www.CivilianJobNews.com
JAN/FEB
2013
The Essential Military-to-Civilian Transition Resource
Leadership on Demand: Chesapeake Hires Veterans by Janet Farley Contributing Editor
S
ome companies are quick to say they support our nation’s veterans and others let their actions speak more for themselves. Chesapeake Energy falls into the latter camp. “We want to hire the best so we look to hire vets,” said Jason Allbaugh, a military relations representative who works at Chesapeake to recruit veterans for the company. Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the second largest producer of natural gas, a top 15 producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the United States. The company owns leading positions in numerous natural gas shale plays across the country and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Great Plains Oilfield Rental, L.L.C. (GPOR) is one of its 12 affiliated companies and has field offices in Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. GPOR specializes in providing 24/7 drilling solutions such as equipment rental, mud service delivery and water transfer capabilities. Named to Civilian Job News’ Most Valuable Employers (MVE) for Military® in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Chesapeake is widely recognized as one of the most military-friendly employers in the nation. For the past five years,
FORTUNE magazine has included them in the 100 Best Companies to Work For® list. They are also on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes Top 25 Company list. Clearly, the company is doing something right and job-seeking veterans will want to pay attention. Calling All Veterans Looking for a job? Look no further. Chesapeake currently has about 400 positions open, primarily in Pearsall, Texas near San Antonio and in Canton, Ohio. Positions available are varied and include forehand trainees, field technicians, equipment operators, and electronic technicians. “Combat engineers are great candidates for us, but we also like to hire those who have worked in non-combat related positions, too,” said Allbaugh. “We are looking for drilling engineers, managers, assistant managers and process analysts,” added Trey Landry, a business manager for GPOR. The rank you wore in the military doesn’t matter here, either. “We are interested in hiring former officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel. We don’t try to pigeonhole vets into one type of position. Instead, we try to match their strengths with our required skill sets,” said Allbaugh. Recruiting and Retention: Chesapeake Style “Vets are a special group although they probably won’t
want to think of themselves in that way. Our recruiting and retention activities are special, too. They are way different from other companies out there,” said Allbaugh. “We don’t just tell veterans to go to our web page to find out about openings. We actively seek them out through militaryfocused hiring events, such as the ConferenceHire® events hosted nationwide by Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI),” said Allbaugh. “We take the time to meet faceto-face with candidates at these events and we talk to them. We gladly accept their resumes on the spot,” said Allbaugh. “Later, we go back over those resumes carefully. We further screen potential hires over the telephone. Then we prepare a basic profile of those candidates to pass on to our internal recruiters so they can continue the vetting process,” said Allbaugh. It is what happens during the creation of that internal candidate profile by the military relations representatives at Chesapeake that makes their process so unique. Chesapeake takes the extra step to translate the military skills and lingo on the resume for the jobseeker.
“Essentially, we do the application process for them,” said Allbaugh. “We understand what the veteran is trying to express in the resume because we’ve served in the military. We get it and then we actually translate it for the veteran so that our internal recruiters will get it, too,” said Allbaugh. The company also maintains an internal database of its veteran applicants. “If we aren’t able to match them at one point, we revisit their qualifications as new positions open and see if they are still interested in working with us. Positions can come open at the drop of a hat,” said Allbaugh. Chesapeake’s military hiring initiative is a process that seems to be working quite well. “Before we began this process, we may have hired 1 out of 2000 vets. Now we hire 1 out of 10 who apply,” said Allbaugh. If you’re interested in being the 1 out of 10, you may want to consider contacting Jake Hutchings (jhutchings@bradley-morris.com), the BMI account manager for Chesapeake, to find out exactly when the next hiring event is scheduled.
“BMI is able to leverage our national footprint and get candidates hired. We have been able to place candidates with Chesapeake/Great Plains in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming,” said Hutchings. Landry has been particularly satisfied with BMI’s assistance. “In a one year time period, we have attended nine BMI ConferenceHire events and hired 30 employees as a result. As a whole, we couldn’t be more pleased with the candidates we’ve hired from BMI,” said Landry. Why Chesapeake Wants to Hire Veterans “Veterans are a good fit for our fast-paced and tough line of work. We want to hire people who are used to rough work and who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. They show up every day to do their job. They do it right and they do it safely,” said Allbaugh. “Veterans are more detailoriented and disciplined. They don’t need constant oversight. They are groomed to be leaders,” said Landry. Continued on page 4
INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ENERGY ISSUE Ask the Recruiter: Tips for crafting your resume ......................page 3
Spouse Series:
Re-energize your job search ................ page 5
Jobs in Energy
....... page 6
Career Coach's Corner
Using your Q Power ......................page 8
Job Fairs
Companies are looking for you .........page 10