Hire a Hero recently followed up with Orion alumnus
Kevin Robillard, an Aviation Captain, and UH-60 Blackhawk Assault Company
Commander in the Washington Army National Guard. Now a Senior SIOP and Inventory Leader with Honeywell Aerospace, Kevin assumed
that employers would be lined up to extend him job offers following five years of active duty. He was in for a
surprise and soon made finding a career a full-time job.
Kevin soon
reached out to Orion and was almost immediately scheduled for an upcoming
hiring conference. Despite holding what he believes to be a non-applicable
degree for most corporate positions, Kevin interviewed with several companies through
Orion, and received a call-back from Honeywell Aerospace for an ISC Supervisor role,
which he accepted in December 2012.
Kevin
advises hiring managers looking to hire veterans to understand that a veteran's suitability for a job goes beyond their direct experience. “I had zero
manufacturing experience, zero aerospace experience, zero corporate experience,
zero civilian supervising experience,” explains Kevin, “yet I did have
leadership, team-building, operations, planning, problem-solving, and
demonstrated success in all of those realms, along with the world-class
training and mentorship that the US Army provides.”
Kevin
continues, “I believe that most successful businesses and hiring managers value
the intrinsic leadership principles instilled in service members above
job-specific experience."
For the
first two years of his career at Honeywell, Kevin supervised anywhere from
20-70 direct reports in an aerospace manufacturing facility, starting on second
shift and moving to first shift about a year in. Within the last six months, he
received a promotion and transfer into the Materials group as a Senior Sales,
Inventory, Operations and Planning (SIOP) Leader, where he advises the site
leadership on strategic initiatives and the direction to take the factory in
terms of census, hours, overtime, inventory, etc.
Kevin
explains that veterans bring a unique skill-set to any career they choose. The
training and experience veterans receive during their military service sets them
apart and makes them a valuable commodity to potential employers. “Every
Soldier is a leader,” Kevin says, “and there are dynamic careers in America’s
top companies just waiting for leaders to step in and begin making an impact."
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