Career Path > Resume & Interview

A reflection on the Interview

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PapaHotelSailor:
ANO is coming here to Pearl Harbor to interview me and some other Navy nukes on September 3-5. I have been told by the AOps that those of us who are getting out of the Navy soon are interviewing for those 5 remaining positions you talked about. The rest of us, maybe 5 more, are interviewing for next year. As far as us Navy guys go, we all have between 6 and 9 years operational experience, and we are all working with the nuclear side of the shipyard for now, but we have no college degrees. I hope these dates will give you a better idea of when to expect an answer. Most of all, as naive as it sounds, since you are the competition.... I wish you success.

bheinz:

--- Quote from: RVExotics on Aug 21, 2008, 10:11 ---The only part during the interview where I might have faltered... is when one of the interviewers asked if I had ever worked any physical labor jobs since the AO position would require some. I said that no, I hadn't officially worked any jobs like that since my jobs up to that point were teaching (no physical labor, just lots of mental labor!) ... I guess I probably shouldn't have initially approached the answer to that question in the negative, but I was just being honest. ...
--- End quote ---

I don't think that this has anything to do with the fact that you might not get a job with ANO. The AO job is not that strenuous at all. Yes there is some walking, some light lifting, some big valves to operate, but you're not a pipe fitter or a member of maintenance rigging and building things. The AOs operate plant equipment and do surveillances on it. I don't know how it is at ANO, but here at VY we are also on the fire brigade. Which means yes there is a need to be fit, ( hauling some tools around, wearing 50lbs of gear, and possibly, if the need be, dragging your partner out of danger), but adrenalin helps with a lot of that stuff.
I have a feeling it's because you don't really have the background that the Ex-Nukes do, hate it as you may. Teaching science is great, being able to cope with environmental stress, also great. But if you can't listen to a pump and know that something doesn't sound right, or know that when you operated a certain valve or breaker that the expected results weren't there, well then you can't class yourself as being equally qualified. Now please don't take this the wrong way, I know  plenty of people who are AOs here with me that had no Navy background that can do the job just as well as the rest of us. But then you also have the ones, who haven't a clue, but are here because they can score high on tests. Which means we need to watch them, and make sure that they truly understand the results of their actions.
Just a quick question though. Why were you intrested in the job to begin with? And why would you put all your eggs in one basket (but the senior hiring person knew I had forfeited my teaching position and is still making me wait for the final word until well past the time I could possibly get another teaching position) for a complete change of career move? I guess that's two questions. Either way, best of luck with whichever path you choose. Plants are on a hiring frenzy right now. So if you don't get in this class there is one right around the corner. We hired an AO for a class that doesn't start for another 8 months. You never know what is going through the Ops Management brains. Here's one tip though, Don't give up!  ;)

RVExotics:
PapaHotelSailor,
Thanks for posting that. It gives me a better idea about what to expect the next time around. I completely understand where they're coming from and know why ex-Navy nukes would be a great asset. The guy I know who works there seemed to think they would place a lot of value in someone being local to the area so that they wouldn't spend a fortune on training someone who would just leave as soon as he/she was licensed. I guess maybe he was incorrect about that. I wish you the best of luck as well.

Frau,
You bring up some great points as well. I can only imagine how much hands on experience a Navy nuke would get during service. I know I'd be completely unqualified compared to them. I would hope that they wouldn't only try to hire ex-Navy people though, at least to get some diverse backgrounds in the plant.

You asked why I was willing to put all my eggs in one basket, as it were? Had I not had the person I knew there who seemed to imply it looked pretty rosy, I wouldn't have tried it this time around. The simplest answer as to why I was willing to risk so much would be income. I have a lot of student loan debt and whatnot, and an AO salary even starting out would've allowed me to erase it within two years easily, as opposed to the 4-5 years I'm looking at. Ultimately, that would lead to house building or buying sooner, etc. I have talked at length with my friend about what AOs do, and ROs, and have seen the simulators at the plant and find it all fascinating. I just think it would be a challenging, exciting job that would have some pretty nice rewards.

If I don't get it this time around, I'm going to try again in January, and then again in May. If I still don't get it by that point (persistence has to count for something!) then I'll just return to my teaching career.

Again, thank you all for your input.

HydroDave63:
Some of the supplemental staffing contractor companies such as Volt, Bechtel and Fluor have positions called Engineering Aide, that does a bunch of para-techincal work to free up engineers. Might want to poke all 3 of those to see who staffs in your area.

PapaHotelSailor:
Let me clarify my last post. Entergy reps will be here from the 2nd through the 5th. there are about 30 people interested, but only 2 are interviewing for jobs at ANO. The rest of them are interviewinf for positions in the NE. I am interviewing for next summer, and the other guy is available in January. Both of us are Arkansas natives, He is from Harrison, and I am from southern Arkansas. So, there isn't as much competion for you as I originally thought. Once again, Good Luck, and maybe we will see each other next year.

The other thing I wanted to tell you was, after talking to the rep who will be conducting interviews, ANO tries to hire 50% navy 50% technical degree workers.

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