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Interview With a Recruiter, Melanie Chin

From time to time we bring you Q/A sessions with recruiters, who provide insights on their company, its hiring practices and job search tips.

Melanie Chin, MorganFranklin

Tell us about yourself. I am a Senior Recruiter with MorganFranklin Corporation. We are a professional services firm headquartered in McLean, VA. I have been with the company since June 2010 and support our National Security Solutions (NSS) group. I staff our cleared projects both nationally and internationally.

Give us a commercial. Why do I want to work for your company? MorganFranklin is a rapidly growing business with a fantastic benefits package (including 4 weeks of PTO, 10 paid holidays, matching 401k plan, educational assistance plan), a diverse portfolio of interesting projects and many opportunities for advancement and growth. We have a fun corporate culture and were recognized by Consulting Magazine as one of the Best Small Firms to Work For in the US.

Tell us about the hiring process with your company. Our hiring process typically consists of one phone interview and then 1-2 face-to-face interviews. Once the person is hired, he/she will need to complete employment paperwork including a background check form. The person will undergo a formal new-hire orientation here in our corporate headquarters on their first day of work.

At what point in their transition should a service member start looking for a job with your company? When they are 2-3 months from their separation date.

What’s the best way for someone transitioning from the military to get a job with your company? They should contact one of our NSS recruiters to have a detailed conversation about their background and what they are looking for. The Recruiter can discuss current and upcoming opportunities and what might be the best fit for them.

Any words of wisdom for cleared job seekers using social media? I highly recommend that job seekers have a profile on LinkedIn, as Recruiters regularly search LinkedIn for potential candidates  A job seeker can also post a message to their Twitter network that they are seeking employment – doing so will likely lead to referrals.

What types of cleared positions do you fill? Our cleared projects encompass a variety of different skill areas including logistics, IT, communications, intelligence analysis and financial advisory work. Our positions typically require a TS clearance or higher.

What are the toughest security cleared positions for you to fill and why? Our toughest positions are most likely our deployable positions, as many people these days do not want to deploy.

What do you see security cleared job seekers doing wrong? Some people do not advertise their current clearance level on their resume – this is highly important to a potential employer. It is helpful if they include on their resume when their most recent SSBI was, but it is not required. It is also helpful to include on their resume how many college credits they have if they have not yet completed a degree.

What’s the craziest thing a job seeker has ever said to you? This was not said to me but one of my colleagues was told by a candidate that he could not start a job because the wheels to his racecar fell off.

What do you want job seekers need to know about your job as a recruiter? We screen many candidates on a daily basis and it is a time-intensive process. Unfortunately, we do not have time to respond to every resume that we reject to let the person know he/she was not selected.  A candidate should not take it personally if they are not notified that they were not selected for an interview.

What’s the most inappropriate thing you’ve seen on a resume? It was the person’s email address – it had the phrase “I Pick My Nose All Day” in it.

I just lost my job, what are the three things I need to do? Post your resume on all the job boards, make sure you have a detailed, up-to-date profile on LinkedIn and attend local job fairs.

Is BRAC having an impact on your company or its hiring needs, and if so how? Some of our projects were relocated due to the BRAC but I would not say the BRAC has had a substantial impact on our company.

What advice would you give a job seeker attending a Cleared Job Fair? Bring many copies of your resume, dress professionally and have a 30-second “elevator speech” about yourself.

What advice would you give a job seeker who is uploading their resume/cover letter on ClearedJobs.Net, and who wants you to be able to find them? Make sure your resume lists all your employment experience and education, has relevant buzzwords/keywords to your skill set and has your complete contact information including a cell phone number.

If I’m a security cleared job seeker interested in working for your company, what should I do? I would advise reviewing our website, www.morganfranklin.com, to see if any of our current openings are a match, and if so, to apply online. I would also recommend periodically reviewing our website for new openings and connecting to one of our cleared recruiters on LinkedIn to begin building a relationship.