Interviewing with Bettis Atomic Laboratory

[Kmhmuboy]

Hello everyone, new member here and am I glad I found this forum.  As the subject states, I will be interviewing with Bettis Labs for an entry level mechanical engineer position.  I've searched the forum and have been reading a lot of posts and it seems that behavioral questions are the norm in their interviews.  I also spoke with a friend at Bechtel in Idaho and he suggested I look at engineering design processes and Rickover principles.  I'm just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions for me.  Any and all help is appreciated...thanks in advance.

[Gamecock]

Hello everyone, new member here and am I glad I found this forum.  As the subject states, I will be interviewing with Bettis Labs for an entry level mechanical engineer position.  I've searched the forum and have been reading a lot of posts and it seems that behavioral questions are the norm in their interviews.  I also spoke with a friend at Bechtel in Idaho and he suggested I look at engineering design processes and Rickover principles.  I'm just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions for me.  Any and all help is appreciated...thanks in advance.

My advice.....


Don't work for Bettis!

Cheers,
GC

[Neutron_Herder]

I agree with GC. I worked with them (not for them) for several years, and chose to not persue employment with them when I had the opportunity.

Our situations are a little different than yours though...  It might not be a bad place to get your feet wet in the engineering field.  As an entry level engineer, you'd probably get into a spot relatively quickly where you would be doing work that directly affects our forward deployed ships.  There are some really smart people there who could teach you volumes about the real world application of your studies.

Plus, in today's economy I'd say that any job is a good job.  I'd try to get placed on an already established project though.  While Bettis would be your employer, that employment would be contingent on Bettis maintaining their government contract for that project.  New projects will be the first ones cut, and new employees the first to be let go if the contract money dries up.  Not trying to sound bad, but just look at what's going on with the federal budget now would tend to scare me away from any project that isn't firmly established.

As far as the interview goes, the advice your friend gave you sounds good.

Good luck!

[Kmhmuboy]

@ GC - Ouch, do you really think it's that bad there?

@Neutron_Herder - Thank you for your insight.  I understand your concern about contract jobs, but it's just like you said...there is a lot to be learned.  I'm looking at it as an opportunity to get my foot in the door within the Nuke and engineering world.  I am looking for a career, but if this turns into just a "job" at bettis, I'll chalk it up to experience in the bag.