Protillo-Ontiveras was in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years. She’s also a single mother of two kids: a three-year-old daughter and a son who is almost two years old.

She said the job fair reassured her decision to go back to work.

“I’m doing a good thing, and it’s a good decision that I’m making, because I have doubts, you know?” she said. “Putting my kids in childcare so I could work—am I doing the right thing?”

Protillo-Ontiveras’ job search comes as the U.S. is experiencing a burst of hiring. As the Associated Press reports, an additional 850,000 jobs were added in June, "well above the average of the previous three months and a sign that companies may be having an easier time finding enough workers to fill open jobs."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the June 2021 unemployment rate for veterans is 4.8 percent. This time last year, that figure was over 11 percent.

For female veterans, the current unemployment rate is a bit higher at 5.5 percent. But Protillo-Ontiveros isn’t intimidated by the job market.

“Being a Marine, we had so much chaos all at once,” she said. “They prepare us for that...so it’s not anything I can’t handle.”

She joked that she was going to put “I know how to handle stress” on the top of her resume.

“We already did the hardest thing, which is serving our country. Working, I feel, cannot be harder than what we already did,” she said, encouraging other unemployed veterans to not be discouraged when looking for a job. ”All those fears and insecurities and doubts that you have? Just go for it. Just do it. And that’s what I’m doing.”

The next DAV job fair in Denver will be August 19th at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. More information is available here.

Additional Resources:

• Hire a veteran
• DAV employment resources
• Military Times Job Board