defense contracting agencies

[rppearso]

Does anyone know who the defense contracting agencies are, like job shops that get people jobs at places like lockheed martin, etc.

 

[benbo]

Does anyone know who the defense contracting agencies are, like job shops that get people jobs at places like lockheed martin, etc.

Can't you just apply directly to those companies or go through Monster?

I know Aerotek hires for those places around here, but a lot of people don't like Aerotek.

 

[Dexman PE]

Aerotek is horrible here. The couple of guys I know who work(ed) for Lockheed applied directly.

 

[rppearso]

You can apply direct but I have found it to be almost impossible to even get an interview, I have noticed with an employment agency you have alot better odds, especially since if I did this I would be changing industrys so it would be almost as if I had no experience. I tried applying for lockheed out of school and that did not work out at all.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

You can apply direct but I have found it to be almost impossible to even get an interview,

 

[roadwreck]

I know several people who work for or have worked for Lockheed. All of them applied directly, so saying it's almost impossible to do is a bunch of crap.

 

[benbo]

You can apply direct but I have found it to be almost impossible to even get an interview, I have noticed with an employment agency you have alot better odds, especially since if I did this I would be changing industrys so it would be almost as if I had no experience. I tried applying for lockheed out of school and that did not work out at all.

I got all my jobs, including a couple in aerospace, right out of the newspaper or off the internet. I've also gotten about 100 interviews this way in my life. In several industries.

Of course, I wasn't expecting $200K to start.

 

[Dexman PE]

One other thing to consider when using a placement agency: Our company puts out information (to each office manager) concerning employee retainage rates based on how they were hired. They have basically found that most of the employees who come from a headhunter are gone within 6 months (+/- 80%) with almost ALL of them gone within a year (+/-95%). The speculation is that the headhunter inflates the skills of the person looking for a job, he gets hired, then the company finds out what he's actually capable of doing (or the employee leaves for the next "grass is greener" job).

Basically headhunters can get you a job more easily, but unless you can live up to their built-up hype, you won't last long.

 

[Dexman PE]

If you can't get an interview on your own merits from applying directly, I would take that as a hint...

 

[MonteBiker]

Here we go again...

opcorn:

And I thought I would only hear about one train wreck today!

This of course would be the second...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585625...test=latestnews

 

[Dexman PE]

Here we go again...
opcorn:

 

[Dexman PE]

Here's a good DoD position that I think is always open: Mercenary.

 

[MonteBiker]

Here's a good DoD position that I think is always open: Mercenary.

He may get that... But I wouldn't count on that.

"I'm Awesome and should be hired immediately without having to apply or interview for a 7 figure salary - 101" was not an elective at my school but a certain school (not to be mentioned yet...) may just offer it.

 

[rppearso]

hmm this is very unfortunate the way this thread has turned out, the train wreck was not caused by myself I was simply looking for options. I had negitive experiences applying direct in the past getting thoes little too bad so sad cards in the mail so I thought I would try another route. It sounds like alot of people on here are quiters and just lay down to die, if I did that I would not have my PE right now. If its true that head hunters over inflate skills thats something to be aware of but I dont know how much credibility any of you actually hold with the immediate condesending posts to a benign post about employment agencys.

 

[Dexman PE]

I was hired through a headhunter agency as was my office manager. To this day, we are the only 2 in the company (over 450 overall in the company across 6 states) who have lasted longer than 2 years (both pushing 5 years now). When HR gets calls from headhunters, they typically just hang up because of that statistic.

 

[Dexman PE]

"I'm Awesome and should be hired immediately without having to apply or interview for a 7 figure salary - 101" was not an elective at my school but a certain school (not to be mentioned yet...) may just offer it.

I have not seen this class offered at my school either. I heard it's one of the University of Phoenix online classes though.

 

[MechGuy]

I was going to stay quiet at first, but now I can't resist.

:brickwall: :suicide1:

Dude, these guys are right. If you have the experience and qualifications the company is looking for, they'll hire you. A headhunter isn't going to get your foot in the door any better than you could do yourself. A friend in the company might help, but that's about it.

And in my meager opinion ... you shouldn't be looking for defense contractor jobs. They typically like folks who have a *good* opinion about the military, and usually those with some kind of experience with the military or federal government. Since you have neither, I would think that type of job would not be a good fit for you.

 

[MonteBiker]

hmm this is very unfortunate the way this thread has turned out, the train wreck was not caused by myself I was simply looking for options. I had negitive experiences applying direct in the past getting thoes little too bad so sad cards in the mail so I thought I would try another route. It sounds like alot of people on here are quiters and just lay down to die, if I did that I would not have my PE right now. If its true that head hunters over inflate skills thats something to be aware of but I dont know how much credibility any of you actually hold with the immediate condesending posts to a benign post about employment agencys.

Credibility:

One National Lab - Applied, Interviewed at and Hired

One Space Research Lab/University Position - Was sought out to work at and they paid for a graduate degree (no loans)

One private well known firm - Applied, Interviewed at and Hired

Apparently merits get you hired... Didn't need any help.

 

[Road Guy]

times are a lot different these days than it was 5 or 15 years ago, when I got out of school, 97, although I had co-op'd and had some experience I still have about 10 different job offers, its just not quite the same, but you also have to have your expectations set at the correct level

 

[Dexman PE]

times are a lot different these days than it was 5 or 15 years ago, when I got out of school, 97, although I had co-op'd and had some experience I still have about 10 different job offers, its just not quite the same, but you also have to have your expectations set at the correct level

True, just because you really want the job doesn't mean they really want to hire you. I received a resume from a friend-of-a-friend who came highly recommended. One look at his resume and I knew he wasn't what we are looking for. I know he's good at what he does, he just didn't have any experience in what we would want him to do. The ironic part is that his resume looks alot like mine did back when I was hired here.

With as many out of work engineers out there, it's easier for companies to be a little more picky with who they hire.