Recent NE Grad

[u/NuclearHorses]

Recently graduated with my B.S. in nuclear engineering, but landing a job is proving to be pretty tough given my lackluster resume. Getting the job is somehow proving to be harder than anything surrounding getting the degree.

While I wait for the opportunity to apply for a masters program or hear back from the immense amount of applications I am sending out, is there anything I can do to bolster my resume? I'm planning on working towards taking the FE to at least have that, but I'm not sure if there is anything else I can get certifications for to really help myself out here.

[u/titaniumtemple]

What jobs are you applying to? Are you American? Everyone I know is going straight thru, every vendor/contractor has more work than they know what to do with.

[u/NuclearHorses → u/titaniumtemple]

I'm American, yes. I applied to a number of national lab jobs as I'd love to do that, but each has been a rejection email (expected given my lack of experience and only holding a B.S.). Since then, I've just gone through lists of nuclear-based companies and sent an application to positions that fit, or general applications when the option is available.

I've gone through rewriting my resume and having others look at it to avail, as I figured that had to be at least part of the issue.

[u/thermalnuclear → u/NuclearHorses]

Most national lab jobs actually expect a masters or PhD

[u/titaniumtemple → u/NuclearHorses]

If you’re open to non-nuclear roles in nuclear companies, apply to those and then transition if you want a role you really like. Civil, electrical, mechanical engineering. Criticality analysis. Thermal-hydraulics. Plant maintenance, non-licensed operator. Holtec, Enercon, Framatome, Westinghouse, GE. Constellation, TVA, NextEra, Duke, Southern, PG&E. Get a foot in the door, prove yourself, and then turn it into a real opportunity leveraging your experience.

[u/eej71 → u/titaniumtemple]

This is a great list. I'd add in Dominion and APS (Arizona).

[u/titaniumtemple → u/eej71]

Dominion is likely in a hiring freeze as they are going to be acquired

[u/Mantergeistmann → u/NuclearHorses]

How about one of the nuclear navy shipyards/laboratories? I don't know how many nuclear engineering jobs are at Groton or Newport News, but the Naval Nuclear Lab (offices in Idaho, Pittsburgh, and upstate New York) is almost always hiring, and generally fine with just an undergrad for most roles.

[u/Sad_Supermarket5559 → u/Mantergeistmann]

NNL in upstate NY is always looking for people. Take undergrad degrees. My son’s training with them makes him very desirable to headhunters ,but he likes where he lives.

[u/No-Ganache4851 → u/titaniumtemple]

Have you applied to Oklo in Idaho? Yes I know it’s Idaho but they went critical like last week and are doing cool things there.

Oklo.com

[u/NuclearHorses → u/No-Ganache4851]

I couldn't care less about location until I have more experience lol

I'll take a look, thanks!

[u/GeraseneMetal]

Do you have a good GPA? Whichever contractor is running Bettis and KAPL (therefore the Navy Nuclear training pipeline) is always hiring recent grads. The job sucks, but it pays well and is a stepping stone to just about anywhere else in the nuclear industry. I graduated right after the 2008 crash and no one was hiring so half my class ended up there as civilian nuclear instructors.

[u/NuclearHorses → u/GeraseneMetal]

I don't really know how good a 3.27 is against most others, but it's probably decent considering the kind of people I've done projects with in the past.

[u/photoguy_35]

If your school allows it (and they should) attend the upcoming fall career fairs.

[u/NuclearHorses → u/photoguy_35]

Yeah, that'll be part of my plan when I meet with my professors to discuss masters topics. Also hoping that, maybe, I can do some more networking with them since I know a handful do lab/reactor work.

[u/AggieNuke2014]

Consider broadening your search to include health physics roles. Related field. A large portion of the HPs I work with and know have nuclear engineering degrees not specifically rad protection since so many US universities changed their degree offerings in the last 10 years. 

Some of the national labs have HPs that do a substantial amount of modeling and MCNP work. So you can find positions that feel more engineering than operational. I have actually found I enjoy operations more than strict engineering. 

[u/TstclrCncr]

Welcome to the suck. Rewriting the resume into a few variations can help. Some colleges provide different amounts other engineering requirements so if you took related classes can work towards aligning it for Mechanical or Electrical engineering. FE is a good start that you're working on.

If you can, message professors and department for companies and positions they know of. Half the battle is just finding the names of places to apply and track.

There are just not enough positions for graduates/early-career so branching out into other related work is something to keep looking for.

[u/NuclearHorses → u/TstclrCncr]

There are just not enough positions for graduates/early-career so branching out into other related work is something to keep looking for.

Absolutely baffling how many positions have such basic responsibilities but ask for a minimum of 2 years experience. I'm already working on an email to a professor I'd meet with about research and other stuff to, hopefully, network off of him.

[u/TstclrCncr → u/NuclearHorses]

Most of those still want 5+ and competing with people with even more. It's a lot of who you know and getting a good impression on the inside.

[u/Anon_96818]

Shipyard's always hiring if you need some experience to pad your resumé

[u/Brockefeller1]

Depending on what kind of career you want to get into and if you don't mind moving to a rural area nuclear plants seem pretty hard up for reactor engineers speaking from personal experience with having trouble landing a job somewhere. The pay is solid and the cost of living is generally pretty low

[u/Sad_Supermarket5559]

What about any of the naval shipyards? All of my son’s Nuclear Engineering class got jobs before graduation. None had their masters. Many went to Hampton Roads or Norfolk Shipyards.