Tinker has jobs to offer, but process can take time

Forget sparse, one-page resumes, and a quick turnaround when applying for a job at Tinker Air Force Base, or any other military facility in Oklahoma.

It doesn’t work that way.

But the state’s largest single-site employer is hiring, and those with the right skills and a dose of patience can score a job, base officials say. Job hunters only need to realize the government doesn’t function the same as private enterprise, said Sherilyn McCalister, chief of Tinker’s civilian personnel office.

Like any company looking to add employees, "we try to draw in the best applicant pool we can,” she said. It’s still the government, though, and the hiring protocol is precise.

Tinker is the largest federal employer in the state, and it enjoys a reputation as a desirable place to work, McCalister said.

The base has also long been perceived as a tough place to land a job, and that knowing someone or having relatives working there is a ticket in. That scenario could alert a job seeker more quickly to a job or upcoming opening, but "doesn’t give someone any extra points,” McCalister said.

Base human resources officials regularly attend local career fairs, but they tend to be on hand to answer questions and provide printed information on the process. A misconception is that representatives are there to receive resumes and conduct interviews.

And that can leave some folks frustrated.

A stunning response

At a recent AfterCareers job fair in Midwest City, an expected attendance of 800 swelled to more than 3,600 hopefuls who waited in long lines for what they thought was the chance to talk to someone about a base job.

"There are so many applicants who apply, it is physically impossible for Tinker’s human resources people to visit with them one on one,” said David Burnett, the economic development director at the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce who helps coordinate job events for people transitioning out of military careers as well as those wanting to work on the base.

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