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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON — Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility plans to hire 365 entry-level employees in various shipyard trades in a whirlwind recruitment effort.

The shipyard announced Wednesday morning that it's recruiting "helper trainees" in trades such as shipfitter, welder, machinist, marine machinery mechanic, pipe fitter, shipwright, electrician and painter.

Job seekers have until 8:59 p.m. Friday to apply via www.usajobs.gov.

To find the announcement and apply, search the site for the job title "helper trainee." The announcement number is NW6XXXX-05-1589376QO289986-D.

Helpers work full time at the shipyard and can attend classes on their own time to get ahead. About 85 percent of incoming apprentices started out as helpers. The salary range is $15.65 to $18.23 hourly.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, at least 18 and able to pass security and physical fitness requirements.

This is at least the fourth big recruitment recently as the shipyard tries to keep up with a burgeoning workload. Earlier announcements were for 1,000 positions in September 2013, 800 in March 2014 and 850 in November 2014. That boosted the workforce to 13,500, the most in decades.

Despite those numbers, the shipyard received approval from the Pacific Fleet to delay some upcoming projects to concentrate on completing the most important ones on time because it doesn't have enough workers with certain critical skills to go around.