Kathleen Smith 00:39
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Security Cleared Jobs: Who's Hiring & How. I'm Kathleen, and we're having so much fun back here in the green room before we even hit the record button that we may have a few giggles going on today. Anyway, I'm thrilled we have another great guest today. As always, I get to see my charming, delightful, and most wonderful co-host, Rachel. How are you doing today?
Rachel Bozeman
01:08
I need a couple more introductions like that, but I'm fantastic. I'm doing so
great and so excited to be here, even more excited for you to introduce our
guest so we can start talking and let everybody meet them. So, Kathleen, don't
make them wait. Who's here?
Kathleen Smith
01:22
We have someone I've been talking to on LinkedIn for a very, very long time.
The poor guy has been hounded by me, so I am so excited that he has been able
to squeeze us into his schedule. We have Ryan Quakenbush, Human Resources
Specialist at Rocket Communications. Welcome to the show, Ryan.
Ryan Quakenbush
01:42
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. When you first messaged me on LinkedIn, I
was equal parts excited and nervous, but now I'm just thrilled to be here and
ready to share about Rocket Communications.
Rachel Bozeman
01:51
Awesome. All right, Ryan, I'm going to ask you to spill some tea. Tell us a
little bit about your career journey and how you ended up at Rocket
Communications. I promise I won't say it like that every time.
Ryan Quakenbush
02:06
It's definitely a unique story. I grew up around the company. My mother is the
founder and CEO. She started Rocket Communications in the early '90s, and I
never dreamed of joining. I thought it was a fascinating area of work, which
I'll get into later, but I was more interested in retail marketing. In college,
I studied Retail Studies, marketing, and public relations. That’s what I went
into in my early career. I started doing some contracting work for Rocket
Communications in 2018 and sort of organically grew into a role. I ended up
really liking the team. I started with marketing, PR, and executive assistant
work, wearing all those hats. I was asked to help with recruitment in 2019 or
2020 and fell in love with it. As the company grew and we created an HR team, I
was able to join. I became an HR assistant and have now become an HR
specialist.
Kathleen Smith
03:00
Awesome. One thing you haven't shared with us is, what does Rocket
Communications do in the cleared community?
Ryan Quakenbush
03:07
Great question. We are a user experience design company. User experience design
encompasses everything one experiences when using technology—the look of it,
the interface, how you interact to make the technology work. Our founder and
CEO, Michael Ann, started her career at Apple, which, if you use Apple
products, typically has a great interface and user experience. She wanted to
take that to other companies. We’ve been in the space domain for 10 years, so
we're experts in UX design for space. We’ve worked with Space Command, now the
U.S. Space Force, and its contractors. UX design helps unlock technology,
making it more accessible so you can unlock its full potential. It’s faster to
learn, allowing you to focus on the mission at hand, not just how to use the
technology.
Kathleen Smith
03:59
That’s really great because a lot of people don’t understand that there is so
much science in creating the user experience. Many of us grew up with
technology and an interface that was always easy, but there were the dark ages
of the first websites or app interfaces when we all went, “I can’t use this.
This is not helping.” User interface is a great path to help people integrate
with their technology. But how did the name come about? You talked about
supporting Space Force and Space Command. What’s the story behind the name
Rocket Communications?
Ryan Quakenbush
04:49
It’s kind of a funny story. Rocket Communications started as a small company in
the Bay Area, and it had nothing to do with space. Michael Ann, our founder and
CEO, has an impressive collection of vintage space toys from the '50s and '60s,
which makes for a very cool office space. She loved those toys so much that she
used them to inspire the brand and name, and it became a self-fulfilling
prophecy. It wasn’t until 2015 that we began working mostly in space. So I
thought that was kind of funny.
Rachel Bozeman
05:19
You gotta love it—those little jets and figurines, and here you are today,
making technology happen. I love it. Tell us a little about the recruiting
space. What types of cleared roles are you hiring for, and are there any
specialties or areas of focus you’re really looking for?
Ryan Quakenbush
05:39
We’re looking for associate-level to senior or above UX designers and software
developers—folks with a few years of professional experience. For clearance, we
usually look for Secret clearance or above, sometimes Top Secret or TS/SCI. We
love hiring more junior folks, but currently, with our project sizes, we have
smaller teams, so we want larger teams to support mentorship and growth. Right
now, we are looking for more senior designers and developers.
Rachel Bozeman
06:12
Wonderful. You know what I’m going to ask next—it’s coming. Where are these
positions located?
Ryan Quakenbush
06:18
Colorado is definitely big for space. That’s a key area we look at, especially
the Denver area. Some roles are more on-site, and we’ll go into those details
later, but for some roles, we have only monthly or quarterly on-site
requirements. That expands our geographical area, and we’ve been able to hire
folks in other states near Colorado.
Rachel Bozeman
06:40
Fantastic. You kind of touched on this—are these hybrid, on-site, or in outer
space? Tell us more.
Ryan Quakenbush
06:51
I wish they were in space—that’d be pretty cool. They’re mostly hybrid. Some
can have fairly frequent on-site work, like weekly, but when possible, we want
the roles to be mostly remote. That’s doable because, especially for the
front-end interfaces we work on, we can do a lot of work using dummy data, not
classified data. I would say they’re mostly hybrid, with up to weekly on-site
work, but there’s a chance it could be monthly or quarterly.
Kathleen Smith
07:16
I really want to see that job posting for someone to work in outer space. It’ll
be out of this world! You have to be able to say, “Live long and prosper,” and
do all of that. We’re all doing the Vulcan “live long and prosper” sign. Can
you do it with both hands? Anyway, now we’re talking about really fun things.
Let’s talk about your company culture. It can make or break the kind of career
you have and the day-to-day job. When our audience is looking at a new
employer, company culture is something we always recommend people dive into.
Tell us more about Rocket Communications’ culture, what it’s like to work
there, and how you would describe it. Does your mom allow us to play with the
toys?
Ryan Quakenbush
08:06
Yes, that is definitely encouraged. We’ve sent people little tin robots and toy
rockets in the past. We’re a fun culture—it’s my favorite part of working at
Rocket Communications. We’re a small team, just over 40 people, and it’s very
open, friendly, and supportive. Everyone knows everyone; no one’s just a
faceless, nameless person. If I need help with IT, I talk to Jesse. There’s a
good work-life balance and a lot of mutual respect. Many of us work remotely or
hybrid, so we’re not seeing each other every day face-to-face, but we trust
each other to do good work and balance our schedules properly. I’ve seen that
reflected in folks putting in their calendar, “I’m going to pick up my kids at
school this time every day,” and that’s been fine, even though we’re remote.
For our cleared jobs, many are in Colorado, so there are opportunities to meet
up. Just yesterday, the whole team met up and did a museum trip after work.
We’re a curious bunch, especially about technology, so the team likes collaborating
and solving complex problems together, whether in space or not.
Rachel Bozeman
09:16
That outing sounds fantastic. Sign me up!
Kathleen Smith
09:20
I’m just envisioning you doing Twister or something like that in space for team
building.
Rachel Bozeman
09:25
That might be a safety hazard. Can you imagine? You’d have to sign a release
for that one for sure. To get us back on Earth and a little more grounded, I
know you use a structured interview in your hiring process to make those
important decisions. Can you break down for our listeners what that would look
like if they were interviewing with you? Is there anything particular they
should expect, and what would help them stand apart in that structured
interviewing process?
Ryan Quakenbush
09:56
A structured interview process uses predefined sets of questions to keep things
consistent and fair for candidates, helping reduce possible bias. Coming into
an interview at Rocket Communications, we’ll ask questions to learn about your
competencies and experience. We won’t throw super weird questions at you. To
best prepare, understand the role and see if there are key requirements you
match and can speak to. It’s simple advice, but it helps to address things in
the job posting. Our job postings are written with the hiring managers, so
they’re very accurate and up-to-date on the competencies and skills we need.
Interviews are mostly, if not fully, remote. The first is a phone call with me,
followed by Zoom video interviews with hiring managers and teammates.
Kathleen Smith
10:55
Awesome. It’s funny because, for a while, we weren’t hearing much about video
interviews or virtual interviews, but that’s all we’ve been hearing lately. I’m
glad we’re coming back to that because it’s integral to hiring processes. We
have several tip sheets about it, and I wrote a few newsletter articles about
it. Thanks for mentioning that. What I love, and I know Rachel loves this too,
is perks and benefits in packages. I understand you have some very thoughtful
perks at Rocket Communications, including a remote stipend and a remote work
allowance. Can you explain more about how those work?
Ryan Quakenbush
11:46
Everyone at Rocket Communications has some remote work, even for hybrid roles,
and ideally, most of it can be done from home. To ensure everyone’s set up to
succeed with their home offices, upon hiring, we give everyone a $1,000 stipend
in their first paycheck. We send everyone a MacBook and an external hard drive,
but if you don’t already have an external keyboard, extra monitors, or an
ergonomic chair, that stipend helps you get those things set up. To support
month-to-month expenses, we also give $150 a month as a remote work allowance.
We’ve seen that really helps people be as comfortable and successful as
possible in their home offices.
Rachel Bozeman
12:29
That’s one of those nice little perks to make it even better. Even though
you’re not in the same office, you can take care of those needs because they do
add up. We forget that sometimes—whether it’s internet, additional utilities,
or groceries at home, it all adds up. It’s nice to have that extra something.
Very thoughtful—I agree, that’s a great perk. I’m going to go back in time a
bit, Ryan. It’s the recruiter in me; I can’t stop talking about interviews. You
mentioned structured interviews and ways folks can be successful, but I want to
dig deeper because interviewing can be so intimidating. Is there something
you’ve seen folks do or recommendations you’ve made as a consultant to
candidates to help them be more successful in the interview process?
Ryan Quakenbush
13:30
Preparation really helps with the interview. It may seem obvious, but do your
homework on the company and find something that genuinely excites you about the
work we do or connections to your past experiences. Being authentic and excited
about the work you can bring to Rocket Communications is infectious. Also,
understand the tools. We start with a phone call and then a Zoom video
interview. If you’re unfamiliar with Zoom, do some test runs so you’re not
nervous about the technology. Be ready to be on camera for video interviews.
Asking questions at the end of the interview is always nice. Come in with some
questions prepared—things you’re genuinely curious about, like the
interviewer’s experience at the company. That helps you learn more about Rocket
Communications because you’re interviewing us as well.
Rachel Bozeman
14:25
It’s got to be a two-way conversation. Maybe there’s the other side of the
coin. We talked about things that could help them be successful, but are there
things you’d say, “Don’t bring that up in an interview”? Any “uh-oh, no, don’t
do that” moments?
Ryan Quakenbush
14:40
Interviews should feel like a fun, friendly conversation, but listen to the
question and try to answer it. We’ve had folks I’m having a great time talking
to, but they go on a tangent, and we don’t get to the question at hand. It can
be uncomfortable to say, “I love talking about that, but let’s go back to this
question.” Be comfortable chatting but also concise in answering questions.
We’ve had a few folks not get on camera for video interviews, which can throw
us, especially since we’re a remote consultancy, and our service to clients
often involves video calls. We want to see that off the bat, in a video call
similar to the work we do. If we set a video interview, we’d love to see you on
camera. No need to dress fancy, though.
Kathleen Smith
15:27
How would you recommend someone wrap up an interview? What are some key things
they should do? A lot of people just get off the phone or the interview and
think, “Okay, I’m done,” but there are things you need to do to wrap it up.
What have you seen work?
Ryan Quakenbush
15:44
I’ve seen folks ask about the next steps, which is great because it shows
you’re excited and want to be informed. Hopefully, an interviewer will
proactively explain next steps and ask if you have questions, but if not, feel
free to ask, “What should I look forward to next?” or “When should I expect to
hear back?” or “What’s the next interview format going to be?” That’s totally
fine. If you have questions about the role or company from things discussed,
the end of the interview is a perfect time to ask. Also, pay attention to the
time, especially if the interview is ending. Check in and say, “Does anyone
have a hard stop?” That’s thoughtful, and people notice that thoughtfulness.
Kathleen Smith
16:26
Awesome. I understand you have a cautionary tale to tell our audience. We’ve
touched on AI a lot, and many see it as a big, useful tool, but those of us in
the cleared community need to take a few more cautionary steps. Can you share
what happened with your cautionary tale about AI and what others should keep an
eye out for?
Ryan Quakenbush
16:56
This just happened the other week, so it’s fresh in my mind. I go through
applicants to Rocket Communications, and we have some open jobs right now. No
joke, three applicants back-to-back had almost the same cover letter. It
started with, “My name is X. I’m writing to apply for the Y job. With over
so-and-so number of years of experience in UX design, I’m eager to bring my
design expertise to the team.” From there, it was a lot of fluff and fancy
words, but it didn’t tell me anything about them I didn’t already see from the
resume. There are a lot of templates out there, so it could have been a
copy-pasted template or AI, but it was wordy enough that I thought it was
either AI or not concisely sharing more about yourself. AI is a tool to help
write things, but it shouldn’t be a replacement. Authenticity is key,
especially in a cover letter. It doesn’t need to be long or fancy, but if you
can introduce yourself and call out a few key things, that’s really helpful. It
doesn’t need to be super formal.
Kathleen Smith
17:57
I have a big question in the back of my mind: If you have an AI-generated
resume for a cleared job, does that count as lying on your resume if it
includes things you didn’t really do?
Ryan Quakenbush
18:16
For sure. It does you a disservice too, because we might ask about it in an
interview and throw you off. Authenticity rocks. You don’t need to match every
single thing for a job, but your resume should definitely be truthful. I was
speaking with some of our design leaders the other day about hiring, and we’ve
come across some AI portfolios or ones pulled from the internet. There was one
where we recognized photos from a stock photo website they were trying to pass
off as their own designs. In that case, when we get to the case study part of an
interview or ask about your process, that’d probably be very stressful for you.
Be honest with your resume and portfolio. It doesn’t need to be perfect—you
don’t need to be a perfect candidate to land a job.
Rachel Bozeman
19:01
In UX, it’s about the user experience. Recruiters are users, right? If you’re
giving us a lot of fluff and stuff, and you’re not telling us what we need to
know, that’s an epic fail in UX. Just tell us what we need to know and make it
simple for the end user. Think with the end user in mind. Ryan, we’ve had a
great conversation, and I know Kathleen has, and our listeners have loved
listening to you as well. How can they get in touch with you?
Ryan Quakenbush
19:31
I’m on LinkedIn, pretty easy to find—I have a unique name, I think. The best
way to get in touch about a job is to apply through our website. I’m very
involved in recruiting, so I’ll see your application if you apply. If you have
questions about a job, you can always reply to the confirmation email you get
and get in touch with me.
Kathleen Smith
19:49
Awesome. Ryan, thank you so much for joining us from the Bay Area. We loved our
conversation with you.
Ryan Quakenbush
19:58
It was so fun talking with you, Kathleen and Rachel. I really enjoyed my time
here.
Kathleen Smith
20:04
Gosh, that was so great talking with Ryan. It was really refreshing. I loved
his story about using AI for your cover letter or resume. Remember, it’s a
tool, not a replacement. How about you, Rachel? What did you find interesting
about the conversation?
Rachel Bozeman
20:25
The good news is there were so many nuggets of goodness in there. I’m okay that
you took that one first, Kathleen, because I loved his advice to interviewers
about being authentic, which ties in with the AI reference. It’s all about
being your best self. If you know something, own it. If you don’t, own that
too. Be authentic in how you present yourself. Make sure you’re on camera and
prepared for the interview. All great advice. So, friends, get out there and
smash that follow button, drop us a five-star review, and send this episode to
someone who needs to hear it. That was a lot of commands, but we thank you, we
appreciate you, and until next time, bye-bye.