Quality Manager

West
US Navy,

I was attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Oak Harbor, Washington, going for a BS in Professional Aeronautics prior to landing this job as a Quality Engineer with Honeywell Aerospace through Orion International. I plan to continue online courses to reach that goal. As a CWO5 in the Navy, my last title was Avionics Production Officer in the Fleet Readiness Center Northwest at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, Washington. My official discharge date is March 31, but I started terminal leave on January 5 and had sporadically been looking for jobs since about November. I started seriously job hunting about the middle of January and discovered Orion on the internet.

My Orion recruiter was Katrina Ross, and she was very encouraging throughout the process with Orion. She pressed me to interview with companies that I felt I did not qualify for or that didn't have a position fitting my qualifications. I met Katrina at the Orion hiring conference I attended in January. To prepare for the conference, I participated in the online interview techniques session.

I attended the conference a few days later, where I listened to briefs about the companies attending and the positions available. (Because I thought it was important to tackle all job possibilities, I also attended a hiring conference put on by another recruiting firm and found that Orion goes more in depth with the company briefs, which I believe is important to candidates.) Initially, after reviewing the list of companies that were attending the conference, I was only interested in two positions. But after listening to the company briefs, I found eight positions I wanted to interview for, and, as time allowed, I was able to get scheduled for six on Monday.

Of the six companies I interviewed with, five were quite interested in me for their positions. Honeywell was one of the companies that I didn’t think would find me qualified, as they were looking for an individual with an Engineering degree, and I only have an AS degree in Accounting. So, it was because of Katrina's persistence that I interviewed with Honeywell and landed a job with them…all within a week! I interviewed with three Honeywell representatives on Monday. By the end of the day, I was asked to come on-site for a second interview on Tuesday and tour their facility. On Tuesday, I first interviewed with the Site Manager and then with their HR specialist, along with their "Operations Excellence" leader. On Wednesday, I officially applied for the position on Honeywell's website and was offered the position on Thursday. On Friday, I accepted the job!