Is it common?

[picklejuice52]

I was just interested in knowing how common it is for NLO positons to be filled with internal employees rather than external employees? Do many people try to get their foot in the door with other jobs within a nuclear plant in the hopes to eventually transfer over to an NLO position onces it becomes available? Is it a highly desirable job for those who are already employed within the plant?   Thanks!

[Contract SRO]

At the utility I retired from, in the past most of the NLO positions were filled from in house.  As time goes on though things change and there are more positions being filled from off the street(so to speak).  There are still a good number that are being filled from in house but more and more are coming from outside.

I do not know for sure how it is with all utilities but the one I am referring to is in the south.

[picklejuice52]

Thanks for the info! I am an outside applicant and was recently snubbed out of the hiring process by an internal but was told more positions would open and that I would be a great hire had an internal hire not been made. Apparently hiring will start up soon but I wanted to know what the chances are of being snubbed out again by an internal applicant? Thanks for the info!

[OldHP]

Thanks for the info! I am an outside applicant and was recently snubbed out of the hiring process by an internal but was told more positions would open and that I would be a great hire had an internal hire not been made. Apparently hiring will start up soon but I wanted to know what the chances are of being snubbed out again by an internal applicant? Thanks for the info!

In most cases, today, the utilities will give more weight to an internal applicant than external.  This is either to honor a union agreement or to prevent unionization.  That being said, don't give up hope, particularly if what you said about your interview is true.  (Stay in contact with HR!)

Not every mechanic, RCT, etc; wants to move into operations; consequently NLO/AO positions are filled from the outside.  And then, most licensed positions are filled from the NLO/AO ranks.

[picklejuice52]

That sounds great and makes me feel a little bit better. I figure not many folks would be too terribly interested in shift work but I could be wrong. I will keep holding out for both that and an engineering position. Thanks for the advice!

[redline]

I can't agree. These days those NLO positions are not very desirabel to the folks that are working on site. Shift work, long hours, too much time in training. Most would rather avoid that. At my plant pretty much ALL NLO positions are new hires. Those fast track to SRO positions generally come from current employees in other areas.

[JustinHEMI05]

The point of all of this is that it is different at each and every site, and although there are general trends at each and every site, it isn't predictable. No one knows what attrition will be, or how many upgrade to license, etc to predict the make up of the next class.

The fact is, a utility will try to hire internal first, but lacking enough interest, will post to the public. From there, they will generally hire a mix of navy nukes, college grads and other industrial experience.

It is broad and general. All you can do is watch the job boards.

[Cycoticpenguin]

at my plant no one in my current or previous class were internal hires. the class before that had 1 engineering intern come in as an NLO.

By the looks of these posts, it seems dependent on the plant itself, not the industry as a whole.

[picklejuice52]

I agree with that statement, it seems very plant dependent. I have faith that once March rolls around that I may get a second chance at this position. Thanks for the information everyone.