NLO alternative

[racer56]

Hi, I am wondering if there are any other jobs besides NLO out there that a former NLO skills would transfer over into another industry? does anyone know of any fields that racking breakers and operations people can move to post nuke plant.

[hamsamich]

Operating many other types of plants.  All plants have breakers, systems and chemicals.  My dad is an engineer at a glass making plant and says my experience (NLO) would be perfect.  Of course there would be a learning curve, but nothing is exactly the same.  Obviously any other elecricity making plant would be an even better fit.

[racer56]

I will look into that thank you,  I was looking for some company names that would be good places to start looking.  I do like operations, but the stress is getting to me.  I heard one guy mention that some of his navy friends work at server farms or something along those lines. 

thanks for your input

[NLO440]

I was offered a position as an operator at a hospital (a very large one) based on my experience as an NLO. The pay was less and it but it was a straight shift. It was extremely tempting.

[racer56]

an operator at a hospital? what would they have you do over there and how much of a pay cut was it from your normal pay?

[GLW]

an operator at a hospital? what would they have you do over there and how much of a pay cut was it from your normal pay?

Back in the day the job included the emergency diesel, the HVAC system including the LiBr air conditioning plant, and general building maintenance duties.

A lot of those responsibilities are contracted out in the contemporary business model.

There must still be some old school hospitals which like a crew of dedicated personnel.

The pay cut for me when I interviewed in upstate NY 21 years ago was 37%.

I declined the offer, at only 53% of what I was then earning on the nuke side, the employment conditions were still tempting,.....ah well.

[racer56]

thank your for your responses,  I am still looking to get into another field. any ideas on some good company names to search for or what job title I could search for on monster.com.  I heard one of the guys at work mentioning that some of his navy nuke buddies went to work on a server farm.  I tried googling this and came up with not much.

Thanks again for the responses

[eaton1981]

Try going to indeed.com and just using "auxiliary operator" as your search keywords. I came up with something very similar to a load dispatcher (the job posting is in Los Angeles) and a hyrdo-electric plant.

Also, there were some things related to the oil industry, but it sounds like sweaty work out in the fields.

[HydroDave63]

Also, there were some things related to the oil industry, but it sounds like sweaty work out in the fields.

Sounds like an ET talkin' there. Shale fields are paying north of 60/hr if you look hard.

[racer56]

Hi, thanks for the replies, and keep the suggestions coming.  I do not mind extreme heat,cold, heights, or confined spaces.  I am just looking for other options.  I looked up Shale and couldnt find much information on it.  I did search indeed for what eaton1981 suggested and that helped alot, thank you.  what jobs could we do for an oil company?

thanks

[racer56]

any other opportunities?  I heard of a critical facilities manager, but not sure how many opportunities are out there for that.  looking to find something in the north east area. 

Thanks

[eaton1981]

AMD and Intel (both makers of CPUs) run these things called "fabs" (microprocessor fabrication plants).

AMD sold its fabs to a company called Global Foundries a couple years back, but Intel still owns theirs.

I'd check Global Foundries and Intel's sites for information on these. Global Foundries is up in New York state near Albany, and I know for a fact they're hiring for their brand-new fab in Malta, NY.

Basically, because of the high air and water purity required for the fabrication process, these companies' plants need equipment similar to a power plant (ion exchange demineralizers, high pressure air compressors, circuit breakers, etc. etc.)

The one downside I've heard about this type of work is that SOME of the people have to wear full "anti-c-like" clothing with SCBA respirators for long periods of time.

I know a few guys who rarely ever wear that type of PPE though. They're recently-separated Navy nukes (non-EWS qualified) so I know that you have at least the same operations experience as they do.

Anyway, just a thought for ya. Maybe try looking for "water fab operator" as your keyword search on Global Foundries job postings/careers page.

Best of luck!

[racer56]

thank you, I have looked into this and applied, no response yet.  I am looking to find a job in the NJ area, I have looked at salem and oyster creek for jobs but I know that they are shutting down soon.  any ideas for some jobs in this area that I can utilize my NLO skills?

[VTnuke]

Did you say Salem is shutting down soon?  Not so much.  They just got a 20yr life extension for BOTH units.  Salem isnt going anywhere anytime soon.  They have about 26years left.
Don't forget Hope Creek either.  Hope Creek is at the same site as Salem.  They are a slightly newer plant (Mid 80s vintage)  They have about 30 years left on their license.

Everyone is abandoning Oyster Creek.  They ARE shutting down soon.

Chemical production plants (Dupont)
Non-nuke power plants (much lower pay)
Railroads
tons of stuff.

PM me your resume.

[racer56]

thanks vtnuke.  I have been very busy and looking around, but no one wants to hire someone out of state.  I am looking in the state of NJ.  Do you know of any operator jobs or operator like jobs that are up there? maybe some large companies that are hiring that I could look into? 

Thanks again

[Toukonfan]

Another alternative might be MRI/CT technician.

Your skillset matches well with that.

GE, Varian, and Accuray are the big companies that handle the repair/PMs of those machines.

Mostly night schedule, as the hospitals prefer the machines to run as much as possible during the day time.

I have MUCH more info about the semiconductor industry if you are curious, as I have been working in that field for quite a while now.

Globalfoundries is in NY which might not be TOO far from you in NJ

[racer56]

Hi Toukonfan,

thanks for the reply,  I looked into globalfoundries and there were no immediate openings, I would like to find something in or near Central NJ.  Malsa may be too far of a commute for me.  I did look up MRI and CT technician and found a few openings that I applied to.  I also heard that they were planning on constructing a natural gas plant in Newark.  I continue to look for something and hopefully find something soon.  If you have any more suggestions, that would be great.  I do not mind taking a pay cut compared to NLO as long as it is within reason.  thanks for the ideas and please keep them coming

thanks
racer56

[gogamecocks]

Hi Toukonfan,

thanks for the reply,  I looked into globalfoundries and there were no immediate openings, I would like to find something in or near Central NJ.  Malsa may be too far of a commute for me.  I did look up MRI and CT technician and found a few openings that I applied to.  I also heard that they were planning on constructing a natural gas plant in Newark.  I continue to look for something and hopefully find something soon.  If you have any more suggestions, that would be great.  I do not mind taking a pay cut compared to NLO as long as it is within reason.  thanks for the ideas and please keep them coming

You would not be a CT or MRI technician. Those are the people who run the machines(you have to go to school for that and get a license). You would be a service tech for one of the camera makers like GE, Siemens, ADAC, Toshiba. It's actually a pretty good gig. You do have to travel around and repair equipment usually within a certain mile radius of you home town. If you are near a big city then you may never go too far as there are so many local customers. They generally work days b/c if it's after hours then there is a huge OT charge the hospital pays for your services. Now that's not to say you won't get the after hours work but I know many hospitals I've worked at don't want to pay the OT, but I work in Nuclear Medicine so our cameras are not as critical as CT and MRI for emergencies. I would say it is a pretty low stress job as our service guy pretty much sets his own hours and often leaves in the middle of a repair to have a nice 1 hour lunch, etc.

[jshinevar]

You can look at Co-Gen plants.  I currently work for Pfizer where we make electricity for Pfizer, but we also produce steam for their use.  I'm assuming that this is how all co-gen plants work.  It's operations work, I stand watch and start and stop equipment as needed, run chillers/purifiers/softeners/turbine generators/gas generators/boilers etc.  It's pretty good work, just the pay is a little low.

[retired nuke]

Not being nuke or ops, this is second hand - but I met a former nuke at an OSHA VPP conference, and she was a shift manager at a cogen. I asked why she wasn't in nuclear, and she said that cogen was much less restrictive, she got to be more responsive and responsible for her shift crew, and it was more activity and less regs and paperwork. She was in CT, and had no interest in commercial nuke...

[Toukonfan]

You would not be a CT or MRI technician. Those are the people who run the machines(you have to go to school for that and get a license). You would be a service tech for one of the camera makers like GE, Siemens, ADAC, Toshiba. It's actually a pretty good gig. You do have to travel around and repair equipment usually within a certain mile radius of you home town. If you are near a big city then you may never go too far as there are so many local customers. They generally work days b/c if it's after hours then there is a huge OT charge the hospital pays for your services. Now that's not to say you won't get the after hours work but I know many hospitals I've worked at don't want to pay the OT, but I work in Nuclear Medicine so our cameras are not as critical as CT and MRI for emergencies. I would say it is a pretty low stress job as our service guy pretty much sets his own hours and often leaves in the middle of a repair to have a nice 1 hour lunch, etc.

Oops.  My bad.  The official title would be field service engineer.

In the semiconductor world, we are all called Equipment Technicians or Equipment Specialists.

Redo that search for field service enginner to the CT/MRI companies, and good luck!

[racer56]

hi, thank you for all of the replies

I have been applying like crazy to many positions you have suggested.  My question is if anyone knows of a Co-gen plant in NJ that is hiring?