What Recruiters Will and Will Not Tell You

After 20 years in the small community of the submarine service I have found it difficult to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, or as we say when I grow up. I began my search about six months before I retired in December 2005. I would recommend that anyone do the same, because some of the positions that are available are not immediate hires and have a lengthy hiring process.

The longest for me was a position I had interviewed for with TVA. The process was about eight months long. I have also tried the recruiting firms Lucas Group, Orion International, Military Stars, New Careers, Recruit Military, Bradley Morris, and NexusRG. Out of this group the most helpful were Lucas, Orion, Military Stars and NexusRG. I had a bad experience with Bradley's recruiter. The recruiter tried to set me up with jobs in locations I had told him I did not want to live and when I turned those down he never called back.

All of these recruiters are paid by the companies to find you and bring you to the hiring table. None of their money comes out of your paycheck after you are hired and for some of them there is a 90 day warranty on you. If you do not stay the full 90 days the recruiter does not get paid. I throw that out there to dispell a lot of rumors I heard about recruiters when I retired. I have interviewed with probably 20 to 30 companies. Some interviews were in person and some over the phone. There are a lot of 12-hour shifts being worked out there and some with mandatory production days on Saturday.

Supervisors and managers generally are expected to work 60 hour weeks. Some even more. I turned down an offer for a supervisor position with Amazon because the day shift supervisor was putting in 80-hour weeks on salary and no overtime. I found out the hourly employees had better time off and actually made more money than the supervisor on salary. Do your home work. The flowery picture some recruiters pa int is not always the case. Google search the company and the industry. I was offered an excellent paying job with a steel company. I searched and found a letter written by the CEO to the U.S. government that basically said if things did not change he will have to close up business in the U.S and go overseas.

The recruiter did not mention that and when I told him, he was unaware. I fell into the job I am working now by networking with friends. I work for a government contractor 40 hours a week and make very good money. There is no upward mobility and no challenge for me so the job is difficult. It pays the bills. Like others I am a doer, a fixer and like being the guy that solves problems. That's how it was for me while I was active. If it was broke or if no one could figure it out, I was the guy that got the call. My job satisfaction comes from being the guy that is depended on to get the job done. I have not found that challenging job yet and so I keep searching. I wish you all goodluck in your hunt and hope your transition is as smooth as possible.

(Submitted by David Marks )