Equipment Supervisor

Northeast
US Navy, E-6

To sum up how effective the Orion International two-day hiring conference I attended in Fishkill was is simple; IT WORKS!!! Let me first say that like many transitioning veterans, I originally wasn’t quite sure about all that goes into successfully attending a conference. Also, I was worried that any firm that showed up wouldn’t be very interested in my skill mix, especially since I was not heavy in computer skills and am an E-6. I didn’t feel that I had enough leadership experience for any positions that would have a starting salary that would come anywhere near what I am making in the Navy.

Previous to the hiring conference I attended in February, I submitted resumes online through various websites, talked to the various companies that my command dealt with on a routine basis, hit up family and friends, and read the newspapers in search of a good job. Out of all that, I generated exactly ONE callback; that was it. I felt like my resume had disappeared into the internet void, and it seemed like the only sure thing that I would get would be the local hardware store… I actually sat down and tried to determine if I could make it financially on $10/hr!!!

I took my resume to the TAMP class, showed it to several hiring agencies (including Orion), and had some internet companies examine it to determine if the problem was just that I couldn’t adequately write a resume. All three groups told me that my resume was good, certainly not the best, but marketable. So what was my problem? I asked that question over and over again. The answer was that I didn’t have a way to get my foot in the door to actually meet people that would be willing to give an interview.

Enter the Orion Fishkill conference…Orion got the door open for me and made sure that I had the chance to talk to people in companies that were LOOKING TO HIRE. I was lined up for four interviews with companies that were looking for skill sets that were similar to what I had gained from the Navy.

At about 10PM on the first night of the conference, I finally came to the most important realization about this event; Orion had brought several firms down that really were looking for people, and that list of people included me. The only thing standing in the way of any job that I wanted at that point was me. All I had to do was show what I could bring to the company. Less than two weeks after the conference, I have gone through three second interviews and have had two job offers, both with a starting salary greater than 50K. Not bad for an enlisted man without a college degree!