Nuclear Engineer Graduate

[thestellarinc]

Hey everyone, Ive been a member/stalker for a while now but don't post. I'm about to graduate with my B.S. in nuclear engineering from UW-Madison. I have plenty of work experience but nothing related to the field and also my GPA is good but I seem to be having some trouble getting interviews. Ive been applying for operator and entry level design positions mostly through company websites but also places like monster.com. I'm just wondering if anyone here that is already in the industry has any connections and could make any recommendations for me.

Thanks
-Brent

[Jeff J]

You can also apply for system engineer jobs and reactor engineer jobs on the websites (I am assuming you are looking for a job at a plant).  A lot of the websites will post jobs for engineers at the plants that you might be interested in using the generic term "engineer" or "engineer I" also.

[HydroDave63]

Nothing that 6 years at sea wouldn't fix

good luck!

[tr]

Have you tried GE, Westinghouse, AREVA, and the NRC?  All of them were hiring big time in the recent past.

[thestellarinc]

Nothing that 6 years at sea wouldn't fix

good luck!

Ive been thinking about doing the Navy thing but I really would rather work at a plant instead.

Have you tried GE, Westinghouse, AREVA, and the NRC?  All of them were hiring big time in the recent past.

I've tried applied at GE, Westinghouse, and Ive looked around a little bit at the NRC site. I forgot about AREVA, I will look to see what they have to offer.

[Jeff J]

Areva is going to be hiring 1000 people a month, according to a report in The Times Online.  Northrop Grumman Newport News was hiring for their CVN-21 (nuclear aircraft carrier) and VCS (nuclear submarine) projects all summer also.  A shipyard is kind of like a plant.  Just a little more airy.  They do not seem to pay as well as the utilities though.

[thestellarinc]

The Areva website only lists 36 positions and none of them are nuclear. I applied for all the Nuclear Engineer I positions at Northrop and Grumman just recently.

[co60slr]

The Areva website only lists 36 positions and none of them are nuclear. I applied for all the Nuclear Engineer I positions at Northrop and Grumman just recently.

What utilities are you most interested in?  Which ones have your resume?

[thestellarinc]

I want to stay close to home and in the midwest if I can so Im most interested in Exelon in IL or the Point Beach or Kewaunee plants in WI. Those being owned by Next Era Energy and Dominion. Ive also applied for Progress, FPL, Duke, Xcel, PG&E, Constellation, Entergy, and Southern Nuclear...Im really willing to relocate anywhere as I understand I cant be picky.

I have a contact in the Point Beach plant who is hopefully going to try and pull some strings for me but as of now there are no open positions there.

[thestellarinc]

I'm really just looking for any entry level position working for a utility or a company that does design engineering. Im interested in all aspects of engineering and wouldn't mind getting experience doing design work with a project team, or operating experience and move up to get an SRO. I was hoping it wasn't going to be too tough with a 3.4 GPA from Univ. of Wisconsin Madison but it looks like it is harder than everyone makes it sound. I still have a little time though, I don't graduate til December.

[Jeff J]

First Energy runs plants in the midwest and PPL has a site in NE Pennsylvania.  I know PPL has a few engineer jobs posted (the nuclear plant jobs have the location listed as "Berwick"), not sure about FENOC.

[thenuttyneutron]

I earned my BS in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M in 2004 and I know how tough it is to get a job.  Start off as a NLO and then move up.  That is what I did and now I have my NRC License.  Times are tough and companies are not hiring unless they have to.  Operators are needed and that is where the jobs are going to be for now.