A national IT and cybersecurity company is holding a job fair in Pensacola this week. CSRA is a giant in the cyber fields, with contracts in the defense, intelligence and homeland security fields among others. They and other companies will be looking to fill a number of local openings at the job fair, scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Pensacola Grand Hotel. Doug Underhill is the Manager for Security Services for CSRA in support of the Department of Homeland Security in Pensacola. He says this is not a job fair where they are collecting resumes and farming them out. "We are literally going to have hiring managers on site prepared to give offers to qualified candidates. "CSRA alone has 90 positions available, and I believe we have 12 partners in this job fair all of whom are also filling positions."
Many of the positions at the job fair require a certain level of government security clearances. Underhill says that shouldn’t be a big obstacle for most applicants. "If you're qualified to get a NAC, which is a National Agencies Check, which really essentially means you've kept your credit pretty squared away and you don't have a history of getting in trouble with the law, then there is a job, there is at least one position there for you." Underhill says that once someone qualifies for a NAC, it's fairly easy to get a secret clearance. The next level up is top secret. Going from NAC to top secret takes several steps, unless you are in the military.
CSRA is a relatively new company that evolved from the merger of CSC's North American Public Sector business and SRA International last November. It is based in Falls Church, Virginia and employs over 19 thousand people nationwide. Doug Underhill, who is also an Escambia County Commissioner, says the job fair is for positions available locally. "If (you have skills) anywhere in the disciplines of IT or cyber then there are opportunities. Database managers, both Oracle and Sequel; Windows admins, Linux admins, network infrastructure types, just about every imaginable job."
And recent cybersecurity graduates are also encouraged to apply. Underhill says he is anxious to see what UWF student bring to the table at the job fair. "I'm willing to overlook an absence of experience because I know the quality of education that those workers, my future team mates are getting up there at UWF."
The job fair will run from 10:00 until 2:00, with interview sessions scheduled from 3:30 in the afternoon until 7:00. Underhill says some people will walk away from the event with jobs. "Quite frankly I will be in trouble with my bosses if people don;t walk out of there with job offers." He says they need good workers as much as applicants need a job. Maybe more.
And the people who do accept positions will be making decent money. Doug Underhill says the lowest paid job in this job fair will be higher than the median family income of Escambia County.
