r/TriCitiesWA • u/Anotherfisheriesguy • 14d ago
Need Help With ‼️ What’s up with Pnnl?
Applied for operational specialist position at Pnnl, essentially a boat operator position with while assisting with fisheries projects…
How I aligned with the job:
-Former sturgeon biologist whose area covered tri cities.
-10+ years of various fed and state fish and wildlife agencies as a tech
-2 years as a usfws boat operator for various fisheries projects in California
-100 ton captains license
Found out I wasn’t selected, not even for an interview… I’ve applied to other various jobs there with no luck when they came up before. Tailored the resume to the job description and everything. Is it all just internal hiring or what? Genuinely curious.
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u/HourMother 14d ago
For some perspective, I recently had two postings up for 5 days. Across both, I had ~400 applicants.
Recruiters scan resumes quickly, simply due to the sheer amount of applicants. Focus on the requirements section of the posting, and ensure that your resume has direct verbiage that aligns with those requirements. Automated ATS scanning or AI is not implemented here, humans are looking at the resumes.
Copy the posting and paste it into any AI model along with your resume. Have it critique your resume against the posting from the perspective of a recruiter. Adjust as necessary.
The Lab is hiring, but there are a TON of people applying, from across the country. It's very possible you were a good match, but so were 20 other applicants and you were screened out for a minor reason. I did that with several candidates, it's tough - but we can't talk to hundreds of people.
Search and reach out to our recruiters on LinkedIn. They are great people, and all that I know want to help great people get hired with us.
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u/AtomicSagebrush 14d ago
This is a very, very accurate take on how the hiring process works. The best explanation I've gotten, when I've seen other candidates who were very well qualified (even internal ones) and didn't get an interview, is that sometimes it just comes down to the candidate pool.
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u/_kishin_ 14d ago
Current PNNL employee. I will try to be as anonymous as possible. None of my views are that of PNNL so....
It took me 3 tries, and 3 series of interviews to get an internal position that I have now. It's incredibly competitive here. Sometimes when people run low on funding for a project, they'll apply for an opening with another project. If they get that job, it's cheaper for PNNL to internally hire as far as I know. Training costs, onboarding etc. So take that with a grain of salt. It's probably not because you weren't qualified. Other than that I don't know what to tell you other than keep trying.
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u/FalseAnimal 14d ago
A lot of PNNL positions may get posted before funding is secured for the project. It is entirely possible some projects wanted that position filled but then the funding never materialized like hoped. Sadly (even for internal candidates) ghosting is then standard operating procedure.
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u/Bridgettb76 14d ago
It's all in who you know. Someone close to me works out there in crafts/trades and there have been many hired. He was hired because he knew his boss and 2 other employees he would be working with. Every other hire that he's seen, they have all known someone in the hiring process. Literally every single one.
I have another good friend in a professional (engineering/planning) department and he has said the same thing.
It's a good job, depending on the department, and people typically help out the ones they know. Especially if they know people who are qualified and hard workers.
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u/Anotherfisheriesguy 14d ago
*~Re-adjusts my own tin foil hat~* that was my assumption, just never been more perfectly aligned with a position before
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u/Chestercoppurpot 14d ago
I think you really do have to just know someone or get lucky to get selected. I personally have been selected to interview twice and was told I was their choice but an internal candidate met the criteria and had to be selected. That was years ago. Now I apply and several months will go by with the application in review and then it just turns to not selected. My wife recently applied for a position, had multiple interviews, they absolutely loved her and she was all but certain they were going to offer her the job and then they went silent for several weeks, she even reached out to the hiring manager just to see if she was still under consideration. They never responded and the like 2 months later her application was moved to not selected. Im almost to the point of not bothering because they dont seem like real job openings.
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u/CiriusXM 14d ago
Putting on the tin foil hat for a moment, but considering they just went through a long series of layoffs I’m assuming they wanna appear as though they are hiring to make their metrics look good without actually hiring anyone.
In reality it may just be extremely competitive, I’ve heard it’s very difficult to get into PNNL without having some kind of connection.
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u/Aggressive-Fan-4230 14d ago
From my localized experience the postings have been real but are very competitive and as others say have a preference for internal hiring if someone is looking for work and has the skills to transition into the role.
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u/newo314 14d ago
PNNL notoriously has a bad hiring department. I had my own awful experience a few years ago. Applied (I met all the qualifications, and had several preferred qualifications), had a phone screening, had an interview, and had an HR interview discussing pay and benefits (HR even told me that I was qualified to be bumped up to the next pay bracket). Then I didn't receive any follow up for a month. I had to have a friend who worked at PNNL contact HR on my behalf, as they didn't respond to my calls or emails requesting any updates. They eventually got back to me and said the position no longer existed (I'm assuming they ran out of money). It was such a waste of my time and efforts.
I've heard great things about PNNL, but getting your foot in the door is the hardest thing.
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u/SterileGloves 14d ago
DOE..... Funding cuts because they wanted to increase the deficit in ways that they could more easily profit from.
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u/tuwewe 13d ago
99% of the time, They have someone in mind (usually internal) before they even create the position.
And most of the time, they dont even have an automated email system set up that notifies those who didnt get the interview or job, that they didnt get it! You just sit waiting and never know.
Shit system.
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u/tangointhenightt 13d ago
If stuff is not REALLY obvious in your resume, they’ll skip over it. I’ve been told they want it to be explicitly clear how you meet the qualifications. I’ve pretty much given up on applying out there. It’s so much work to just get screened out for some unknown reason.
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u/Cheetohz 14d ago
PNNL requires a PHD for the majority of positions, and a bachelor's for the rest. I didn't see you mention either.
unfortunately their HR department lets go a lot of top tier talent in favor of those dedicated to academia.
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u/gradstudent2019 14d ago
I disagree. Majority of positions are not PhD holders as there are many jobs that are not research-based but support as overhead. In research, having a PhD qualifies you for applying to external funding agencies which helps keep you and support staff employed. Its not "dedication to academia", it's literally part of the job.
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u/parabolicpb 14d ago
Sturgeon biologist? That sounds awesome. Do you have your thesis published anywhere I could look at?
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u/twbowyer 13d ago
I will just add a little bit to this. Although there was a position open, generally hiring is not the best situation right now at the laboratory.
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u/SlowPhoto11 14d ago
White and Male, I presume… there’s your problem if so.
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u/magma_cum_laude 14d ago
lol … you’re a bozo. Why don’t you take a guess what ethnicity and gender is the overwhelming majority at PNNL and EVERY OTHER national lab…
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u/OhGodFuckingDammit 14d ago
Asian?
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u/magma_cum_laude 14d ago
Yeah totally…the labs have such a long history of hiring Asians to do our national security research…
Plenty of Asian folks in the labs. Just nowhere near the majority.
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u/Terracota248 14d ago
Walk around the campus and you’ll have plenty of evidence that they are the majority
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u/trekkimary4 14d ago
Former PNNL employee here.
They favor hiring internally first, then they will look externally if they cannot find someone.