PROVO — After being deployed for 38 months, traveling more than 100,000 miles recovering blown-up vehicles and managing other recovery operations, Ian Campbell was forced into medical retirement at age 31.
"My spine is pretty much jacked up. My back is ruined. My brain is messed," the Lehi man said.
Post-traumatic stress disorder also plagues the father of three and has caused challenges in his family life, he said.
After 14 years stationed in Germany, Arizona and Texas, and traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan as a counterintelligence special agent in the U.S. Army, Campbell moved his family back to Utah three years ago to look for work.
Campbell was among the more than 100 veterans gathered Tuesday at the Utah Valley Convention Center to seek employment through networking and applying for jobs at a Hero2Hired job fair.
The fair is one of five events in the past year to help veterans, active-duty military, members of the National Guard and Army Reserve, and military spouses get information on employment, upgrade current job situations and learn about veteran benefits.
According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Utah’s jobless rate for veterans went down from 4.9 percent in 2014 to 2.6 percent in 2015. At last year’s Hero2Hired in Provo, 161 job seekers attended, 66 on-the-spot interviews were conducted, 378 resumes were accepted and 98 conditional job offers were extended to applicants.
Tuesday’s event hosted 52 employers and five veterans services providers who together offered more than 200 available jobs for applicants. Total job offers from the event will be calculated in the next 90 days.
Campbell has found temporary employment as a constituent representative in the office of Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, supporting other veterans.
"It has saved my life," Campbell said of his new job. Working, he said, helps him feel like he has purpose again.
Campbell is also allowed time to attend each Hero2Hired job fair so he can find a more permanent job when his current position ends after two years. He said he enjoys attending the events because they help him meet people and get his information out to employers.
“You come in, and people still care about you. You’re not just kicked to the curb,” he said. “It’s just good to know they care.”
Dezaray Allred, human resource generalist at Zions Bank, said she found her career by participating in a military internship program at the bank. Allred attended Tuesday’s fair, this time as an employer.
“I love these events. They’re fantastic,” Allred said. “All these employers are very helpful. They’re willing to give veterans opportunities that most people aren’t willing to give."
Mark Harrison, with Utah Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, organized the event. In the past year, the five Hero2Hired events throughout the state have resulted in well over 200 direct hires, he said, and many more conditional job offers likely were made but not tracked.
Harrison, a veteran himself, said he hopes Utah veterans will use the resources available to find careers, not just jobs.
“We’ve created in the workplace more veteran-savvy, more veteran awareness,” he said.
The “one-on-one interaction” veterans get at the fair is an important factor in helping them find jobs, Harrison said. He requires all employers to have physical copies of applications or at least guide the applicants personally if they are using electronics.
The "fun part" of the job fairs, Harrison said, is helping employer and job-seeker get together and having that result in a job offer.
“That’s the main part," he said. "That’s the satisfaction.”
At least five Hero2Hired job fairs have been held each year along the Wasatch Front and in southern Utah since November 2011.
Email: ahobbs@deseretnews.com