Officials at Fort Monmouth, N.J., are looking to Maryland for new hires as they seek workers willing to move when the base functions are shifted to Aberdeen Proving Ground.
“Our area of concentration has definitely shifted to Maryland-area schools ? we?re trying to start new partnerships at the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins and Towson University,” said Marta Kiernan, who runs the internship program at Fort Monmouth.
Many military command and research functions are being moved to Aberdeen in Harford County by 2011 as a result of the federal base realignment and closure initiatives.
Human resource specialists on-base are being assigned to each school as contacts, to set up career fairs and consult with students, she said. Students with other connections to the state ? like New Jersey natives in Maryland schools or students in New Jersey or other schools originally from Maryland ? are also being sought. Those connections might make them more willing to follow the jobs, said Norman Kushiyana, director of Monmouth?s Civilian Personnel Advisory Center.
Interns at the base are recruited on a full-time basis, eventually moving into a regular “journeyman” position like other base employees, Kiernan said.
Intern Gregory Bily, a Harford County native and recent graduate of the University of Baltimore, was hired from a job fair at Towson University.
“I took thejob so I could come here and advance as far as I can, careerwise, then come back to Maryland when the time comes,” Bily said.
