Offshore Technician

South Central
US Navy, E-7

I was in the US Navy Submarine force for 20 years and 10 months. I am a Sonar Technician Chief Petty Officer, E-7. I commenced Terminal leave in August 2008 and will officially retire on in October. I first started searching for a new career in April 2008.

While stationed in Hawaii, I watched several of my subordinates find gainful employment using Orion International’s services. I also had the opportunity to speak with a recruiter at a job fair in Hawaii long before I was ever planning to get out. With this information, I knew Orion existed and what services they provided from helping others transition to the civilian life.

I had submitted my resume to all the major internet job sites and was getting pages of postings that did not coincide with my search criteria. Then one afternoon in August, I received an email from Orion about a hiring conference in Houston a few weeks down the road. My recruiter was very informative and supportive. He helped me revamp my resume to better detail the skills I gained as a Chief Petty Officer Sonar technician.

The process was very amazing to me. I traveled to Houston for a hiring conference for a large group of offshore companies. Once at the conference, things went very smooth for such a large group. We were given information on every company that was present. Then we were matched with companies that we felt had the opportunity we wanted to apply for. All afternoon we were in a mock interview setting where an Orion representative interviewed me and gave immediate feedback on my interviewing techniques.

I had five interviews that Monday afternoon, one of which requested a second interview with me that same day. I also received an offer several days later from another company with which I interviewed. I took a position as an offshore electrical technician trainee with Hercules Offshore. I was looking for an offshore position in which I could use my military experience and still live in my new home in Arkansas. I have a two-weeks-on/two-weeks-off schedule, which means I work six months a year and have 26 two-week vacations. It can’t get much better than this.

I would recommend Orion to any military person starting a job or career search. These guys can take you experiences and make them stand out on a resume, plus they did not give me a list of employers and say, “Here go see these people.” They will give you real world interview tips and put you in a hiring conference, not a job fair. They have companies that are there to hire someone and want to fill a position right away, not just “some shirt” collecting resumes for later perusal.