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Andy Botello knew early on that the best way to show his love of country was to serve in the military. He did so proudly as a medic and was banking on his experience to land a job in the Texas Medical Center.
“When I came off of active duty, I had tried to get a job here in the Medical Center, and I was not able to. I thought, because I had a you know, medical background, I thought it would be really easy to do so, I applied at several different hospitals.”
He heard about a job fair being hosted by the Medical Center that was geared exclusively to military veterans.
“When I actually came in, I was wearing my uniform, and I obviously made a big impression. I met one of the recruiters with UT and she said you know, I have the perfect job for you.”
He’s now a research assistant at Memorial Hermann, working with a trauma surgeon who’s also a retired Army colonel and one of the founders of the veterans job initiative called “Hiring Red, White and You”.
Willie French is committee chair.
“The qualities that we seek in veterans are teamwork, able to operate in a stressful environment, adaptability, professionalism. All of those attributes we’re all looking for in our employees. So this is really a win-win situation for all of us.”
About a dozen TMC institutions took part, seeking candidates for careers in a variety of fields. To date, the initiative has resulted in more than a thousand jobs for former military members.
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