FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) made 33 on-the-spot job offers at its fourth annual career fair held at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center, Feb. 25.
“Some job offers were made to college students,” said Shelby Khan, the NSWCDD Human Resources Recruiting Program lead who coordinated the event.
After the expo hall cleared, Khan reviewed the data on her laptop. She was delighted to report 308 candidates participated in the four-hour event.
The candidates discussed career opportunities in detail with scientists, engineers, contracts officers, accountants, and information technology specialists representing the command’s seven technical departments in addition to the Comptroller Department, Contracts Department, and the Information Technology Division of the Corporate Operations Department. Representatives from NSWCDD Dam Neck Activity also participated.
Robert Snodgrass and Gary Shearer were among representatives from the NSWCDD Weapons Control and Integration Department talking with candidates.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet potential candidates of varying experiences and backgrounds,” said Snodgrass, Weapons Control Hardware and Test Branch head.
Shearer, an NSWCDD embedded systems architect, agreed.
“The events, in general, are important to increase public awareness about the opportunities at NSWC Dahlgren,” said Shearer.
Candidates with background in the fields of mathematics, computer science, applied physics, engineering and other highly technical skillsets comprised the command’s target audience.
“Our marketing was geared to both entry level and experienced degreed scientist and engineers,” said Khan. “We also recruited for non-scientist and engineer positions for business and administrative openings in our Comptroller, Contracts, and Corporate Operations Departments.”
Of those who participated, 130 pre-registered using Yello – a recruiting tool first implemented in 2018. With pre-registration, managers are also able to review resumes prior to the event and coordinate interviews in Yello. Making name tags for pre-registered candidates is another feature in Yello that expedites the check-in process.
“Using Yello to pre-register is such a time saver,” said Khan.
The Human Resources Recruiting Program team strives to improve the career fair each year.
“We are always making tweaks behind the scenes to improve the experience for the candidates and our hiring managers,” she said.
NSWCDD departments represented during the event comprised of the Corporate Operations Department, Comptroller Department, and Contracts Department plus seven technical departments focusing on Strategic and Computing Systems; Electromagnetic and Sensor Systems; Gun and Electric Weapon Systems; Weapons Control and Integration; Readiness and Training Systems; Integrated Combat Systems; and Warfare Analysis and Digital Modeling.
The command, the largest among the Navy's surface and undersea Warfare Center divisions, is a premier research and development center that serves as a specialty site for weapon system integration. Dahlgren's unique ability to rapidly introduce new technology into complex warfighting systems is based on its longstanding competencies in science and technology, research and development, and test and evaluation.