Opportunities for 20 yr Senior Chief ELT, PPWO qualified, no degree

[chrisk500]

I am about 7 months from getting out and am starting to look seriously for a job. My goal is to stay in Nuke power, preferably as an SRO or SRO instructor.  I have been qualified PPWS for about 15 years now and PPWO for about 4. 
I have searched the forums and it seems like i am a good candidate for a direct SRO job but I am worried about the no degree thing. I should have done the TESC degree at some point but it never seemed like the opportunity presented itself and I probably didnt make it enough of a priority. So I do have a couple of questions:
1.What are my chances of getting right into an SRO licensing program without the degree with the experience I have?
2.  Is there a resource I can use to look at different plants' class up times for SRO. I realize some plants only class up once or less a year. I am specifically interested in Callaway Nuke Plant in Missouri ran by Ameren.

Thanks for your time.

[Fermi2]

What are the chances a 20 year senior chief can use the search function to find the answers to these questions?

[HydroDave63]

What is the backup plan to item #2?

[Cycoticpenguin]

What are the chances a 20 year senior chief can use the search function to find the answers to these questions?

Welcome back Mikey.

[chrisk500]

What are the chances a 20 year senior chief can use the search function to find the answers to these questions?

I knew that would be one of my first responses. I have perused this forum for hours the last couple of weeks and I have found many contradictory statements. I do know that I am entering the civilian world now and am ok with being the nub again. 20 years in the Navy has taught me an important lesson - that we all live in glass houses and no one person is free from occasional screw-ups and mistakes. I am ok with starting where i need to start but, of course, if I can start at the same level that others have before me then that would be awesome.
All I'm looking for is some kind of reassurance that i haven't screwed up too bad by not getting a degree.

For a backup plan?  If by backup plan you mean a different plant that would be fine. I would certainly enjoy staying in the midwest though. If you mean backup to sro then some sort of supervisory plant job would be ok too.

[Cycoticpenguin]

I knew that would be one of my first responses. I have perused this forum for hours the last couple of weeks and I have found many contradictory statements. I do know that I am entering the civilian world now and am ok with being the nub again. 20 years in the Navy has taught me an important lesson - that we all live in glass houses and no one person is free from occasional screw-ups and mistakes. I am ok with starting where i need to start but, of course, if I can start at the same level that others have before me then that would be awesome.
All I'm looking for is some kind of reassurance that i haven't screwed up too bad by not getting a degree.

For a backup plan?  If by backup plan you mean a different plant that would be fine. I would certainly enjoy staying in the midwest though. If you mean backup to sro then some sort of supervisory plant job would be ok too.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NRC+requirements+for+SRO

[HydroDave63]

If you mean backup to sro then some sort of supervisory plant job would be ok too.

Not being facetious here...but what is your backup plan to supervisory? After all, the craft folks/operators/technical folks know the plant, and 'you ain't FROM around here!"  

[chrisk500]

Not being facetious here...but what is your backup plan to supervisory? After all, the craft folks/operators/technical folks know the plant, and 'you ain't FROM around here!"  

Well. Then NLO will be ok for me. I wouldnt mind RO either and hopefully i can get my degree in the next 2 years.

[chrisk500]

To point out more contradictions: I have seen various resources that cite that a B.S. Is required for SRO. But just looking at a job opening on the TVA site that says navy nuclear experience is equivalent.

[Smooth Operator]

Well. Then NLO will be ok for me. I wouldnt mind RO either and hopefully i can get my degree in the next 2 years.

I am assuming you are between 38 and 45 and let me just say I don't think you will want to be an NLO. I think it will be a waste of your time at your age for that reason only. The minimum time it takes to start Day 1 as an NLO trainee and be selected for RO is usually around 3 years, then add another 2 years until you are sitting at the controls. That is around 5 years and 7 months from now. Then add time as an RO and upgrade to SRO and you are talking 8 to 10 years from now before you assume the duties as an SRO.

If you get the degree then you can go NLO to instant SRO after 3 yrs as an NLO. Because you are qualified watch supervisor and watch officer, I think you already meet the instant-SRO criteria without the degree, but you have to ask yourself would a company hire you as an NLO just to lose you right away as an instant-SRO?

Also, you are at the mercy of how your company runs its classes, i.e every 2 years, etc. You may end up catching the schedule at the wrong time and have to wait.

Also, there are people ahead of you that may be selected for RO or SRO who are senior. You cannot assume you will be selected at your first opportunity.

My advice is to focus on your instant-SRO plan using your current resume as a starting place.

[Fermi2]

Oh you meet the SRO requirements at most utilities. Some might tack on a degree simply because that is what they want.

What you need to ask yourself is the following, especially since it seems you are retiring and already will have at least a base income.

1: Do you still want to supervise people?
2: Do you want to spend virtually the next 3 years of your life as a slave to a technically demanding training program that will take up a lot of your free time.?
3: Do you want every action and decision you make scrutinized by virtually everyone who feels it is their business to scrutinize whether it is or not? Take however you were scrutinized in the Navy, multiply it by 567 and that's your day to day scrutiny in our world.

If so, then try the SRO route.

If you don't mind physical work that has a good technical training program then try NLO.

Mike

[Neutron_Herder]

Don't worry about not having a degree.  You meet the qualifications for the SRO program.  The lack of degree might matter later on, but not right now. 

Don't limit yourself to a single plant either.  If you do that you're probably going to end up disappointed.  That being said, check out the military job fairs in your area.  When I retired there were several utilities that had people at them.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Go to the NRC website.  They have a map showing the locations of all the reactors and the company that owns them.  Find a plant you're interested in and put that company's careers section on your list of things to look at each day.  Go ahead and set up an account and upload your resume, that way when a job opens up that you're interested in you just have to click "apply".

When are you really getting out?  I ask that because 7 months from now is near the end of the year, and from what I've seen the hiring tends to drop off in the Nov / Dec timeframe.  The holidays tend to slow everything down...

Another thing to keep in the back of your head.  This is going to sound mean, but I don't mean it that way...  Your Navy quals mean you meet the minimum requirements for the job, nothing more.  There's a LOT to learn about these plants, and a lot of it you've never seen before.  If you get hired on as an SRO you'll get 6 months onsite to start to learn the plant.  Use that time wisely!  If you decide to sit around and tell sea stories all day you're going to rapidly be left behind by the people who actually went out and learned the plant.  It can be done, but from what I've seen it's about a 10% difference in GPA...

Good luck, and thanks for your service!  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[MacGyver]

What are the chances a 20 year senior chief can use the search function to find the answers to these questions?

There is no substitute for the original.  

But, some have tried...

BZ may often be imitated but seldom, if ever, duplicated.  Nothing beats the original!

[dwr01]

What are the chances a 20 year senior chief can use the search function to find the answers to these questions?

That was uncalled for..

[Fermi2]

That was uncalled for..

No it was not. Sometimes in the big leagues a brush back pitch turns into a bean ball. Learn to live with it.

[CT-Mike]

Chris,

It can be done, but it is a hard road. I started out in the fire brigade, became a NLO, and 6 months after finishing NLO training I was selected as a direct SRO. I graduated in the top 10% at NNPS and #1 at NPTU, and found this program to be very demanding. I do have the "buy a degree" AS from TESC and I don't know if that helped me get hired or not.

If you don't know how to study (I didn't, never had to) learn now. I had never failed anything in my life, and it was new territory to be in an academic review board to determine if I was going to be allowed to continue in the program or not. Like I said, it can be done, but it takes determination and hard work.

Good luck,

Mike