In the spring of my senior year, through my college career center, I applied for the junior controls engineer position at Hallam. Three days after submitting the application, I received an email from the CEO, Keith Flaherty, asking for a 15 minute phone interview. I got so excited but also nervous, thinking that it was going to be an extremely serious quizzing session. However, it turned out that the conversation we had was a lot more relaxed than I expected and we both obtained information we needed in a very comfortable way. Keith not only patiently listened to my stories, but also encouraged me to ask as many questions as I wanted about his experience with Hallam. The 15 minute phone call ended up lasting more than 30 minutes.
At that time, it was very surprising to me that an entry level job seeker like myself, could actually get such “high level” treatment during the first round of interviews. I realized later on that this is actually Hallam’s culture — relaxed, humble, resourceful and personal. Working in this environment makes me feel important and makes me believe that my opinions are heard even as a beginner. This feeling of being valued makes me want to contribute to the team’s success as much as I can.
Hallam has given me a lot of opportunities to grow in a little over a year. I have already worked on four completely different system integration projects, gone through two rounds of company financial trainings and attended a handful of professional development events. I have worked with our engineers, designers, technical support and integrators from three regional offices. I have even gone to two Hallam anniversary celebrations (I was lucky enough to be hired right before the first one happened). There are so many ways to learn at Hallam and I am very thankful and happy that I get to have these experiences.
