I spent yesterday in New Jersey, where Ethicon (a Johnson and Johnson company) partnered with the MedTech and BioTech Veterans Program (MVP) hosted 15 veterans in their Somerville headquarters. The veterans were paired with mentors from a half dozen supporting companies, and were able to participate in a full day of industry familiarization, job seeking skill building, resume review, social media branding, and networking.

The CEO of Johnson and Johnson, Alex Gorsky, and the President of Ethicon, Dan Wildman, both took time from their incredibly busy schedules to address the participants.  As if that were not enough commitment from the organization to help veterans, the day culminated with the J&J Talent Acquisition team opening showing how participants could access the thousands of job openings across the J&J family of companies.  It was a testament to how the company is a leader in the veteran employment space, and it is the first of what will become an annual event.

The event is one of six that MVP will be conducting with Life Science companies this year.  The next event is scheduled for May 13th, where Excelsior Medical will be hosting up to 20 veterans at their headquarters in Neptune, New Jersey.  Other events will be held in Chicago, San Diego, Minneapolis, and Boston, so if you are in any of these areas please consider attending!  The events are free for veterans, and each company will be sharing job opportunities as a part of the event.

For more information about upcoming events and the MedTech and BioTech Veterans Program, go to http://www.mvpvets.org and scroll down to the upcoming events section of the landing page.

If you would like to participate, sign up!  We are looking for veterans to participate in every event, and the opportunity to learn about the life science industry and how companies operate is an opportunity that is very different from a job fair or career seminar.

I hope to see you at one of the events!