nuclear engineer

mechanical engineer

it technician

apprentice

machinist

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

I was employed as a Painter Apprentice at NNSY for a year and a half until I was let go. The management in that shop does not care about you. I had numerous people from other shops trying to pull me over before COVID happened, and it was all blocked by my Zone Manager, Apprentice Supervisor, and Deputy Superintendent. There is a contract in which you are not allowed to miss so many hours in a 6 month period before they can terminate you instantly. 6 months into my first year, I had to take off for the suicide of my fiance, someone I've known for 18 years, and because of the Apprentice Supervisor having a discussion with the Deputy Superintendent, I was given unpaid leave to handle everything involving my fiance's 2 kids, my family, her family, and a funeral. To start off 2020, I came back from my 6 months of schooling to see two individuals quit because of the lack of care and assistance from the Apprentice Supervisor. They were trying to be moved in their last 6 months to try to complete their book of sign-offs that had to be done to graduate. She didn't budge and they couldn't take it anymore. Whenever I had some kind of training or meeting, she let me know not only last minute, but would also give me the wrong time for the meetings. She had a vendetta against me because I expressed my concerns about people being allowed to sleep on the clock, not getting in trouble for it, and if I ever had to do a job where they were my watch, I didn't feel safe to have those people working with me. This got her chewed out by the Superintendent of the whole code. From that point on, everyone said she was seeking her moment where she could fire me. On her visits to us while we were at TCC, she would reach out to everyone in my group minus me. There were times she walked right past me by myself at school, never said a word. This is the kind of behavior that is sitting at the top of the food chain as an Apprentice Supervisor, who worries more about her businesses outside of the shipyard on the clock than the work inside. If you are asked to accept going in as a Painter Apprentice, I would hold off for the next offer. The paint shop does not care about their people, and they put the worst possible people in at the top to keep you from succeeding. Upon release, you are supposed to receive an SF-50 in the mail. Not only have I not received that in the 2 months I've been unemployed, but they can't even find a copy of it in the shipyard's system. Shop 71 is the lowest paying shop with the worst supervisors sitting at the top and I do not recommend anyone work there unless you're coming in to change the culture from the top down of the shop coming from another shipyard.

I've been apprenticing here for a few years now.. I feel no more capable at my job than I was during my first month.

First off, the training program is poorly executed. 
The classes teaching your trade are few and far between. When you do finally get them, they cram the basic AND advanced knowledge into you so fast that you won't retain any of the information within the short few months the classes last.

You quickly realize book smarts are useless..
So you aced all your crammed in courses? Cool, here's your work area where the work has nothing to do with the pen and paper tests you took. You know the glossary terms and equations BUT a crane/ship/etc isn't made of terms and equations. They're made of components and parts. 

You're a glorified janitor.
All your seasoned work members and supervisors view you as part of the cleanup crew. Get used to sweeping, wiping and fetching tools. It's all your qualified to do honestly. But hey, at least you aced those vocab tests, right!?

Want my advice?
Get in, Get paid and Use the massive amounts of spare time you have to setup whatever Plan B you can think of.. 

This program does not prepare you for anything except a higher position you can't possibly justify having.


Most of the work is easy especially when you get to the point you realize that everything is the same. For example, when setting up power throughout a ship it's typically the same as setting up power on a previous ship and will usually be the same for the next ship that comes in the shipyard.  

I've learned to work with many people with many ideas and many opinions. You learn many things from many personalities and are able to pass along the things you have learned yourself about a job, life, or overall experience about the current subject.  A lot of great people, fair people, and yes of course rude ones also who have not yet leaned to work well with a team.  All the work in the shipyard is easy, just like anywhere we find ourselves, but as we know its the people we work with that can make things easy or make things extremely difficult.  Overall the shipyard is a great place to work compared to previous jobs I've been thankful for and privileged to work at, in my opinion. My only gripe is hard work and great people can go unnoticed because, politically speaking, people will honor and promote the ones they like and not those who truly deserve it.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard is a great place to start and maintain a career in the engineering field. It has a decent mentor program for new employees, which gives them a chance to learn and adapt to the company's way of operation. As government employee you receive excellent benefits including 401K, health and life insurance for both you and your family. You also receive all paid federal holidays off, sick leave, and annual leave. The one downfall is the lack of technology of the computer systems, servers, and designing software. Due to the government budget issues the facility seems to be stuck in the last millennium. As a design/trouble shooting engineer we are tasked to do almost everything us 2d 2008 AutoCAD, with limited 3D modeling knowledge, and hand calculations for complex problem solving. Although the shipyard does have an FEA program, it is not user friendly and most people do not even know it exists, never the less know how to use it. The shipyard is a great place to work, but only if you can adapt to its style of operation. and old school methods of problem solving.

There are  many great people there and some not so great; i suppose like most jobs.  There has been many pleasant changes in the people I worked with for over 31 years and many showed great kindness while others could not get pass their prejudices. I felt safe working there and also felt the people there worked safely and for the most part followed the rules.  It seems all there were willing to lend a helping hand when it really mattered.  It is a great place to work with great benefits and real concern for the individual as far as work environment and safety are concerned.  I suppose on every job there are those that make themselves your enemies and then there are those that make themselves your friends and are compassionate,  I learned to go from no knowledge of my trade to becoming a journeyman in my trade and that was a great part due to the journeyman who showed me and taught me and the great training program they have there.  The job required physical and mental stamina.  The most enjoyable part of the job was the challenge it offered everyday  I worked there.

My work day involved answering telephones, mailing out training material, assisting cutomers that visit the library, assisting co-workers in anyway possible. I learned how to re-set up a whole library after we had to move into a new building, copy and make training books for instructor nad students, learning how to mail out material and use the stamp weighing machine, and oversee the operations of the Audiovisual when my Supervisor or Head Library were off for the day.

The management team was well organized and worked together in order to make the complete Code 1170.41. All my co-workers was a even greater joy to work with because they work very hard to as a team and show respect towars one another.

The hardest part of the job was when I was laid-off and leaing the management team and co-worker that I had come to love so very much. The most enjoyable part of the job was the hard work, team work, love that we all had for one another, and we accepted one another differences.

NNSY is a good place to gain experience if you are a young engineer, and it is also a great place to make a career at. Your professional advancement is essentially mapped for you so you can plan for the future, and if you are competitive in nature, there are plenty of opportunities for upward mobility.

Working with naval nuclear submarines and air craft carriers is really cool, and it is nice to feel some pride knowing that you are helping the military keep our nation safe.

Norfolk is a nice town, with Virginia Beach and Williamsburg close by. There are always things to do.

The one negative aspect of the shipyard is the work culture. The relationship between engineering and production personnel can be difficult. Engineering often makes plans and procedures that are unrealistic for production, while production pushes back when engineering gives lengthy/tedious instructions in order to adhere to technical guidelines and regulations. TL/DR: It's government work, people get complacent and whiny.

I have worked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for the past 351/2 years. During this time I rose from a helper to middle management. A typical day now starts with a scoping meeting at 0645 and preparing for a job planning meeting at 0900. I assign daily tasks to the Engineering Technicians that work for me. After my morning meetings I review job progress and material status for jobs in a planning stage. I enjoy supervising my co-workers and helping them get ready for their advancement in their jobs.The hardest part of the job is coordinating the various aspects of providing technical instructions and coordinating the timely delivery of material needed to complete various jobs on the Naval submarines and all other types of surface craft.
The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing the progress of the ship overhauls and the return on time overhauls to the fleet to make them ready to defend the United States of America all over the world.

Started right out of high school and learned a trade. A Large group of people to work around and with, diversity was exceptional. I learned proper pipefitting and safety work from very experienced journeyman and mechanics. I was properly supervised. Trade theory was overall complete and thorough. 
I learned welding and brazing techniques and processes, and complete nuclear inspection non-destructive testing.
A typical day included review of paperwork procedure, a briefing with the supervisor prior to ascending to the job site. Safety was priority. As a supervisor I provided these same requirements.
Computer work was about 50% of the work to update data bases and programs. The hardest part of my job was ensuring quality compliance from other trades.
The most enjoyable part of the job was learning something new everyday. We had a constant turnover of personnel because of the advancement opportunity due to the broad work scope of Quality Assurance.

. As a WG10 pipe fitter I perform a wide variety of duties inspecting, installing and repairing main propulsion and auxiliary piping systems and equipment on US Naval Ships and Submarines. These systems include: SUBSAFE systems, propulsion systems Salt water, Chilled water, Distilling plants, Main Steam, Auxiliary Steam, high pressure piping systems, Lube oil, Fuel oil, Steam catapults, pumps, and HPACS Combat systems just to name a few. The majority of these jobs require a high degree of proficiency and first time quality particularly on SUBSAFE work. The nature of the work often requires frequent inspections, surveillance; quality control checks, and ship checks. I am also required to submit detailed daily written progress reports outlining the scope of work completed during a normal shift and update drawings for completed work. In the absence of a permanently assigned work leader I have been tasked with Work leader duties on a routine basis, and have assumed the duties of supervisor/work leader when supervisor is away on night shift.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Nuclear engineer 8 salaries reported	$92,123 per year
Mechanical engineer 3 salaries reported	$77,710 per year
It technician 1 salary reported	$93,218 per year
Apprentice 1 salary reported	$17.68 per hour
Machinist 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour

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