[AT YOUR SERVICE]
JEMS in a WHEN THE ARMY transferred Louella Cazimero-Bactad's husband to Hawaii in 1982, she soon found out that she was on her own when it came to job hunting.
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A joint-services employment agency has
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appreciate the service, tooAT YOUR SERVICE
By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin"There was nothing," said Cazimero-Bactad. "When you went to your new duty station, you were on your own. There was nothing to help spouses find a job."
But last September, it took only a week for Jennifer Plummer, whose husband is stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, to land a job with a local employment placement agency.
The difference was JEMS.
In 1985, four military services -- Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard -- joined forces to create the Joint Employment Management System, to assist military spouses, dependents, retirees and imminent retirees in finding jobs in Hawaii. All services here -- except for the Army, which operates its own employment service -- participate in JEMS. The system acts as a centralized point of contact where employers can list jobs at no cost.
Sharleen Proctor, JEMS director, said her job bank at Pearl Harbor on average contains more than 2,000 positions from 300 to 400 island businesses.
"These range from small mom-and-pop operations to large island corporations such as banks, hospitals and research and information technology companies," she said.
"Many of these companies like to hire military people because their skills are high and they come with knowledge."
No one is sure where the impetus for JEMS came from. Unofficially, some believe it was the brainchild of an admiral's wife who sympathized with the plight of Navy spouses.
In recognition of Military Spouses' Day on May 11, Marine Corps Base Hawaii and its family-member employment assistance program will host a job fair for spouses, family members, retirees, reservists and U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees, from 9 a.m. to noon at Kaneohe Bay's Enlisted Club.
Cazimero-Bactad, who is now a counselor at Pearl Harbor's Family Support Center, said "it can be tough" for a military spouse coming to Hawaii for the first time."All the names sound alike, and you have to know if you live in Pearl Harbor, you're not going to look for a job in Hauula," she said.
Plummer noted that when she started job hunting in January 2000, "it was hard to get my foot in the door," and she didn't get very far relying on newspaper and online advertisements. She visited a career counselor at Kaneohe Bay's employment assistant center. There she and the counselor reviewed her resume and discussed her expectations and possible jobs.
Once that was completed, Plummer turned to the JEMS computerized job bank and began her search.
"You can search for jobs by location, by salary or any other criteria you choose," Plummer said. After that it is up to the applicant to call the employer to make an appointment for an interview.
Otis King, general manager of operations for Security Specialists and Guard Service, said his company has been using JEMS since late December and has hired eight people who used the job-hunting service.
"I've noticed that we get a better quality of personnel through JEMS," King said. "It's one source where we get a better quality of people for supervisory positions."
Judy Aranaydo, an employment counselor at Pearl Harbor, said part of her job is to help military spouses seeking jobs develop their resumes.
"We try to help them to become more marketable," Aranaydo said.
Proctor said JEMS has been responsible for placing more than 4,000 people in jobs.
"But that figure isn't as accurate as we would like it to be since we don't always get a response after a person is hired," Proctor said, "The figure of people finding jobs through JEMS is probably much higher."
The JEMS program, which is administered by the Navy but funded by all four services, is open to spouses, retirees, dependents over the age of 16 and those ready to leave the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
There is no cost for either the companies or job-seekers to use the service.
Job counselors are available at Hickam Air Force Base, Pearl Harbor, the Coast Guard's Sand Island facility, Kaneohe Bay and the Naval Computer and Telecommunications station in Wahiawa.
In addition to maintaining a job bank, JEMS sponsors job fairs each September at Pearl Harbor. The last one was attended by more than 1,700 people.
It also invites the state Department of Education to come on base in June and November to hold seminars and job fairs.
It hopes to go online this summer so spouses can conduct job searches from their home computers.
Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.