Using National Recruiters in your Job Search

[co60slr]

I continue to hear stories of Navy Nukes trying to get into Commercial Nuclear via a national recruiter.   None successfully, from what I'm hearing.   If there are any positive stories, please add to my posting.  I feel this is an important addition to what is being taught at TAPs.   

While the service is free to you as a job seeker, someone has to pay the recruiter once you accept a job that they "found" for you.  Where does that money come from?  How do they work?  Honestly, I'm not 100% sure.  However, in my experience, they simply "found" jobs just as I was doing...via Internet website job/careers updates on a company's website.   I was offered NO opportunities that represented a Utility asking a Recruiter to find someone for them.  In fact, upon contacting the company, they usually asked me why a Recruiter was involved.  The benefit to this service is that a recruiter will do an exhaustive job search for you in areas/companies you may not have thought to look.

First Scenario.  Compare two E-6s getting out and trying to get into a Commercial Utility.  Sailor A posts his/her resume to a company's website and patiently waits for a response.   Sailor B gives his/her resume to a recruiter and asks them to do all the work for them.  The recruiter emails HR directly because they are all networked together.   However, upon receipt of Sailor B's resume, the HR Rep knows this one comes with a high price tag (e.g., 30% of the job offer salary you accept).   Sailor B, who likely has the same qualifications as Sailor A is 30% more expensive.  Who does the utility hire?  Are you, Sailor B, honestly worth 30% more than Sailor A?

Second Scenario.  You're tired of nuclear and want to see what non-nuclear companies love to hire nukes.  Wow...sky is the limit right?  Where do you start?  National Recruiter, perhaps.  I was offered several great non-nuclear jobs from companies that I had not even considered.  It was a fun addition to my post-Navy job search.  However, I specifically told the Recruiter that I did NOT need their help looking for Commercial Nuclear jobs...but "what else is out there?"

Finally, salary.  Is a National Recruiter's job database filled with $100K+ jobs?  No.  My guess is that they average $50-$75K.  So, when you tell the Recruiter that you're only interested in $85K jobs, what is he/she going to negotiate with you?  They have a better chance of getting paid if you agree to a $50K/year job, which are plentiful in their database.   If you want that $100K/year job and think you can get it, be VERY CLEAR with them on your salary requirements.   If you don't get any calls, than perhaps you need to reset your expectations.

In the end, using a recruiter is ONE TOOL.   It has it's positive and negative drawbacks, so understand how to utilize these services.  However, be advised that in this era of "plentiful nuclear jobs", company recruiters have a database of resumes being uploaded everyday, so why should they pay $30,000 for someone to simply upload your resume for you?

Disclaimer:  I'm one person with one post-Navy job search experience.  If you have positive/negative additions, feel free to chime in.

Happy Job Searching.

Co60

[deadspace1399]

I utilized two recruiting agencies....Bradley Morrison and Orion International.

Neither company really listened to what I was looking for and I think they will try and fill you in anywhere to make their money but that is just from what I have experienced.  

Bradley Morrison got my resume to one company for semi-conductor manufacture, I found this a bit out of my skill set but they insisted that others have made this transition successfully.  Then they never really followed up or sought out anything else.  Honestly it seemed as if they could care less about anything related to me, I would post for jobs I was interested in and got no feedback beyond my resume was submitted....I learned later on that semi-conductors are somewhat a volatile industry with lots of downsizing and not much stability, so I again I feel that they are just looking for a 'quick fill' to get their money from you.(at least this is what I have heard from a few guys who were in semi-conductors)

Orion International has good guys that seem to care in finding a job, however the jobs they did find I think were less desirable and sorta "quick fill billets" as well.  I tried one of the 'hiring conferences' that they host as they promised four utility companies would be present as well as manufacturing and much more.  What really transpired were there was one utility company PPL looking only for an electrician, and then a host of other jobs that paid in the 35K-55K range, many with lots of travel involved.  The guys tried to set me up with an interview with GE as a PLC repair technician and I specifically told them I had no such experience.  They then tried to have me interview with a company that utilizes landfills for generating power by utilizing the methane gas emitted by bacteria in a landfill to drive an engine for about 20-50MW worth of power.  The job that Orion said I would be interviewing for is the regional manager, a position with responsibilities that ensures the corrective and preventative maintenance are in check and ensures training and safety standards are upheld.  I thought it would be an ok gig, however the guy actually conducting the interview was really looking for a technician to work on the landfill components for about 17$/hr.  I told the guy I would only interview for the regional manager position and he really from that point on seemed to careless about what I could have brought to his company.
All in all the 'hiring conference' was a disaster and really a waste of my time.

So every decent paying job that utilizes my skills that I have interviewed for has been a result of myself looking and posting my own resume.  So here is what I say to those getting out of the navy:

You can use head hunting organizations but don't be surprised if your results are less than spectacular.  Might be your best option for the non-nuclear job side of the house because the organizations do have networks set up that can be an asset.  However don't underestimate the power of your own research abilities.  



Mainly I recommend utilizing the internet, researching company sites on your own and using people you know who have gotten out as your own personal network.

I think that an individual will have MUCH more success for commercial nuclear jobs then trying to utilize a head hunting organization.
 
Make a couple of specially written resumes to be tailored to the specific job you are applying for.  Also begin to post your resume about 3-4 months out from when your set to get out of the navy.  Anything before that is to soon and the companies will most likely want to hire someone before your actually out.  Anything beyond that isn't wrong of course but you might have to suck up a gap in employment from that period.

Something I did that I found helpful was to learn "HR perception".  HR departments have seemed to have been the biggest obstacle I have had in success for a job.  Don't expect them to call you back if they say they will, don't think that because an interview went well by any means that you have the job, expect delays in any information from HR people.  I went on to youtube and looked up job interview videos that display what a 'good' and 'bad' interview are and I also researched the S.T.A.R. method of questioning for an interview.  These things aided me in learning how HR people work...from the moment you walk into the room the interview has begun, even with simple questions like "tell me about yourself" they are watching, so make all things relevant to the job your interviewing for.
During the interview your main focus is convincing everyone how well you are set for the job you are interviewing for, anything else conversation wise should be viewed as a landmine that can go off and ruin your chances.  This doesn't mean you can't be easy going, just don't let the conversation stray off the track of how awesome you are for this job that you want. 

Really the best thing to do for T.A.P.S. is to bring in a completed resume and have the guys go over it, learn about job interviews, and your benefits.

[Neutron_Herder]

One of the things that stuck in my head from TAP was that you should only use a "headhunter" for about 25% of your job search.  I also used Bradley-Morris and Orion.  I had good experiences with both, but ultimately I got my job by searching the career sections on the websites of companies I was interested in.

The recruiting companies want you to find a job, that's how they get paid.  A lot of the leads I got through them were outside of the geographic area I wanted, or had a lot of travel.  I didn't say no immediately, I at least made the effort to give the jobs they talked about a fair shake.  When push came to shove though, I wanted to continue to be a nuclear operator...  Not a PLC tech or work in the semiconductor industry. 

That being said, if you're hunting on your own and talking to a recruiter be careful!  I actually missed out on a job opportunity because the recruiter talked to me about it and I was interested enough to find someone who worked for that company and talked to them about what the job was like.  i guess the minute I made contact with the company myself I was no longer able to be represented by the recruiting agency.  It kind of sucked, since I was just getting more info, and no one ever told me I was doing something that I shouldn't have done.  As a result, it delayed me finding a job by a couple of months (job hunting around the holidays sucks!!).

A little bit of legwork goes a long way.  If you're going to TAP, don't listen to the morons who say "Nuke?  You don't even need a resume, they'll hire you walking out the door."  It's not that easy...