LIFE AT MHIRJ: CARRINGTON VALENTINE

LIFE AT MHIRJ: CARRINGTON VALENTINE

CARRINGTON MHIRJ TECH SHORTAGE

Sometimes life takes you in unexpected directions. Just ask Carrington Valentine, Quality Control Inspector at the MHIRJ service center in Bridgeport, West Virginia. When his military career came to an end, he was presented with an opportunity to pursue a career in aviation, and he hasn’t looked back since.
 

The beauty of the aviation industry is that your diverse skills can take you far. For Carrington, his military background, aviation education, and attention to detail have afforded him the opportunity to grow his career with MHIRJ. Pair that with the social life he’s cultivated with his team and the active lifestyle he enjoys outside of work, and he could tell you that he’s truly managed to land that sweet spot between work and play. Watch his story:

 

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TURNING CHALLENGES INTO SKILLS

As a Quality Control Inspector, it's essential that Carrington has an eye for detail. But this wasn’t always something that came easily to him. “The biggest obstacle that I've overcome in this industry is learning how to be detail-oriented. I am more of a global thinker. I see the big picture. So, learning and understanding the fine details of aviation maintenance has been my biggest struggle. But because of this career field specifically, I have developed the talent of being detail oriented, and that's how I ended up becoming an inspector,” he says.

Stories like his go to show that even if you think you don’t have everything it takes, anything can be learned and any skill can be sharpened over time, in turn taking your career to unexpected new heights. Carrington now prides himself on his attention to detail when he carries out tasks like the primary inspection where he and his crew spend about two weeks inspecting every single inch of the plane to find anything that needs to be fixed.

PASSING ON WISE ADVICE

When it comes to career advice, Carrington takes what he’s learned and passes it on to those who are following in his footsteps. His military background looked quite different from his current role, but taking on sound advice helped him achieve the work ethic he has now. “I would say probably the best advice I received in my career is to take your time and enjoy yourself. This is a very high stress career field where everything you do matters. And if you're not careful, you can let that overwhelm you. So the best thing that I've learned is just to take your time, relax, and enjoy yourself,” he says. And his best advice for those coming in? “Enjoy the journey. Because this career field, is a journey. A lot of times you're going to start off as an apprentice before you get your license.”

And enjoying the journey is exactly what he’s done. On working at MHIRJ he says “It's a very fun and laid-back environment. One of my favorite things about working here is that is that the people here are really friendly, and if you ask them a question, they'll stop what they're doing to help you."

Meet more MHIRJ team members and hear their stories in WINGPSAN, and take a look at current opportunities to join them: https://mhirj.com/en/careers

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