Marine glimpses dream job up close
Jeffrey Schmitendorf is a United States Marine with a bright future ahead of him. As a young child, he dreamed of designing airplanes like the ones his step-father flew in Vietnam, his grandfather flew in the Korean War, or the ones used in World War II when his great grandfather was a Navy captain.
Schmitendorf is currently a Force Deployment Planning & Execution Manager for the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton. He is taking the same disciplined, focused and thought-out approach of logistical planning and applying it to his career path. He recently participated in Boots in Business, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's military mentoring initiative with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
The program allows active duty Marines and sailors who are about to leave the service the opportunity to test drive careers by spending time with companies in their desired professions.
Schmitendorf was placed with San Clemente-based Swift Engineering, a design and manufacturing company that can build a single-engine business jet, from a clean sheet design to first flight, in only 200 days. He spent a week at Swift Engineering to shadow key engineers and managers that can demonstrate what it is like working in the engineering profession, and offer advice on educational and career decisions.
"I really want to understand everything that goes into design and engineering, not just the glamorous aspects of it," said Schmitendorf. "It is a major decision; I want to be sure about my career path prior to making such a large investment in time and money."
Schmitendorf is carefully weighing decisions such as what college to attend, engineering disciplines to study, and what experiences will help him stand out as an engineer in order to land a good job.
"When I heard about Swift Engineering, I went to their website and was blown away by the things they did", said Schmitendorf. "I have been able to sit alongside successful engineers and really get a sense for what it means to be an engineer. This experience has been priceless."
Jeffrey Schmitendorf is a United States Marine with a bright future ahead of him. As a young child, he dreamed of designing airplanes like the ones his step-father flew in Vietnam, his grandfather flew in the Korean War, or the ones used in World War II when his great grandfather was a Navy captain.
Schmitendorf is currently a Force Deployment Planning & Execution Manager for the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton. He is taking the same disciplined, focused and thought-out approach of logistical planning and applying it to his career path. He recently participated in Boots in Business, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's military mentoring initiative with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
The program allows active duty Marines and sailors who are about to leave the service the opportunity to test drive careers by spending time with companies in their desired professions.
Schmitendorf was placed with San Clemente-based Swift Engineering, a design and manufacturing company that can build a single-engine business jet, from a clean sheet design to first flight, in only 200 days. He spent a week at Swift Engineering to shadow key engineers and managers that can demonstrate what it is like working in the engineering profession, and offer advice on educational and career decisions.
"I really want to understand everything that goes into design and engineering, not just the glamorous aspects of it," said Schmitendorf. "It is a major decision; I want to be sure about my career path prior to making such a large investment in time and money."
Schmitendorf is carefully weighing decisions such as what college to attend, engineering disciplines to study, and what experiences will help him stand out as an engineer in order to land a good job.
"When I heard about Swift Engineering, I went to their website and was blown away by the things they did", said Schmitendorf. "I have been able to sit alongside successful engineers and really get a sense for what it means to be an engineer. This experience has been priceless."