...what kind of credentials did you have to become a hw/sw engineer at a nuclear power plant as your first job?

Graduated and figured I should get a job. Honestly wasn't enthusiastic about the idea. Saw an ad in the paper. It may have mentioned C programming. I went and interviewed with two senior engineers. All they asked was do I know how to do TCP/IP. I said that I did and was working the next week. Honestly the coolest job I've had in my career. Colleagues were all engineers - mostly nuclear.