attended the event, the majority being non-veterans.

Ray, a UNC alumnus, served in the Air Force and retired as a major after completing his last tour in Iraq in 2004. He said his position with the commission lets him work with many veterans.

“A lot of the officers like to do something around Veterans Day for the vets,” he said. “Hiring vets is a big thing in North Carolina.”

During the recent recession, Ray said it’s been hard for people to find jobs.

“Hopefully things are starting to get better,” he said.

Hillsborough resident and Iraq War veteran Aaron Pace is part of Orange County’s unemployed population, which has reached 5.7 percent.

Pace, who is currently receiving benefits, attended the job fair in hopes of finding a position.

After working as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates, Orlando said he is looking for a job in teaching, medical technology or management.

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Orlando said he left the UAE for Chapel Hill to be near two of his children.

“It’s not too cool over there for Americans right now,” he said. “They offered us a way out, so I took it.”

But to return to the United States and be with his Chapel Hill family, Orlando had to leave another family behind.

Orlando met his current wife while the two worked in the UAE. They got married in the Philippines, where his wife and adopted daughter still live. Orlando said he is now working to obtain a visa to bring his family to the United States.

“I talked to a lawyer about four days ago, and it may take a year,” he said. “I have to have a job. I have to have accommodations, a car. It’s a lot of stipulations.”

Orlando said he hopes to have his family in the United States by next Christmas.

“To tell the truth I’ll take any job right now,” he said. “Any job.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.