(The Enterprise/File)
VALE – The Bureau of Land Management’s Vale District is putting on a job fair this Friday, Oct. 18.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon at the district office, 100 Oregon St.
Representatives from various careers in the agency will be on hand to meet potential applicants and answer questions about the job opportunities available with the BLM.
The focus will be on entry-level positions in fire management, but the agency also wants to introduce attendees a wider array of opportunities.
“Most people think what we do is all about squirting water and throwing dirt and although that’s the tip of the sword there’s so much more to fire management that we want to highlight,” said Al Crouch, fire mitigation/education specialist at Vale BLM.
Crouch said careers in dispatch, geographic information systems and logistics are among other options to explore and they will be discussed at Friday’s event.
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The session will also walk people through the usajobs.gov website, which is where interested applicants must apply for positions.
Crouch said it’s the perfect time of year for this event.
“We tell everyone if you’re interested in fighting fire in a temporary position next summer, start looking for an application between Thanksgiving and New Years – all the applications are typically up by then,” he said.
The agency is expecting a young crowd Friday, but the job fair is open to all ages.
The BLM starts making selections for those seasonal summer positions in January. The application process can be lengthy.
Applicants who are tapped for a positions must go through a background check and medical exam as well as a random drug test.
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