Veteran Spotlight: Jonathan Fulton

As Orion celebrates our 20th anniversary this year, so, too, is our very first placement, Jonathan Fulton! Fulton, a USNA Graduate and five-year Navy Nuclear Officer, will celebrate his 20th anniversary with Alcoa, a leading producer of aluminum, in April of this year. Fulton recently spoke with Hire a Hero about his civilian career experience.

Fulton attended the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then served for five years in the Navy where he worked as the Damage Control Assistant on board the USS Alabama, a strategic missile submarine based in Bangor, Washington. Fulton credits the equipment he worked with in the Navy, as well as the long hours, heavy workloads, and multiple demands put on him while in the Navy, with making civilian industry work seem easy in comparison.

When it came time for Fulton to transition, he was soon working with Orion, namely, original founder, Bill Laughlin. “Orion introduced me to life in the civilian industrial world,” says Fulton. It was not long beginning to work with Orion that Fulton was placed with Alcoa.

Fulton started out 20 years ago as a Utilities Engineer responsible for steam, natural gas, and high temperature water. He then moved into Maintenance Engineering and was responsible for compressed air and steam. After a brief stint as a Safety Engineer, Fulton transferred into maintenance management as an Area Coordinator and then a Superintendent. Presently, Fulton is back in engineering as a Senior Staff Maintenance Engineer. After 20 years on the job, Fulton is still enjoying the people, the location, and the work.

When asked what advice he has for employers considering hiring veterans, Fulton advises that they try to understand what skill sets are encompassed by various military specialties. “My employer required me to have a mechanical engineering degree in order to fill their position, but there are people with other engineering and technical degrees with the same military training I have been through that could have easily filled the same position I was hired to fill,” explains Fulton.

Congratulations to Fulton on celebrating his 20th anniversary with Alcoa. Orion is proud to have placed him with Alcoa and wishes him continued success! Stay tuned for another profile of a placement from 1991 in celebration of Orion’s 20th anniversary.

Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions

Hiring managers often try to come up with new and stimulating interview questions in an effort to renovate their hiring process. Some companies take that philosophy a little further than others. Glassdoor.com recently went through their interview reviews and came up with a list of the oddest interview questions. Below is a list of their top 25.

1. “If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?”

2. “How many ridges [are there] around a quarter?”

3. “What is the philosophy of Martial Arts?”

4. “Explain [to] me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years.”

5. “Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are.”

6. “How many basketballs can you fit in this room?”

7. “Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required?”

8. “If you could be any superhero, who would it be?”

9. “You have a birthday cake and have exactly 3 slices to cut it into 8 equal pieces. How do you do it?”

10. “Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum numbers guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ for each guess you make.”

11. “If you had 5,623 participants in a tournament, how many games would need to be played to determine the winner?”

12. “An apple costs 20 cents, an orange costs 40 cents, and a grapefruit costs 60 cents, how much is a pear?”

13. “There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?”

14. “How many traffic lights in Manhattan?”

15. “You are in a dark room with no light. You need matching socks for your interview and you have 19 gray socks and 25 black socks. What are the chances you will get a matching pair?”

16. “What do wood and alcohol have in common?”

17. “How do you weigh an elephant without using a weigh machine?”

18. “You have 8 pennies, 7 weigh the same, and one weighs less. You also have a judge’s scale. Find the one that weighs less in less than 3 steps.”

19. “Why do you think only a small percentage of the population makes over $150K?”

20. “You are in charge of 20 people; organize them to figure out how many bicycles were sold in your area last year.”

21. “How many bottles of beer are drank in the city over the week.”

22. “What’s the square root of 2000?”

23. “A train leaves San Antonio for Huston at 60mph. Another train leaves Huston for San Antonio at 80mph. Huston and San Antonio are 300 miles apart. If a bird leaves San Antonio at 100mph, and turns around and flies back once it reaches the Huston train, and continues to fly between the two, how far will it have flown when they collide.”

24. “How are M&M’s made?”

25. “What would you do if you just inherit a pizzeria from your uncle?”

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Veteran Spotlight: Jeff Moehling

Jeff Moehling separated from the Army nearly 11 years ago and celebrated his ten-year anniversary with Eli Lilly in 2010. In the Army, Moehling served as a Critical Care Registered Nurse out of Fort Bliss, Texas, and decided to pursue a career in Pharmaceutical and Medical Sales with the help of Orion International upon transitioning.

Since he initially came on board with Lilly in 2000, Moehling has served in various positions, including training, managerial, and sales roles, and continues to enjoy his job. Hire a Hero, Hire a Vet recently spoke with Moehling about his civilian experience and the role he see veterans playing in the civilian workplace.

“I have yet to come across an executive that isn't looking for the future leaders of his/her company,” says Moehling of his ten years in Corporate America. And it is through hiring veterans that Moehling believes these executives can find their future leaders. He goes on to point out that veterans have proven skills in the areas of leadership, organization, implementation, and assessment.

“The experiences and training veterans have received will prove extremely valuable to civilian companies,” explains Moehling, “The best soldiers are able to lead and motivate those around them.” Finally, Moehling advises hiring authorities to, “Take a close look at our veterans. The future leaders of your company are likely among them.”

Ways to Inspire Your Employees

A recent TowersWatson study shows that only 21 percent of employees are in engaged in their work. A heavier workload and longer hours could be partly to blame. How can you reengage your employees? By inspiring them. Employees need to know their work is making a difference. Here are ways you can inspire, and in turn, reengage your employees.

Share a compelling vision of what tomorrow looks like. Let them know how that vision will improve their lives and the world in general

Explain what’s in it for them. Why should your employees want to reach their goals? How do their goals line up with the organization’s goals?

Share your own story. Tell them what about the company inspires you to obtain your goals.

Communicate with enthusiasm and passion. If it seems like you don’t care, you’re employees won’t either.

Solicit employee input. Let your employees provide their own take on the vision, and then share their response.

Share positive customer feedback. Give them reasons to feel good about what the company does.

Celebrate achievement of milestones. Recognize your employee’s progress and successes along the way.

The important thing is to communicate with employees. The more they understand what the organization’s goals mean to them individually, the more engaged in the vision they will become.

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