He CAN be called up to active duty, just like the poor Army bastards are in Iraq. The SELRES is THE primary source for "plus up personnel" during any sort of conflict or surge requiring additional USN bodies. I mean, really--what good is having a Reserve if you aren't going to throw them into the meatgrinder when the shit hits the fan? Tell the kid to engage his brain; that's basic logic, there.
His recruiter CANNOT give him the job of his choosing. That is the job of his CLASSIFIER, who he won't see until he:
=Fills out the paperwork.
=Passes the background checks.
=Passes the physical.
The recruiter cannot "persuade" the classifier to "give his buddy this or that job"--job availability is a function of a couple of things:
--How smart the applicant is. What is that test score?
--Are there jobs in the desired specialty available? Availability depends on how many people are in, staying in, getting out, and how much room there is in the A school classes for that particular specialty.
--Ship date. If you are willing to go to bootcamp in November, be there for Christmas, in order to make that A school class starting in February, then you might get that job--if you want to leave AFTER Christmas, there might not be a school that coincides with your getting out of boot camp and taking a couple of week's leave to show off your new uniform, and then returning to take your advanced training.
Sometimes they'll let you delay the schooling, but more often, not--how can one affiliate with a reserve unit without a proper specialty, really?
If the job "isn't in the computer" no amount of bullshitting will put it in there. There are no manual overrides, save perhaps the Secretary of the Navy getting involved. And anyone who ships without a guaranteed school is guaranteed absolutely NOTHING.
The recruiter is going over the line with that 'job promise' line. It's not his role to sell jobs, just to sell the USN concept.
The service required is a weekend a month, and two weeks of acdutra a year for the SELRES Sailors--which could be anywhere, from nice places like Italy or Japan, or shitholes like the USS UNDERWAYCONSTANTLY. He might want to check the source:
http://www.navyreserve.com/ The FAQ is helpful.