Military veterans who are seeking work will have a chance next month to shop their skills, at a job fair in Atlanta that will feature more than 300 employers.

The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development and the Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) is encouraging recruiters to sign up for a free table at the job fair, which will be held on Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.

The fair is being held just before Veterans Day is observed across the nation on Nov. 12.

Organizers say they are promoting the event as “Honor A Hero, Hire A Vet,” and they want companies that are actually hiring, as well as those offering community resources to participate in the fair.

“We want businesses that have positions that need to be filled. We have a lot of qualified veterans out there who need work,” said Lee Hunger, Region 3 economic development consultant for DOL.

Employment specialists say they hope the fair will offer a range of jobs—from trainee positions to management in a variety of environments that might include logistics, technicians, retail, sales accounting and even medical fields.

Georgia has more than 700,000 veterans and many are struggling to find work, state officials say. U.S. labor officials estimate the military discharges 160,000 active service members and 11,000 reserve and national guard members annually. About 32,000 of these veterans will join the ranks of nearly 1 million veterans around the country already unemployed. Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are the ones facing the most bleak situations with unemployment among them running 12.1 percent compared to all veterans 18 and older, officials report.

Lawmakers like Congressman Hank Johnson, who represents the Fourth District, has been striving to improve the statistics, pushing for legislation that positively impacts veterans.

“Veterans have served us faithfully, and it is our responsibility to give them the support they need to rebuild their lives,” said Rep. Johnson, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. “That starts with helping them find work.

“President Obama is committed to providing veterans with new training opportunities to transition their job and employment skills. There’s not much we do in Washington and in our constituent services at home more important than serving our veterans.”

The registration deadline for recruiters and exhibitors to sign up for the job fair is Oct. 25.

There is no fee to register.

For more information, exhibitors may contact Willie Glenn, employment marketing representative for the Georgia Department of Labor at 404-298-3887 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .