Better jobs out there than Walmart

To the editor,
At the planning commission's Walmart hearing on May 21, I was taken by the fact that a number of the speakers spoke about the needed job opportunities offered by Walmart. That got me thinking about the job opportunities within a 40-mile radius of the intersection of routes 20 and 522. The citizens of Orange County are extremely fortunate to be within an easy commute of a great number of quality employers that offer good stable positions and sound benefits such as reasonable salaries, training, health care, retirement, etc. The Fredericksburg, Culpeper, and Charlottesville areas offer numerous opportunities in retail and health care. You don't have to be a doctor or a nurse to work in health care because there are numerous other jobs at various skill levels available in the heath care industry.
There is also the University of Virginia that offers numbers of jobs that don't require a PhD. There are also jobs available in those same geographical areas at various technical levels both in public and private sectors for those whose interests lie in that direction. Jobs can be found in just about any occupation in which you have an interest. The support positions are numerous and too many to list here. For example, most if not all these employers need facility support, IT support, maintenance and repair support, trucks unloaded, shelves stocked, onsite security, bookkeeping and accounting, and the list goes on. Then there is Dominion's nuclear power plant at Lake Anna. There are a great deal of high paying jobs there, but they require numerous hours of rigorous training. However, if you get selected into their training program, you are well on your way to a lifelong career. Joining the Navy and going through their nuclear training program will open a lot of doors in the nuclear industry and is a good way to get started for a young person.
To qualify for some of these positions, you would have to prepare yourself via prior experience or training or a combination of both, but, there are many entry level positions that require little or no qualifying prerequisites.
Keep in mind that in the vast majority of cases, you do not have to live in a county to work in it, and opportunity won't come knocking on your door. You will have to go and search it out and be prepared when you find it. You need to have a complete and honest resume which includes your education background (formal and informal), your work experience, community involvement, hobbies, and interests. You also need to have references that can attest to your abilities, attitude and work ethic. Be prepared to sell yourself, give the employer a good reason to hire you above all the others. Don't be afraid to start at the bottom, a foot in the door is what you need, and once you have that, you are well on your way.
John Bangs
Orange