SEMBACH, Germany -- Over the coming weeks, Army Child and Youth Services programs across garrisons in Europe will be seeing a rush of new staff coming on board. Almost 120 job offers were made to applicants during the Europe-wide CYS job fair in September and a second fair is scheduled for Oct. 20.

“It can be a great career. It’s something you can take anywhere, especially our military spouses that are following their spouses throughout their career,” said Joan Thomas, Installation Management Command Europe CYS program manager.

Thomas speaks from experience. Thirty-two years ago as a new military spouse and teacher fresh out of college, Thomas said she just wanted to work with children. She found her opportunity as a Child and Youth Services program assistant and today oversees CYS programs across all of the Army garrisons in Europe.

Career progression and the ability to transfer a CYS career across installations are just two of the benefits of working with CYS. Those applying at the Oct. 20 career will also be eligible for up to $1,000 in hiring bonuses. A $200 recruitment bonus will be paid to the applicant upon appointment. An $800 retention bonus will be paid to the employee after six months of favorable employment.

This summer saw the normal numbers of staff moving out of positions as they moved on to their next duty stations, but the numbers of new applicants wasn’t keeping pace, Thomas said. Teaming up with their human resources counterparts, the Europe-wide hiring fair offered interested applicants the opportunity to interview on the spot.

The Oct. 20 CYS Europe Recruitment Fair will run much like the first event; however the process at each garrison will vary. Participating garrisons and individual instructions for each fair location can be found at https://www.armymwr.com/cys-recruitment-fair.

Stacy Moneymaker-Donachie, a supervisory HR specialist for Civilian Human Resource Agency Europe, recommended interested applicants visit the website to identify any garrison-specific requirements and for links to submit applications prior to attending the Oct. 20 event.

“We had all hands on deck,” Moneymaker-Donachie said of the first event’s success. “We had CYS locking arms with HR across the European footprint because everyone wanted to be successful.”

According to both Moneymaker-Donachie and Thomas, the event was a huge success. Using the same tactics and lessons learned from the September fair, the teams hope to bring on even more direct-care staff across the region allowing more spaces to be opened for child care and youth programs. Direct care positions are available with all ages of children at garrison CYS Child Development Centers, School Age Care and Youth Centers.

CYS Europe Recruitment Fair – Oct. 20

CYS Career Guide

Civilian Employment Assignment Tool (CEAT)

Note: USAG Wiesbaden is not participating in the Oct. 20 recruitment fair.