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Hi All,
So, living and working in Antarctica is a wish I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long time now – but being that I’m not a physical scientist of any sort, I had kind of put it out of my head. It was only recently that I came across the Raytheon website and discovered it’s actually possible … and so for the past couple of months I’ve been scouring the Internet for information, advice, blogs, etc, and have basically become fixated on making it happen.
Here’s my dilemma: I’d be willing to do anything, but looking at the Raytheon job listings, I don’t think I’m qualified for any of it.
I’ll be graduating soon here with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and Sociology, neither of which are going to help me wash dishes. I did a little bit of foodservice and a *very* little bit of retail work in highschool, but that was years ago now, and since I’ve been in college I’ve pretty much just been a Sociology research assistant (lots of data entry, data analysis, and writing long, dry reports for the NSF that they’ll never read anyway… :P)
But! I’m not planning to apply until the next Job Fair, which gives me about a year to work with. So I was wondering: What sorts of things do Raytheon look for most when hiring people? What would be the best thing/s to do, jobs to look for, etc, over the next year to give me a better chance of having them consider my resume? Or is there no hope for me?
Any suggestions and advice would be so appreciated, you have no idea. Thanks!
I wouldn’t worry too much about trying to gain experience washing dishes to become a dishwasher–although they’re looking for people with some food service experience, I think it’s mostly so you have a clue about how hard it is. Try for jobs like Janitor and GA instead…you’ll be glad you did. The most important thing is going to be selling yourself at the job fair. You may even want to consider still applying by paper this year–you never know when people aren’t going to pq at the last minute–you may just get a call. Good luck!
>From: “Antarctic memories”
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Big V is right. Apply now. If possible make it clear that you can come down on a moments notice if someone drops out. I can see it’s a tough year. My boss told me 80 percent of the department is returning this year. And the remaining 20 percent are people who were on the ice before. Maybe even some ex- Da’s. I don’t know for sure.
I think probably you won’t get through on the phone, but what the hey all they can do is tell you that you need to send in a resume. If you wanted in this year give it a try it can’t hurt.
As far as jobs go, when you go to the job fair next year, put yourself in the best light. Most of the jobs require flexibility, so you may find that you have small amounts of experience in many areas.
mikethe three biggest things in my experience were persistence, recommendations, and proof of hard work.
persistence is easy. apply, apply again, talk to people, call people, work every angle possible and ride that fine line between persistence and annoyance. you need to make yourself standout against a VERY large crowd when applying for the entry-level positions. humor helps – one girl i know who had success mailed homeade postcards to the hiring managers while she was traveling through mexico – goofy reminders of the fact that she was still out there. it got people to remember her and definitely helped to bring her resume out above the many others.
recommendations – if you know anyone who works for the program or has worked for the program and they were successful (i.e. not fired), their recommendation can have a lot of pull.
proof of hard work – ever worked a job that was routinely 60+ hours a week or more? ever worked or lived in a harsh or isolated environment with other people? ever done physical labor at all? honestly, it seems far less about the skill specific to the job (at the entry level) and far more about the hiring manager knowing you won’t run down after 60 hour work weeks in extreme environments. it’s tough, especially at the pole when you have to contend with altitude and a tighter work schedule.
tough, but gratifying in the extreme. good luck!
-nathan
an addendum – there is always hope – hell, when i first applied (did so twice before i was hired) i thought the same thing. i had a bfa in graphic design and a lot of enthusiasm, but not a lot else. one year made a huge difference and mostly by pursuing other dreams that happened to fit together with my antarctic one. besides, antarctica will probably be the only place you’ll work where the dishwashers generally have bachelors, masters, or doctorate degrees. it’s a grand and bizarre world.
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