By Jay Blackman
NBC News

Long after the welcome home ceremonies, the standing ovations at sporting events and in airports, and the hugs and tears, reality sets in for veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. For a large number of them, the new battle is for a full time job in an economy where so many other folks are out of work. The numbers tell the story. According to the United States Department of Labor, veterans who have served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001 are experiencing a 12.1 percent unemployment rate, with young male vets under the age of 25 suffering the worst -- a 29.1 percent unemployment rate.

There is hope, however, in the form of job fairs sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The program, which started last year, hosted 100 job fairs nationwide, successfully pairing veterans with positions in the private sector.  This year, the Chamber of Commerce partnered with NBC Universal to host ‘Hiring our Heroes,’ and expanded the number of job fairs to 400.   

So far, 5,000 employers have hired more than 8,000 returning veterans.

Click here to find a job fair near you.

For one veteran, Marine Sgt. Edzavier Reese, it wasn't just his skills that got him a job, it was incredible timing and luck.  He had bounced from job to job in California after finishing his five deployments -- four to Iraq and one to Afghanistan -- but now Reese was looking for more.

"I was still stuck trying to be like, ‘I want to like something the way I like being in the Marines,’" he said.

Marine Sgt. Edzavier Reese found a job at GameStop in Atlanta, Ga., through the 'Hiring our Heroes' job fair.

Reese made the decision to return back home to Atlanta, Ga late last year. At first, he was going to take it slow, but once he got behind the wheel of his blue Mazda6, he decided to make the drive straight through, arriving at his mother’s house late afternoon.  A friend told him about a vets-only job fair at the Georgia Dome.  Reese wanted to take a nap, but said he knew he had to go.

"I went into the house, took a shower and shaved my head, and went over there," he said. 

When he got there, the fair was almost over.  As luck would have it, GameStop’s Mark Qualls noticed Reese. 

"I saw a guy coming through, great suit, shoulders back, walking straight, great presence -- he's got to come talk to me," said Qualls, a regional manager at the computer and video game retailer.  

After a brief conversation, Qualls saw in Reese what he says he sees in other returning veterans. "These days most of our veterans coming in have had some type of military service on the war front. So add to that high stress environment, a lot at stake -- quick decision making ability is really important -- and then lastly you have things like determination and honesty and honor and loyalty and that's not just words for them. They take an oath on that and they really believe it. So the better question is, ‘How can you not hire our veterans?’" 

Lisa Rosser, who is also a veteran, now runs a group called The Value of a Veteran, which helps organizations improve veteran recruitment. She says hiring veterans just makes good business sense.

"The military person has the skill sets you need,” she said.  Eighty-one percent of the jobs fit what you have in your organization, and the other skills that we bring are managerial and operational and training and leadership experience. What employer doesn't need those types of skills in their workplace?"

Reese was eventually offered a management trainee job at a GameStop in Atlanta. He says he is eager to get his own store soon. 

“I was pretty excited on the inside,” he said. “But like I said, you’ve got to maintain your cool, you have to.”  

For more on Hiring our Heroes, an initiative from NBC News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aims to get veterans back into the workforce, click here. Learn more about job fairs for veterans here.

By Jay Blackman
NBC News producer

In a nondescript office park in Rockland, Mass., the unemployed can find an oasis. It’s the home of a nonprofit called One Life at a Time, an organization that helps those looking for jobs, but in a different way than the state office of unemployment.  

"We basically do one-on-one, and what that means is that everybody is an individual," said founder Christine Driscoll O’Neill. "Whatever their needs are… whatever they need to get to that place to be able to be employable again – we do."

Driscoll O’Neill believes the one-on-one attention that she and her staff are able to provide free of charge is what makes the difference for her clients.  

O'Neill, who started the organization with the proceeds from a whistleblower lawsuit and hopes to continue supporting it through grants, understands her clients’ pain firsthand.

"I know what it's like to feel unemployed, I didn't like it," she said. "There wasn't anybody there for me, so I want to be there for all the underemployed and unemployed." The organization has two offices in Massachusetts, but it has helped many people who live out of state, too, by phone and by Skype.

With a staff of 12, One Life at a Time offers many regular career services, such as resume polishing and help with cover letters, but it doesn’t stop there. In a conference room with a wall of windows, a makeup artist offers advice on what colors to wear to interviews while applying eye liner on Diane, who is out of work for the first time in her career.

"It's about feeling good about yourself," the makeup artist tells Diane. "Just be yourself. Obviously you want to show some confidence. You know that you're able to do the job, and I think that will go a long way."

Surrounded by an unemployed teacher, a laid-off senior accountant and a nurse struggling to find work, Driscoll O’Neill holds a group discussion about the importance of self-esteem.

In another office, career specialist Russell Abbatiello sets up a small video camera in preparation for a mock interview, which puts clients through the process before they have to do it for real. The interviews are recorded to show people how they performed and what they need to work on.  

Abbatiello is now working with a chemist who has been out of work for more than a year. Not only is he testing her interview skills, but he is also drilling her on everything from how she would deal with an ethical issue to what her advanced degrees would mean to an employer. When the interview is over, they watch the video together, analyzing her performance.

"It's not always the answers that you give," Abbatiello tells the chemist, "it's how you give the answers."

For Ted Burns, 53, and a 20-year veteran in the telecommunications industry, the past year has been challenging. With one child in college and another in high school, he is looking for any edge that will get him back into the workforce.

"I'm  trying to stay as positive as I can, put a smile on and, I know eventually something will come," Burns said. "It's tough, it's a battle, it's a struggle and you just try to stay as positive as you can."

Burns taps on a keyboard in the organization’s computer lab, where classes are offered to help clients leverage the networking power of social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Burns already has used LinkedIn to make several connections. (UPDATE: Just this week, with One Life's help, Burns started a new job in his field.)

Driscoll ONeill says the organization has helped 5,000 people find work, including people such as Jen Guisti, who was laid off from her job as a television producer. Guisti was surprised at how hard it was to find another job.  

"I  heard it was hard but I didn't think it was going to be like this," she said. "I didn't think I was going to be out of work for so long."

Guisti says she struggled going the traditional route through the state offices, and found she needed the one-on-one attention that One Life at a Time provides.

"They were able to help me see things in a different light, and have me go down different paths, and kind of test my skills and test myself," she said. Guisti is now back at work at MK3 Creative, working on corporate videos.

Even with success stories such as Guisti’s, Driscoll O’Neill knows there is more work to do. To her, the country’s 8.6 percent unemployment rate isn't just a number; it represents millions and millions of people.