Norris Inc. Employee Profile: Alan Jochem

Norris Inc. prides itself on hiring the best people around. Norris has a nearly 40-year tradition of building a strong team that cares about country, community and giving of self to help others. In a continuing segment, Norris will take a look at the team members who make the Norris Difference!

Norris has made a habit of hiring veterans, active service military and first responders for a reason. An excerpt from the Veterans Affairs office makes clear why:

Employers and companies can benefit from hiring Veterans. Military personnel are often cross-trained in multiple skills and have experience in varied tasks and responsibilities. Many Veterans have learned what it means to put in a hard day’s work. They have also come to appreciate the challenges and satisfaction of a job well done. Much of this experience can translate to their participation in the workforce making the Veteran an asset on the job.
Strengths the Veteran can bring to the workplace include:

  • Working well in a team. Teamwork is considered an essential part of daily life and is the foundation on which safe military operations are built.
  • Having a sense of duty. Responsibility for job performance and accountability for completing missions are something to take pride in.
  • Experiencing self-confidence. Holding a realistic estimation of self and ability based on experiences is expected of each Service Member.
  • Being organized and disciplined.
  • Possessing a strong work ethic. In the military, the mission always comes first.
  • Having the ability to follow through on assignments, even under difficult or stressful circumstances.
  • Possessing a variety of cross-functional skills, such as extensive training on computer programs and systems, interacting with various people with different skills to accomplish a task, and coordinating and troubleshooting problems in novel and known conditions.
  • Being able to problem solve quickly and creatively.
  • Being able to adapt to changing situations.
  • Being able to follow rules and schedules.

Hiring a Veteran can result in the hiring of a dedicated employee who has developed valuable teamwork, leadership, and job skills.

Today’s Profile interview is with IT Manager Alan Jochem.

NI: Where are you from originally, Alan?

AJ: Chico, California.

 

NI: What did you accomplish in school?

AJ: Engineering Degree, Education Development Degree, Information Systems Degree

 

NI: What was your branch and what were your dates of service?:

AJ: Served in the Navy, 1975 – 1995.

 

NI: What were your deployments?

AJ: There were a variety of deployments. West PAC, Persian Gulf, Several Drug Ops both East and West Coast.

 

NI: What made you decide to apply at Norris?

AJ: A fellow Veteran and current employee of Norris was aware of my skill set and asked me if I would be interested, the job position was one that would utilize all 3 of my degrees and pulled on the experience that I received from the Navy.

 

NI: What do you do in your spare time, for fun, as a hobby, Etc?

AJ: Hobbies are in this order, traveling with my wonderful wife, Cooking, Golf and shooting Pool.

 

NI: What do you do at Norris?

AJ: At Norris, I helped develop the Remote Services Department and now serving as the Safety and Training Supervisor/IT support.

 

NI: What are your plans for the future?

AJ: Plans are to retire from Norris a healthy person and then Play Golf, Cook a lot and travel and shoot pool in between.

 

What is Norris all about?
Norris, Inc.—a South Portland, Maine-based life-safety and security systems integrator with satellite offices in Bangor, Maine; Lee, New Hampshire; and Burlington, Vermont—was founded nearly 40 years ago by two brothers, Brad and Harty Norris. The brothers remain on the board of directors today and continue to help steer the enterprise toward its goal of advancing life-safety, security, and communications while striving to grow in its status as Northern New England’s leading systems integrator. Norris provides fully integrated life-safety and security solutions, comprising disparate systems including fire alarm, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance, emergency notification, and communications.