Kathleen Smith  01:01

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Security Cleared Jobs: Who's Hiring & How. This is Kathleen and yes, unfortunately, I'm missing my wonderful Rachel. She's just traveling for business today. And filling in for Rachel is our wonderful producer, Ashley Jones.

Ashley Jones  01:18

Hello, glad to be here again.

Kathleen Smith  01:20

Today we have a great guest. We have Claudia Trail, one of my longtime friends in the recruiting community. So Claudia is Talent Acquisition Manager at RTI Consulting. Great to have you here today, Claudia. Welcome to the show.

Claudia Trail  01:35

Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here.

Kathleen Smith  01:37

Claudia, share for our audience, what is your origin story? How has your journey brought you to RTI Consulting?

Claudia Trail  01:46

So a long time ago, when I was just doing consulting, I worked and helped a small company in Maryland. I'll go by Steve, because now we're kind of partners and competitors, so I don't want to give out too much, but when I got him to a point and he hired someone, I moved on to my next project. And I called him one day because I was at a large company that had just been acquired, and things were starting to change and not really employee-centric. So I called him and I said, "Hey, Steve, do you know anyone who's hiring?" And he said, "You know what, let's meet for lunch." So he said, "I'll meet you at Timbuktu," which anybody up in Maryland has been to Timbuktu. They have fabulous crab cakes. And I'm like, oh, yes, crab cakes. So I went there thinking I was just meeting Steve. And he had the owners of RTI at the table, Tom and Bill, and they were looking for a recruiter. So here I am, and it was a great conversation. And I think what I enjoyed most about meeting Tom and Bill is they're very down to earth. They deal in reality. And typically, other companies want people to sign NDAs before you get into the nitty gritty. And here's me. You know, Kathleen knows my personality. I'm like, whip out the NDA. Let's sign it. Let's get this show on the road, right? And Tom and Bill looked at me and oh my God, I thought I was dead in the water, but they shook my hand and they said, "There's our NDA." They said, "What are you going to do with the information?" And I said, "Nothing. It's proprietary to you." And he said, "Exactly. Why do we have to have a piece of paper confirming that issue?" And I was like, "Well, we don't." Right then I knew they were going to be the right company for me.

Kathleen Smith  03:38

That's awesome. Well at least you didn't meet in Cafe Joe's, everyone's favorite place up in the Maryland community.

Claudia Trail  03:45

And everyone goes there too.

Kathleen Smith  03:47

Everyone goes there. And we all have our placemats and our posters and everything up at Cafe Joe's. So yes, the Maryland community has interesting restaurants, interesting relationships, families, who for several generations work for companies. So it's a very wonderful community, and it definitely has its key places that you go to eat. So let's talk a little bit more about RTI Consulting. What kind of contracts or agencies in the cleared community does RTI support?

Claudia Trail  04:21

We currently support primarily the IC so the Springfield customer down in Virginia, JBAB customer, the customer out in St. Louis, and of course, my old stomping grounds, the Fort Meade customer. So RTI likes to stay in their wheelhouse with their opportunities. So if anything were to happen with one contract, we would have the ability, if the employee wanted to stay with us, to move them to another contract or to another agency on a contract.

Ashley Jones  04:52

Awesome. That's great to hear. And since we've already alluded to some of the customers and contracts, let's now talk about some of the specific skill sets and cleared positions that you're hiring for.

Claudia Trail  05:03

So all of our positions require a minimum TS/SCI. Some of our contracts we can upgrade them with the CI Poly. Some of our other contracts need the TS/SCI CI Poly, and then we can upgrade them with, I call it the Willy Wonka ticket, or the full enchilada, up at another agency. But our wheelhouse is primarily financial analysts, budget analysts, life cycle acquisitions, business finance managers, program integrators, contract managers, program and project management and executive administrative support, like staff officers and systems engineers.

Ashley Jones  05:47

And we already touched on some locations with a couple of restaurant recommendations earlier, but what other locations can we talk about? Where are your positions located?

Claudia Trail  05:56

So all of our positions are in either Springfield, VA, St. Louis, MO, JBAB, Reston, Bethesda or Fort Meade.

Kathleen Smith  06:06

And you touched on something earlier, something really exciting, which is RTI can upgrade certain clearances, maybe a CI to a Full Scope Poly. I mean, is that just willy nilly whenever you want, or what are the specific considerations that have to be in place for you to do the upgrade of the clearance?

Claudia Trail  06:29

Great question. So since most of our positions down in northern Virginia area require the TS/SCI, they will after the individual starts working, provide them with the CI Poly. And we like to use that too for career growth opportunities. We had somebody that lived in Silver Spring Maryland, took the opportunity down at the Springfield customer, obtained the CI Poly. We got that individual to interview for one of our contracts up at Fort Meade, she was accepted, and then went into the CCA process. And once her CCA was granted, so she could take the Full Scope, we moved her because we'd rather move people than lose people.

Kathleen Smith  07:13

And as everyone knows, that person obviously was very dedicated to RTI, because I cannot imagine commuting from Silver Spring down to Springfield, Virginia. That is one heck of a commute. So you're supporting many different customers within the IC given Springfield, JBAB, and Fort Meade and others. Do you offer any hybrid or remote positions?

Claudia Trail  07:38

You know what? COVID is over and unfortunately, the work that needs to be done needs to be done on the high side, not the SBU. So I like to tell everybody, our positions are 100% on site. Now, different agencies run their own little different agencies or Directorate and we do have some, not rule of thumb, but we do have some that based on their work ethic, meeting their deadlines, being on time, being a good team player, the customer has allowed them to build up their SBU work and they can work remote one day. But typically, I tell everybody, it's all on site, and if anything happens like that, it's icing on the cake.

Kathleen Smith  08:25

So let me just interject here. We have lots of acronyms within our community, and some mean different things to different people. What are you meaning by SBU?

Claudia Trail  08:35

Low side computer, similar to what we're on right now. They just need their CAC card to access it.

Kathleen Smith  08:41

Wonderful.

Ashley Jones  08:43

Well it sounds like you already gave us a little bit of a glimpse into the culture there. You mentioned the importance of career growth when you explained how you're able to upgrade clearances. But let's dig into culture a little bit more. I think that in our pre-call, you've previously referred to RTI as an old school company. So can you tell us what that means to the culture of your organization?

Claudia Trail  09:03

Oh, my God, I love this question. Old school to me is, treat people the way you would like to be treated, or better. It doesn't get any simpler than that. A lot of companies say, we take care of our people, we take care of our people, and that's something that you can't quantify till you come on board. But just my own personal experiences in watching the owners treating other employees, they walk the walk and talk the talk. They truly do put people first. You're not a number at RTI. Our owners meet with everybody coming on board and takes them to lunch because it's important for them to break bread with everybody, as Tom would say. And yeah, you're not a butt in seat. Some companies just hire people to get them in there and get the revenue. We want the right people in the right positions, because if they don't succeed, we don't succeed. And it has to be a relationship. It's a team. I can't ask people to come join our team if I didn't believe in our team, and I've been here six years.

Ashley Jones  10:07

Something else I'd like to know, we mentioned acronyms earlier. Does RTI happen to stand for anything?

Claudia Trail  10:13

Yes, it stands for results, teamwork and integrity above all else.

Kathleen Smith  10:20

Great words to have as part of your company title. So in our pre-call, you mentioned CCA, or contractor continued access. What does that mean for a cleared professional? It seems we're talking about a lot of acronyms today. What does CCA mean to cleared professional?

Claudia Trail  10:37

So the one customer we support up at Fort Meade, if they have a CI Poly, they'll put them into the CCA process, contractor continual accesses, which is a great process. The only downfall to that process is, it can take about five months for the approval, but once approved, they can start working at that particular customer before they take their Full Scope. So that's just another way for us to help with career growth. The one young lady that I mentioned earlier, it took five months for her, but she's so happy, and we're happy that she's happy because we didn't want to lose her.

Ashley Jones  11:16

That makes me happy to hear too. That's a great mentality to have. And on another topic, we've already discussed some of your cleared positions that you typically hire for, but are there any in particular that are maybe a little bit more difficult to fill than others? Anything that someone listening who fits the bill can raise their hand and know it's a great opportunity to reach out to you guys about?

Claudia Trail  11:38

I think our budget analysts and financial analysts that have specifically DoD or IC experience are difficult. When a contract is coming up for an end all positions are difficult to try and fill because they get, I call it nervous in the service. They don't understand that if we lose a contract, someone's going to win it. Typically, incumbents have the right of first refusal, and if they want to stay with us, we'll look to move them around, but if they're doing a good job, they're going to end up on the list, the list that the customer wants to keep them. And it's so hard to try and get that point across. So we have other people in the company who are happy to talk to them and explain that process because they've been around a lot longer. We give them all the options to try to educate themselves before they make a commitment, and before we make a commitment to them.

Kathleen Smith  12:37

So Claudia, you won the Best Recruiter award several times. You truly believe in the candidate experience, and I know you feel very strongly about several of the things that candidates should really think about. So one that you talked about earlier in our pre-call was getting caught in the money trap. Can you tell our audience a little bit more about what you mean about cleared professionals getting in the money trap, and what you would like cleared job seekers to think about when they're interviewing for their next job?

Claudia Trail  13:09

Absolutely. So the money trap is -- the salaries on contracts are based off of labor categories and statements of work. So there may be a company who's paying a lot in a position, because that's how they bid the position. But if that position ever goes away, there's no guarantee that you're going to get the same salary. You could, or you may get more. But I call it the money trap, because we all tend to, and it's human nature, adjust our lifestyle to our income. We even have an article that was written by one of our employees in collaboration with myself, David wrote it, and it's the money trap. Live within your means. Contracts aren't all going to be the same. So if you're used to making XYZ and you go to a contract and you're making more, then try and bank some of that for the bad times, so that you don't get stuck in that money trap. Don't go out and buy that Lamborghini or Corvette or anything else. Just a little common sense. Contracting can be lucrative as long as it's managed properly. So hence, that's the money trap.

Ashley Jones  14:22

That's a great tip, and one I have not heard yet on the podcast, and we've been doing this for over 100 episodes, so it's always really exciting to hear a fresh take. But I know that you have a lot of recruiting experience, and you probably could tell us a whole bunch of stories and different tips, but pulling from the top, maybe your favorite tips, what's one thing that cleared job seekers can improve in their job search often?

Claudia Trail  14:44

I would say, read the job description. Don't apply based on a title. Read the requirements. If you're getting a lot of rejection notices, that's probably why, because your resume is not reflecting the required skills. Desired skills, icing. Required skills, there's no way around that. So I would say, read the whole description, not just the title. If it says it requires a TS/SCI, don't apply if you have a Secret. If it says we have the ability to upgrade you with a clearance then apply, because you don't need one then, but you're going to get one, so just read the position description.

Kathleen Smith  15:32

So I know that this is going to be a difficult question, because I know you have so many cool hiring experiences, but what's a really sort of cool, fabulous hiring story that you would like to share with our listeners to inspire them that, hey, no matter how wacky this world is, you'll still get a job.

Claudia Trail  15:55

Yeah, and you're right, I do over all the years. But there's one that really sticks in my mind. He was retiring from the military. This is probably going back about five years, and his timing coming out, we didn't have the right position, so we kept in touch. It's about relationships. It's not just about what can you do for me today? It's about what can we do together down in the future? So I kept in touch with him, and after two and a half years, we had the right opportunity. All the stars aligned, as I like to say, and he's still with us today. And I love working with military personnel. That's one of my passions. I'm married to a former Marine. We're a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, and David's retired. I love working with him, because he'll talk to anybody good, bad or indifferent, about the transitioning faux pas that people make and ones that he's made before his journey coming to us. So we have a lot of tips for transitioning military. I used to speak at the TAP classes at Fort Meade, so we really try and give transitioning military an outlook about what it's like once you're out.

Ashley Jones  17:13

Well, that's a great note to end on today. I wish we had more time. It's been such a pleasure talking with you today, Claudia. But for any of our listeners who are excited to get a hold of you and learn more about RTI, how can they reach you and your team?

Claudia Trail  17:27

They can reach me either on LinkedIn or by emailing me at claudia.trail@rti-llc.com. You can send me a note via LinkedIn or just through our rticareers.com website.

Kathleen Smith  17:45

Claudia, thank you so much for joining us today. It was great to see you and spend some time with you again.

Claudia Trail  17:50

You as well. I look forward to seeing you again. Thank you. It was an honor to spend today with you.

Ashley Jones  17:56

Thank you.

Kathleen Smith  17:58

Great talking with Claudia Trail today. It's just one of the wonderful things about our community is that I've known Claudia for decades, and I'm not going to say how many decades, but I have, and these long term relationships are very important. And as she pointed out, one of the job seeker tips that everyone needs to remember is developing those relationships and following up with your recruiters. Ashley, what did you like?

Ashley Jones  18:26

It's hard to choose. There was a ton of great information in this episode. Claudia definitely knows what she's talking about, and I think she's a great person to listen to when she reminds job seekers to read the full job description, don't just apply and send your resume in based off of the title of the job alone. And something else that I loved was just her whole point about the money trap. Don't go living outside of your means just because the contract you're on right now had a big pay bump. Think about the future so that you don't fall into a trap later on down the road. Another great point about thinking forward into the future. So great information today.

Kathleen Smith  19:04

And look at you guys, you made it to the end of the podcast, and we are so excited that you did. We do this because we love sharing this really great information. So thanks for sticking with us to the end. Share, forward, make sure that everyone you know in the cleared community knows that they can get really good information here on our podcast. Until then, we'll see you next time.