Profile:
Recruiter: Dorion Baker
Job Title: Recruiting Manager for Intelligence
Cleared Network Connections: 715
Company: TASCtasc-unclassified
Headquarters: Chantilly, VA
Employees: Over 5,000

The Nuts and Bolts:

What types of security-cleared positions are you currently hiring for?

Software Development, Software Engineers, System Engineers, Satellite Engineers, Intelligence Analysts, Network Architecture, Program Management

What are your current hiring needs?

We are actively hiring, and immediately hiring. The majority of positions require a TS (top secret) clearance or above.

Getting Hired:

How do potential candidates make their resumes stand out?

I would start with the strengths and candidates should start with their strengths. If their strength is their education, they should start there. If education is not a strength for them it might be something they would include towards the bottom of their resume. How you position your resume can also be important. If you have a lot of skills that are very pertinent and applicable to the customer set or to that job that you’re applying to then maybe put in a skills summary. If you do not have skills that are applicable to it do not put in a 30-bullet point skills summary that does not really fit the job you’re applying to.

Also summaries – people put summaries or objectives at the beginning of their resumes. I would say an objective usually is going to hurt you before it helps you. And the reason why is because people will enter objectives that have nothing to do with the job they’re applying to. If you’re going to have an objective make sure it aligns with that job you’re applying to. For instance…let’s say someone says they want to be a manager and they want to be a team lead/manager and everything they say in their summary is about managing and leading people but the job itself has nothing to do with managing people and it’s only a technical job – maybe that’s not something you want to put in your summary. Then that hiring manager is going to see that and say ‘this person isn’t going to be a good fit for my job because they want to be a team lead, they want to be a manager.’

Really analyze what you have in your resume, put your strengths up front. If your strength is your clearance if your strength is your education, if your strength is your skills summary, or the strength is your work experience – put those things toward the front of your resume and make sure they stand out.

What are common mistakes you see in resumes?

A customer or client may say ‘we need someone to do this’ and it’s a SOW or Statement of Work of what the person will do. Some candidates will take the same verbiage from the statement of work or from the job description and they’ll put that in their resume as what they did. But they fail to enter the information that really shows what they accomplished while they were in that position, and they’ll basically put what the job description says. But it is more helpful when a candidate is able to put in their accomplishments…what they were able to implement, what they were able to build, what they did with their teams, whatever metrics they were able to hit or goals they were able to accomplish. Those things really tell the story in regards to what they did while they were there.

If you’re entering in your resume that I “assisted” in this and I “supported” in this and this verbiage that shows that you were always assisting then it may not be a good sign of someone who can really take on that responsibility that manager is hiring for, if they were always in the background assisting. It goes to the position that they’re applying to.

Know the job you’re applying to, make sure your resume speaks to that. Your objective and your summary – if you’re going to have one – make sure it speaks to that job. You may have to change that several times if you feel like you need to keep using that, according to the job you’re applying to, so that manager is not turned off by that and so your strengths are up front and they can obviously see where you’re able to help them meet the need.

On the Job:

What regions are especially “hot” for your company right now for security-cleared work?

The primary region is the D.C metro but we have offices throughout the United States and we’re hiring in all of those.

What makes TASC a great place to work?

We have a strong rapport with our customer. We’re called upon by our customers for the hard to solve problems. They come to us when there are very challenging problems and we can advise them and help provide strategy. That in itself will attract candidates that are looking to be engaged at a level where they can use more of their – not just their hands or the tools that they’ve gained – but use their knowledge and begin to engage in strategy and critical thinking. [They can] begin to utilize that to advance their careers, but also to be tied to the mission, because our work does have an impact on society as a whole. Our goal is to be seen at that organization that strengthens our society, security, safety and basic values. So, for people who have that same drive and those same values, then they will also be attracted to that.

We also pride ourselves in hiring some of the brightest minds in the business. TASC is a place where if you’re new in your career you can come in and be a part of mentorship programs, and training and development programs. We have our own TASC Institute in which we provide training as well as graduate certificate programs and training toward certifications like the PMP and CISSP. So it’s a place where you can come in and really learn and grow and be partnered and teamed with mentors who will help you go to the next level in your career.

Our goal is that the person that comes to TASC, if they ever do leave, they’re going to leave better than when they came. They’re not just going to come here for a job and then go to another job – because you can get a job anywhere. When you come to TASC, you come here for a career.

Are you a recruiter who would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Recruiters Unclassified? Email editor@clearancejobs.com.

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