Interviewees: Employers
Mike Faietta
Mike is the Supervisor of Desktop Support at Maine Medical Center. He grew up in Portland and attended South Portland High School, then went on to get an associate’s degree in computer science from Andover College. After college, Mike enlisted in the Navy, where he served four years. During his time in the Navy, Mike did a lot of work with computers and decided to pursue a career in the IT field. He has worked at Maine Medical Center for the past sixteen years and has a great deal of experience hiring entry-level IT technicians and helping young people progress further along their chosen IT career paths.
Doug McKeown
Doug is the CEO of Woodard & Curran, a Maine-based integrated engineering and consulting firm with over 600 employees and offices across the East Coast. Doug received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Dayton in Ohio, then worked in sales for a while before going to Boston College for his MBA degree. He has extensive experience in hiring employees and has interviewed many young job candidates over the course of his career.
- Expose your children to the many career options available
- Work to build public speaking skills and leadership experience
- Computer skills, science and math knowledge, and good writing are essential
- Your GPA is not necessarily the determining factor in landing a job
- It’s obvious if you’re not passionate about a job
Karen Koulovatos
As the Manager of Staffing and Recruiting at Maine Medical Center, Karen is oversees much of the hiring that takes place in the hospital. This includes recruiting not only nurses and clinical technicians, but also IT professionals, housekeeping staff, and human resources personnel. Karen grew up in Ellsworth, ME and received her degree in organizational leadership at UNE.
- Opportunities for high schoolers to learn about health care careers
- Make connections to find internship and job opportunities
- Many different types of jobs within the hospital setting
- Medical schools look for life experience as well as booksmarts
- Get involved in clubs and activities to bulk up your resume
Arlene French
Arlene is an X-ray tech at Elliot Hospital and was interviewed by students from Raymond (NH) High School’s JAG class. She grew up in Wellesley, Mass. and attended Northeastern University, earning an associate degree in radiology. She has been working at Elliot Hospital as an X-ray tech for 23 years.
Carrie Chooljian
Carrie was interviewed by the Raymond High School JAG class. She studied social work at Eastern Michigan University, graduating in 1982. She works at Lamprey Health Care as a care coordinator, assisting patients with a wide variety of needs.
Karen Fradette
Karen Fradette, a nurse practitioner, was interviewed by the Raymond (NH) High School JAG class. She went to Central High School in Manchester, NH, graduating in 2001 and went on to St. Michael’s College. After she graduated from college she spent a few years working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before returning to school at Regis College to earn her BS and MS in nursing. She is currently working as a nurse practitioner at Elliot Hospital.
Cathy Pelonzi
Cathy is a nurse in Raymond, NH and was interviewed by the Raymond High School JAG class. She went to Beverly High School and graduated in 1981. She did very well in high school, but got caught up in the partying scene and do not attend college. Instead, she ended up getting married and having children. In 1994 she went to Hesser College to become a medical assistant and worked in different jobs at Elliot Hospital before deciding to pursue nursing. She earned her RN from Concord Tech in 2003 and is current employed as a RN at Elliot Pediatrics and Primary Care in Raymond.
Jeremy Hitchcock
Jeremy went to Manchester West High School and graduated in 2000. From there he went on to WPI. Between his freshman and sophomore years at WPI he and some friends started a technology company. Today Jeremy is the CEO and CFO of that company, Dynamic Network Services, and has over 60 employees.
Matt McKenney
Matt grew up in Newport and graduated from Newport Middle High School in 1993. After high school he enrolled at UNH as a computer science major and stayed for about a year before deciding to leave. He has had several jobs in manufacturing since leaving college and has been at Hypertherm for almost 7 years. His current job is in employee training as a Manufacturing Process Instructor.
Melanie Matulonis
Melanie grew up in Dover, NH and graduated from Dover High School in 2001. She then went on to Keene State College, studying communications and media studies, and graduated in 2005. After college she moved to Hanover and started a temporary job with Hypertherm through a temp. agency. She ended up getting hired full-time and worked for four years before moving to her job in HR as a recruiter.
Evan Smith
Evan grew up in Lancaster, PA and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1986. He worked in various jobs for six years before returning to school to receive his MBA from Harvard. He has worked at Hypertherm for 19 years, starting in marketing and moving his way up to his current role as VP and General Manager.
Deane Ilukowicz
Deane grew up in rural Pennsylvania. After high school she went on to play field hockey at Johns Hopkins University and graduated with a degree in social and behavioral sciences. She went back to school to get her MBA at Wake Forest University and worked in financial services for about 20 years before starting at Hypertherm. She is currently the VP of Human Resources at Hypertherm.
Gabrielle Melchionda
Gabrielle grew up in Amherst, MA and graduated from UMass Amherst in 1992. As a junior in college she began making lip balm out of her mom’s kitchen. By the time she graduated she was selling her products in 40 stores across New England. Today her company, Mad Gab’s, sells natural bodycare products all over the world. Gabrielle shares the story of how she started her business, how it has evolved, and what she would do differently.
Hussein Ahmed
Hussein moved to the U.S. from Somalia in 2001 and settled in Georgia. In 2002 he moved with his family to Lewiston, Maine. Hussein is currently the owner of a store in Lewiston, Barwaqo.
Brett Wickard
Brett grew up in Illinois and came to Maine to attend Bowdoin College. When the record store in Brunswick went out of business in the 80s and Brett had no summer job, he decided to open up his own record store. At the last minute he found a location, ordered some CDs with money he had saved, and Bull Moose was born. Twenty years later there are ten Bull Moose locations in Maine and New Hampshire. Brett also runs Crickery Wood, a software development company in Portland.
Mike Hunt and Matt DuBois
Mike and Matt met while attending The Connecticut Culinary Institute. After graduating from there, they decided to open a bakery together. They renovated an old bank, and turned it into a well established bakery. For the past two years, Mike and Matt have started doing wedding cakes, which have brought in even more business.
Larry Charrier
After college, Larry got a job working in Boston as a florist and became the highest paid florist in the Boston area. Instead of opening his own shop in Boston, he moved back to Skowhegan, Maine. His Skowhegan store has now been successful for over 20 years.
Jim Dyer
Jim grew up in Mars Hill, Maine and graduated from Central Aroostook High School in 1996. He spent one year at Northern Maine Technical College before deciding to move to Dover, NH in search of a job. On his trip to Dover he stopped to help a stranger which he says is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to him because it resulted in a job. He has been working at Sullivan Tire since 1997 and is now the manager of Sullivan Tire in Portland.
Sheila Spekin Knight
Sheila and her husband opened a nut business that began as a hot dog stand at Old Orchard Beach. Her business is now a well respected company that sells Buck Nuts locally as well as nationally. In the interview, Sheila talks about who she likes to hire for employees, as well as the in’s and out’s of owning a business.
Margo Peffer
Margo graduated from Westbrook High School and the University of Maine with a degree in business management. After graduation she was accepted into the Retail Management Training Program at Hannaford and spent a few years working in Hannaford stores before joining the corporate office. She is now the strategic staffing specialist, in charge of recruiting employees such as pharmacists, managers, and department heads.