Experienced Technical Manager (Not in Nuclear Field).

[RF-TM]

I am an Engineering Technical Manager with over twenty years experience in the Cellular, Land Mobile and Satellite communications industries. I started out as a Microwave and RF design engineer but my current role involves building cross functional teams and leading them in designing cutting edge electronic equipment. I have a B.Sc. in Physics but have never been employed in the Nuclear sector.

I applied to an opening for a "Nuclear Operations Training Instructor". I feel my background has given me many of the skills needed for success in this position but realize that lack of direct experience in the Nuclear industry will be seen as a drawback.

Can you give me some advice on how I can overcome this perception and make a successful transition? Perhaps by recommending other job types that would be a better starting point.

If you would like a little more detail on my background please see: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gdthomas

Thanks.
Gary

[RDTroja]

I am an Instructor Trainer -- I teach the Operations Instructors and keep them qualified to teach. Your roadblocks would indeed be many and formidable, the most severe of which would likely be gaining the respect of your peers and trainees. They have all gone through very rigorous training and a lot of hard work to get where they are (I am not saying you haven't, but it is totally unrelated experience.) The amount and intensity of training that goes into making an Operator is astounding. Without that experience you are not likely to do well as an instructor. On top of that you are severely limited by not having an operators license yourself. You are limited in the classes that you can teach without a license or SRO Certificate. As an instructor you will also be required to attend the training that your trainees do (i.e. those classes you do not teach) and pass any related tests to maintain your technical skills. Very difficult without the background.

There are Engineering Instructor positions in Nuclear Plants as well. Perhaps that is where you should be looking if you really want to enter the nuclear arena. You would still need to beef up your nuclear knowledge, but it would be much less of a stretch.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[HydroDave63]

Can you give me some advice on how I can overcome this perception and make a successful transition? Perhaps by recommending other job types that would be a better starting point.

Nuclear services and equipment vendors might be a place to look. Some of those include SAIC, Thermo Scientific, Merlin Gerin, Ludlum, Johnson Controls and Woodward.

[RF-TM]

Thank you all for your candid and helpful replies. As I hoped, they provide a combination of reality checks and constructive suggestions.

I did not mean to imply that I think the path would be easy or that anything in my background already qualifies me for the position. I do believe that with the right opportunities and hard work I am capable of learning what I need to know to work my way into this type of position. However, as you point out there are other less tangible barriers to overcome and your replies have given me a way to quantify those.

Thanks
Gary