Process Supervisor

Northeast
US Marine Corps, E-3

I served in the Marines for a little over five years after extending for a deployment and held a few positions while in the Corps. I was a training program manager in Iwakuni, Japan, and a supervisor for Information Technology supporting aviation logistics around the world. I left the military in September 2006 to attend to a family member in the D.C. area. I didn’t realize how tough the market was for finding jobs…more accurately good jobs. I’d been going to job fairs starting in July 2007 and wasn’t having much luck. Apparently, my stellar resume was getting lost in the abyss with every other civilian candidate. Many of them would have less experience and possibly even less of the discipline and maturity one gains from military service, but what they did have over me was a college degree.

I came across a booth for Orion International at one of the many job fairs that I’d been attending in the hopes of finding a decent career. I was entered into the Orion database in October and employed by November! I worked closely with my recruiter, who listened to my needs and objectives and was able to help me meet them all. Orion cut out the middle man and put me directly in front of hiring managers and then paired me with the best matches where there was a mutually strong desire for us to work with each other.

Having also served as a Marine, my recruiter was able to share his job hunting and interviewing experiences to help me be more marketable. He taught me how to show my potential civilian employers what an asset I would be in a way that they would easily recognize. I was interviewed by seven different companies in one day. My top three choices all offered me a second interview the following week. I chose to work for Essroc Italcementi.

Essroc Italcementi is an international cement company that is one of the world’s leading producers of cement for construction projects, such as the new Nationals baseball stadium in Washington D.C. My position is a Process Control Supervisor. I was trying to break away from the IT field and found a position where the most important skill that I had to offer was my leadership experience (second nature to any Marine). Essroc feels that leadership can’t be taught but the technical skills can. They will be training me through local colleges and Penn State, as well as OJT to get me a degree in engineering before turning me loose in a brand new location they are building in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Orion was able to meet my needs in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to imagine if it hadn’t happened to me. I work not too far from home, so I can be there for my mother. I’m paid well enough to take care of myself and her medical expenses. And, to top it all off, the job is located about 15 minutes away from American Military University, where I’m a full-time student continuing toward my bachelor’s degree in Psychology.