Greetings all. I've been applying for jobs in Mississippi (Grand Gulf and Echelon One) via the Entergy website for a good while now with no luck thus far. Almost all of my apps (over 30 so far for various nuclear engineer and instructor positions) make it to the Hiring Manager Review status before eventually ending up in the Not Selected status.
I have 4 open apps with them right now:
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110664 Application Received
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110672 Hiring Manager Review
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Echelon One 110263 Hiring Manager Review
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110400 Hiring Manager Review
I have no experience in the industry. I do have the following degrees:
BS in Physics
MA in Physics
MA in Physics Education
I'm teaching Physics full-time at a community college right now but I'm ready to move into a different field. I feel like my background would make me a good candidate for instructor positions. I would apply for operator positions but I haven't seen any posted for Grand Gulf and I check on a regular basis.
Would taking some graduate-level courses in Nuclear Engineering help my cause at this point? I have found a number of online programs that offer a Graduate Certificate in NE. I believe that experience would be more helpful than more education at this point but I can't get any experience without getting hired on at some level.
Any advice is most appreciated.
Entergy moves on their own timeline. They go REALLY slow at first, then REALLY fast once the ball is rolling in my experience with them.
You certainly should have the credentials, perhaps asking an engineer or hiring manager to look at your resume would be a good idea. Nuke world seems to have its own ideas on "good resumes" vs the rest of the world.
Quote from: rmm1209 on Feb 19, 2012, 11:40
Greetings all. I've been applying for jobs in Mississippi (Grand Gulf and Echelon One) via the Entergy website for a good while now with no luck thus far. Almost all of my apps (over 30 so far for various nuclear engineer and instructor positions) make it to the Hiring Manager Review status before eventually ending up in the Not Selected status.
I have 4 open apps with them right now:
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110664 Application Received
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110672 Hiring Manager Review
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Echelon One 110263 Hiring Manager Review
Sr Engineer (Nuc) Grand Gulf Nuclear Station 110400 Hiring Manager Review
I have no experience in the industry. I do have the following degrees:
As Larry The Cable Guy would say "Here's yer sign!"
Senior positions are gonna require real experience as a prerequisite. Without years of relevant experience, you'll need to hire into one of those "at some level" positions.
Quote from: HydroDave63 on Feb 19, 2012, 01:27
As Larry The Cable Guy would say "Here's yer sign!"
Senior positions are gonna require real experience as a prerequisite. Without years of relevant experience, you'll need to hire into one of those "at some level" positions.
Entergy ALWAYS posts for seniors. They have tidbits within postings that say "May be hired as a 1,2,3 or Sr. depending on skill level".
I can't recall seeing entergy posting for jr's or 2/3's on the public career page (engineers or otherwise).
Quote from: Starkist on Feb 19, 2012, 01:41
Entergy ALWAYS posts for seniors. They have tidbits within postings that say "May be hired as a 1,2,3 or Sr. depending on skill level".
I can't recall seeing entergy posting for jr's or 2/3's on the public career page (engineers or otherwise).
Without an EIT or P.E. stamp, where would that app land?
Here is some of the info from one of the job postings:
Job Title: Sr Engineer (Nuc)
Location: Grand Gulf Nuclear Station
Under the Responsibilities section it says:
"THIS POSITION CAN BE HIRED AS AN ENGINEER I, II, III, SR OR TECHNICAL SPECIALIST I, II, III, IV."
Of course, I imagine they would prefer to hire at the highest level possible.
Under the Qualifications section it says:
--B.S. Degree in Engineering or other closely related scientific discipline / physical science generally associated with power plant operations or Equivalent Experience. (Equivalent Experience is defined as demonstrated success at the Engineer / Technical Specialist level.)
--0 to 8 years experience in nuclear power design, operations, or equivalent, depending upon engineering/technical specialist level.
--Good to excellent communication skills and experience / proficiency in PC use and applications, depending upon engineering level.
I would think that Physics is a "closely related scientific discipline / physical science generally associated with power plant operations" but I'm willing to get some NE graduate credits if that would help since there's nothing I can do about the lack of experience at this point.
Thanks again for the advice!
Maybe you have a resume problem.
A grad cert in ne certainly wouldn't hurt.
Although they advertise like that, I'd wager that they are trying to fill higher slots before going to entry level.
Quote from: rmm1209 on Feb 19, 2012, 02:20
Here is some of the info from one of the job postings:
Job Title: Sr Engineer (Nuc)
Location: Grand Gulf Nuclear Station
Under the Responsibilities section it says:
"THIS POSITION CAN BE HIRED AS AN ENGINEER I, II, III, SR OR TECHNICAL SPECIALIST I, II, III, IV."
Of course, I imagine they would prefer to hire at the highest level possible.
Actually, they would rather hire as low as possible as far as pay goes, but as high as possible as far as ability goes, just like any other business.
Applying for jobs in their nuclear fuel/core design area may be a better fit for a physics major. The engineering areas at the plant are either very discipline specific (civil and electrical/controls) or place a lot of dependency on heat transfer, fluid flow, etc.
Graduate, or even undergraduate, courses in either nuclear or mechanical engineering would help, a degree in either would be better.
Entergy will let you know (I forget if it's via an email or just on the job posting status page) if you don't fit the bill. Best advice is to be patient. I believe the policy is that hiring managers can't contact job applicants as long as the job is posted (they typically post a position for ~1-2 months if I remember right).
Yep, I've received many of those "not fitting the bill" emails already. I'm in the HRM stage for 3 positions right now and they are all off the board so maybe something good will come from one of those.
Quote from: Hawkbill on Feb 19, 2012, 08:03
Entergy will let you know (I forget if it's via an email or just on the job posting status page) if you don't fit the bill. Best advice is to be patient. I believe the policy is that hiring managers can't contact job applicants as long as the job is posted (they typically post a position for ~1-2 months if I remember right).
Not Always. I was working ANO & applied for job & had interview set. Got form letter dated AFTER the interview was setup stated there was no position. Did interview & never heard another word. I was told by people working outage the positions were filed by people already onsite...
Silly question... Have you applied to other utilities? Most will pay to move engineers....
No, I'm tied to the central Mississippi area for family reasons.
Probably doesn't help that we are in Outage. Most managers are up to their ears in outage requests and other mess that hiring new people is on a back burner. Be patient, the outage just started.
I applied for and interviewed for a position at Grand Gulf in July and was called a few days later by the hiring leader that interviewed me and was offered a job and that I should be receiving a package in a few days. its been a month and a half and I have heared nothing from their HR. The hiring leader tells me they are just slow and assures me that this will happen. Frankly I am losing faith in this deal. How long does entergy normally take to hire someone?
Keep calling them.
Justin
Are they always this slow?
What is the job?
It's an in- house position
Well that narrows it down.
I can't speak intelligently about Entergy's hiring practices. Maybe Drayer can.
Justin
I interviewed and was told that I would hear back in 2-3 weeks. Tomorrow will be three weeks. Im not sure what to do. I called Monday and left a voicemail, which hasnt been returned. Any advice? PM or post me. Thanks.
I talked to a couple of folks that told me it took them anywhere from 3 yo 6 months to hear back.
Well the class starts in october according to what they told me. And so does the position. So i. Am not sure that it would take 3-6 months to hear back. Its been an ongoing process for the last 6 months or so.
Quote from: misteree on Aug 23, 2012, 09:34
Well the class starts in october according to what they told me. And so does the position. So i. Am not sure that it would take 3-6 months to hear back. Its been an ongoing process for the last 6 months or so.
I doubt it's going to take that long to hear back... It might go past the 3 weeks though. It depends on the number of applicants who tested well. If they had more people pass the test than they had positions open, then they have to sit down and go through their notes from the interviews. There are also several levels of approval that have to occur before they can extend an offer, so be patient if they don't know anything yet.
That being said, don't stop looking elsewhere!! I made that mistake when I thought I did really well at an interview and ended up finding out a month later that I didn't get the job. Keep looking and applying for jobs that interest you, if you get an offer from the job you already interviewed for you can always withdraw your application at the other locations.
Best of luck, and keep us informed!
Quote from: misteree on Aug 23, 2012, 01:30
I interviewed and was told that I would hear back in 2-3 weeks. Tomorrow will be three weeks. Im not sure what to do. I called Monday and left a voicemail, which hasnt been returned. Any advice? PM or post me. Thanks.
I interviewed with entergy recently and the hiring manager told me that the process was moving a bit slowly in comparison to what it has in the past. i think i'd see if you can get ahold of them to see what's going on, but i wouldn't stress it for a week or two. That's just me though.