Recruiting for tomorrow’s workforce
Students at several colleges recently had the opportunity to attend a Nuclear Security Enterprise Day to learn more about jobs available to them in an industry often cloaked in secrecy. During March and April, CNS, along with our colleagues from across the NSE, visited Georgia Tech, Purdue, Texas A&M, and the University of California at Merced to communicate the importance of our national security mission and the opportunities we have available for upcoming graduates.
 Alexi McCallick of Tooling and Tester Design at Pantex (left) talks with a student at the Texas A&M Nuclear Security Enterprise Day |
Human Resources’ Amy Moran, instrumental in recruiting and attracting top talent to CNS, noted, “In the workforce market, there is a war for talent because of our strong global economic environment. Within the NSE, we have the ‘Nuclear Security Enterprise Workforce Recruitment Strategy’ to raise awareness with universities throughout the country of what we do, the NSE mission, and our job openings.”
NSE Days include presentations, panels, and recruiting booths, allowing members of the NSE (including CNS’s Pantex and Y-12) to establish relationships with the universities. “We’re working to develop pipelines for hard-to-fill positions such as cybersecurity and engineering,” Moran said. “Pantex and Y-12 are integral to the NSE’s missions, so it’s important for us to help the enterprise attract a capable workforce to sustain our future nuclear security missions across all sites.”
Charles Herrell of Cyber Operations joined the Purdue NSE Day and thinks these events help potential employers and employees understand one another.
“I enjoyed speaking to the prospective employees for cyber security-related positions. We spoke the same language and shared a passion for protecting cyber assets,” he said. “I have been to recruiting events talking to recruiters about job openings, and they didn’t know the details of what those in my profession do, so it made me left feeling like I could not sell myself because I could see the recruiter’s eyes glaze over quickly.”
