HUGE NUPOC DILEMMA!!!

[tractrpl]

Hello all. I have been unemployed for about 4 months, and I was supposed to start a job last month, but it fell through, so I decided to try out the NUPOC program.  I was processing my paperwork these last few weeks (I haven't even gotten my medical screening yet) when BAM! I suddenly got a call from a company I applied for, they want me to start on April 4 (scarcely more than two weeks from now). They want me to do 3 months of training in Arizona before shipping me out to Afghanistan for work. Now, this isn't a "contract", meaning I can quit this job at any time without penalty (minus the fact that I may not be rehired again if I quit). So now I have to figure out what to do.

Here's the dilemma: I would definitely prefer becoming a Nuclear Propulsion Officer, but I have bills to pay. I have no idea how long it will take me to merely interview and then how long it would take for me to start working and drawing a paycheck after that.  I'm also worried that if I start this job, my recruiter will shut me out.  I am 30 years old currently, BSEE graduate, my GPA from the University I graduated from was 3.61, but my cumulative when adding the Jr. College I went to prior to that is 3.74 (had a 3.9 at the Jr. College). 

So, what should I do? Should I take this job and try to pursue NUPOC? If I get accepted by NUPOC, I'd quit this job, but I don't know what the recruiter will do. Will recruiters work with people that currently have a job? Do you have to be "free" to apply for NUPOC? Does NUPOC only select people that are not currently working? Thanks.

[Starkist]

You'd be foolish to pass up a sure thing, as long as the growth and potential for long term gains were there.

That said, job growth and opportunities are assured in the Navy, and civilian world (pending you didn't do something stupid).



Worse comes to worst, you can take the job, still apply for nupoc, and decide if you were accepted or not....


That said, 30 years old may be too old anyway. O.o

[tractrpl]

You can get waivers up to 31 for SW and Subs and 35 for Instructors and NR.  That said, my GPA is great for SW, Subs, and Instructor, but a bit iffy to too low for NR. At this time, it looks like they're going to see if I can get in to NR, but it's not definite. I was just curious to know if being employed was an impediment to applying, if they want you to be free of obligations.

[Starkist]

You can get waivers up to 31 for SW and Subs and 35 for Instructors and NR.  That said, my GPA is great for SW, Subs, and Instructor, but a bit iffy to too low for NR. At this time, it looks like they're going to see if I can get in to NR, but it's not definite. I was just curious to know if being employed was an impediment to applying, if they want you to be free of obligations.

Gamecock is our resident S.M.E. on the matter, Im sure he will chime in.   

[klj3827]

You can get waivers up to 31 for SW and Subs and 35 for Instructors and NR.  That said, my GPA is great for SW, Subs, and Instructor, but a bit iffy to too low for NR. At this time, it looks like they're going to see if I can get in to NR, but it's not definite. I was just curious to know if being employed was an impediment to applying, if they want you to be free of obligations.

That was about my GPA when I interviewed and I got picked up (my final GPA was a little above a 3.7, but when I interviewed it was in the low 3.6s).  My GPA was about the median GPA for the 17 folks with whom I interviewed.  I was ROTC, though.  I'm not sure if the screening process for an NR interview is different for NUPOC. 

That being said, GPA isn't the only determining factor for screening for an NR interview, or for getting picked up.

[tractrpl]

I wasn't ROTC but I was on active duty while I earned my degree.

[Gamecock]

You can get NUPOC while having another job. 

Where did you go to school?  A 3.61 GPA from MIT (though MIT is a a 5.0 scale) isn't the same thing as a 3.61 GPA from Thomas Edison.  If you didn't graduate from a top-tier engineering school, your GPA is probably a little low for NR, especially as an EE.  But, if you don't apply, I guarantee you won't get an interview. 

Cheers,
GC

[tractrpl]

I graduated from Stony Brook University, it grades on the standard 4 point scale. "Top tier school" can be a subjective term, but it is generally considered to be a reputable university. It's not an Ivy League school, but several faculty members are Nobel winners (no one that taught me, of course, but Nobel winners don't typically teach undergraduate courses at any university, so far as I'm aware). Stony Brook is notable for inventing the MRI and barcode, as well as making advances and experiments in quantum computing. I understand that NR people work much with DOE, so you are probably familiar with Stony Brook, as they manage the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and many of the professors that taught me perform experiments and have projects there. Stony Brook also houses the CN Yang Institute of Theoretical Physics. Undergraduate students won't take courses at the institute, but I took an advanced tutorial course where I was tutored in advanced physics by one of the professors at the institute.  Also, 3.61 was my GPA at the University, but I completed my first two years at the junior college before transferring into to the university, taking all of my calculus and calculus based physics there, as is typical. My GPA at the junior college was 3.9 and when you cumulate the grades from all of them together, my GPA ends up being 3.74.  My recruiter told me that they do take the cumulative from all of the courses I took, not simply the last university I went to. So that should help. Also, it should be noted that I was on active duty for all but the last semester I was there, so it can be expected that working full time and going to school full time is tough, and it should mitigate my lower than ideal GPA.

[tractrpl]

I suppose also that how universities grade are different from each other. While 3.61 may seem low to some, at Stony Brook it's considered fairly good. I did graduate Cum Laude, after all.

[HydroDave63]

I suppose also that how universities grade are different from each other. While 3.61 may seem low to some, at Stony Brook it's considered fairly good. I did graduate Cum Laude, after all.

Just remember, the only two people that you have to impress are the Admiral, and one other.

Good luck!

[tractrpl]

Thanks, but from what I hear, I mostly have to impress the other. The admiral typically relies on the recommendations of the prior interviewers. There's a few more people I have to impress, apparently, and that's the pre-screening officer at the recruiting office, and some sort of pre-screening command after my application is submitted. If both of those people approve me for the NR position, then all I have to do is impress the interviewer and not act like a complete fool in front of the admiral and I should be ok, from what I'm told.  My recruiter is currently putting me in for NR first choice, instructor second choice. The NR officer at that recruiting office is aware of my intentions and hasn't discouraged me from applying for NR, so that's good, but he hasn't signed my application yet, so we'll see.  My recruiter seems confident that I'll be approved by all of those people, but he can't guarantee it, of course.

[klj3827]

For an NR interview you interview with 3 (and possibly 4) senior managers before you interview with the Admiral.

[tractrpl]

Right, but I heard you interview with them all at once, or at least all in the same day. But there's also a pre-screening process, which is kind of like an interview. The NR officer at the local recruiting office has to approve you. If he doesn't think you're up to snuff then you simply don't go. From what my recruiter said, almost everyone they send to the interview gets selected, so he's pretty good at not sending people up that way if they're not up to snuff.