The Landing School in Arundel is showcasing student resumes online with short videos. Among those featured is Kathryn Slocum, who said when she crossed the bridge into Maine it felt like she was coming home. Courtesy Photo/The Landing School
ARUNDEL – The Landing School in Arundel is using video resumes as a way to highlight its students’ experiences and aspirations and help them secure interviews, and employment after graduating from the boat building program.
Students like Kathryn Slocum, an 18-year veteran with the U.S. Marine Corps, where she served as a logistics and operations officer.
In recent year, she began to to be intrigued by the shape of boats.
“I became more and more captivated by the shape of wooden boats,” said Slocum by telephone recently. She said looked for occasions to see if her admiration of the vessels was more than just that she liked the way they looked.
“So, I looked for opportunities,” she said. “I toured The Landing School, and as soon as I drove over the bridge from New Hampshire, it felt like home.”
Brandon Russell is completing the Marine Systems program at the school and plans to return next year for the Yacht Design course. His six years in the U.S. Navy helped solidify his love of boats, he said.
“They provide a way to explore places still unknown on our world while using the same basic principles as civilizations thousands of years ago,” Russell said.
Slocum, Russell and other students at The Landing School are featured online, where boatbuilders and other marine industry companies can look for qualified people to employ.
The resume webpages include short video clips of each participating student discussing their ideal job and their experience, with detailed resumes under their names.
Marine systems student Brandon Russell is among The Landing School students featured in new online video resumes. Courtesy Photo/The Landing School
The Landing School Communications Director Sarah Devlin said the video pages were created because of the interview challenged created by the coronavirus pandemic. The pages, she said, were created so potential employers can get a sense of who they might want to talk to.
The new page, sectioned by Composite Boat Building, Yacht Design, Wooden Boat Building, and Marine Systems, as well as a page for Independent Study students, highlights who The Landing School students are, and what they aspire to do, school officials say.
It is an effort to further boost students’ endeavors to launch their careers when they graduate, said Devlin. Employers are also invited to post job listings on the school’s webpage.
Jamie Houtz, the school’s industry liaison, maintains contact with an estimated 1,500 alumni working in the industry.
“I rely on our network of alumni to support students as they start a career, but these new video and resume pages are going to provide them with even more of a leg up,” Houtz said in a news release. “Students graduating from our programs are passionate about boat building, repair, and design. They’re ready to get to work, and I want to help them.”
Sarah Devlin, communications director at The Landing School, said student resume video pages were created because of the interview challenges created by the pandemic. Dan King photo
Clicking through the videos is worth the time for those in the marine industry looking for workers, he said.
“And, keep in mind, while you might be looking for someone with experience in marine systems, you may well find them in the composites boat building section,” Houtz said.
Slocum and Russell are among an array of students featured.
Russell, 27, hopes to eventually attend Solent University in Southampton, England, to earn a bachelor’s degree in yacht design and small watercraft engineering.
“After completing school, I’ll be open to working anywhere challenging that allows me to continue to learn about the industry and apply my creativity,” he said in an email. “Some of my biggest interests are utilizing renewable energy sources and using recyclable materials.”
Slocum, 41, graduated from the wooden boat program and has stayed on at the school, undertaking independent study, building a traditional Norwegian boat, a Nordland fishing boat. At the same time, she’s working for French & Webb, a boatbuilding company in Belfast, Maine, where she developed and uses a cataloguing system to archive the restoration of the presidential yacht, the USS Sequoia.
“I’ve been in and around boats since I was about 6 or 7 years old,” said composites boatbuilding student Torben Johnson in his online video. “My ideal job … would be to get somewhere in the sailboat market or industry, either building or repairing sailboats.”
“I see myself trying to achieve a balance between yacht design, being involved in the build process, and being out on the water,” said yacht design student and program assistant Michael Harris.
For more information about the video resumes, visit https://www.landingschool.edu/student-resumes.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
