The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

It is likely that this guy is one of their recruiters from their HR department. That would explain why he wouldn't know anything about the field. If you had a bunch of technical questions it would not be that surprising that he was unable and disinterested in answering them. He is probably just a guy that filters people based on fit for their organization. I.E. are you willing to work within their structure, are you willing to live in that area, etc.

One would hope that people that are representing an organization to prospective recruits would always be enthusiastic about answering questions regarding the organization even if they are not within that field. He should have made it clear what kinds of questions he could answer for you and steer your conversation in a more productive direction.

As to how this affects your chances? There is really no way of knowing. If he really is just a fit filter, then he'll likely just make a note in your file that you called to ask follow-up questions and maybe note whether you seemed enthusiastic about the opportunity or not.

I received a call last week from someone at Hanscom AFB in relation to the SMART program, he said I was welcome to call him back and ask any questions I would have. I called this morning, after I wrote some notes and questions that I had, and the guy wasn't the most helpful. One of the last things he said was, "I don't have knowledge on the fields of expertise."
I was very fidgety from the beginning because of his demeanor and just because I was nervous. He seemed very disinterested in trying to answer my questions, not very personable, yet he was last week when he called me.

Does this just mean that my chances for selection are gone?