Tucson, Arizona --- In a world where bad jokes could be prevalent, the punchline of "Fort Huachuca" could be the satirical ending to a joke asking "define the middle of nowhere." Jokes aside, one would have to admit Huachuca is "out there" when it comes to remote locations.
So how does one ensure an influx of qualified scientists and engineers to support the highly technical and complex mission for the U.S. Army Systems Engineering Command (USASEC) at such a remote location? By taking the hunt to target-rich environments such as the home of the "Wildcats" -- the University of Arizona (U of A) in 'nearby' Tucson or the University of Texas -- El Paso (UTEP), home of the Miners.
While Sierra Vista, Arizona, can boast a healthy population of over 131,000, Tucson, located approximately an hour and half north has a metro area population of close to one million people and is home to the University of Arizona, a member of the Pac-12 Conference, and a public research university. El Paso, sitting over 300 miles east of Sierra Vista, has a city population nearing 700,000, and the University of Texas at El Paso is another public research university. Both universities are classified as "RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity)" and "R1: Doctoral Universities -- Very high research activity." As an example, U of A is the fourth most-awarded university by NASA for research; UTEP's School of Engineering is the Nation's top producer of Hispanic engineers with M.S. and Ph. D. degrees." Target-rich, you say?
USAISEC finds itself in a position that many companies, both public and private, now face as the baby boomer generation exits the workforce. How does one stem the brain drain, as some have called it? A few months back, CECOM's demographics showed that the average age of a CECOM employee was 48 years old and that over 2,000 of CECOM's employees were ages 51 to 60.
"We have had our greatest success in recruiting the University of Arizona," said Nick Roberts, who assumed recruiting actions under ISEC's S-1. "We also have targets out there at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff; and Arizona State University in Tempe. For this fall recruiting cycle, the only expansion of our local recruiting area is to the University of California at Riverside. We look for minority and female candidates that expand the diversity of the workforce here at USAISEC." To recruit top candidates at these universities, USAISEC engages with current and graduating students to collect resumes, then utilize the Recent Graduate, Pathways, SMART and the Army Career Development Program (ACDP) for transitioning candidates into the civil service workforce.
"ISEC is a mirror-image of CECOM's aging workforce, with over 22% of ISEC's employees eligible for retirement before the end of this calendar year" Roberts continued. "Recruiting young, talented engineers and computer scientists is our best option. Our retention rate for students who graduated from the intern program is somewhere around 80%. A lot stay on because of family connections or familiarity with the surrounding area, but it is very difficult to recruit and retain someone from, say, the University of San Diego who is not familiar with the challenges and life style of Sierra Vista."
Various members of USAISEC participated under Roberts' lead. And sometimes, you might be surprised who you run into in such remote places as the trip to El Paso, which led to an encounter with former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force and current UTEP president Dr. Heather Wilson. Dr. Wilson stopped by for a visit and a pose at the UTEP gathering.
Recruiting challenges are everywhere.
Social Sharing