Project Manager

West
US Coast Guard, E-7

After nearly three decades of service in the Coast Guard, I am off and running with a promising career in a booming industry thanks to Orion International. I began to contemplate retiring back in 2004 and came across Orion on the internet then. Once I finally decided to retire, I began to work with Bill Fitzgerald at Orion.

I began searching for jobs in January 2008, but I limited myself to the Las Vegas area until the Orion hiring conference in August. Although I did tie his hands by desiring to remain in Las Vegas, Bill did a great job. He listened and offered sage advice, which I wound up taking later.

At the hiring conference in August, I attended the orientation on Sunday and lined up interviews for Monday and Tuesday. I interviewed with two different people for Akeena on Monday. The last person to interview me for Akeena said that he had something in mind for me beyond the position for which I was interviewing and said he would get back to me the next day.

The next day I went to another interview with Akeena, and they told me about a new position they decided to create, Director of Project Management. They told me, "Dave, you are way overqualified to be a Project Manager, but I need some to manage the Project Managers." So there you have it, initially I will be the Department Manager - Project Management, and after ninety days I should be promoted to Director of Project Management.

In my experience, the key to dealing with Orion was flexibility. I highly recommend the hiring conference and the orientation to brush up on interview skills. The interview practice made a huge difference in my demeanor and confidence going in.