Getting Started

I have spent the last year preparing myself for this journey. My time and dedication has paid off and in five months I'll be traveling south to march with the penguins. It hasn’t been easy, but I have had a lot of help increasing my odds of being 1 of 700 new candidates picked from the pool of 35,000 applicants.


Talking with Amber I realized that to increase my odds of being selected I would need to travel to Denver CO to visit the Raytheon Headquarters. To prepare I created employment packages including: Customized Cover Letters, Resume, Curricula Vite, 3 great reference letters, and topped off with a Vermont Maple Candy. The picture to the left shows the great amount of work that went into the preparation. I have spent the past year preparing, accelerating my schooling, and pestering Amber, so I wanted to take every precaution needed to successfully be selected for an opportunity of a life time.


The Job fair was a little crazy. I showed up around 9 in the morning on Friday the 13th of April and spent a total of about 8 hours at the Raytheon Polar Services Headquarters. Shortly after arriving I had the pleasure of meeting Cori Manka, Amber's roommate last year in McMurdo. Although Cori was very busy, she was able to answer a few of my questions and point me in the right direction. Cori is very cute and nice and I'm hoping she deploys again this year. I am guessing that there were a total of 2000 people that showed up for the job fair. However I got many rave reviews for my organized employment packages (a few people thought the Maple Candy was a bribe) and I feel that I was able to make an impression. With so many applicants it is very important to make an impression and stand out from the others. I think the maple candy was a great touch to help remember "Kevin from Vermont."