Am I competitive for a Navy Reserve Officer position? If so, why can't I get a recruiter to call me back?

Chris A. — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 16:18:57 -0500

Been having difficulty getting a hold of a Navy Reserve Officer Recruiter. Took several OAR practice exams and am scoring between 56 and 60. Undergraduate GPA was 3.0 in neuroscience. MBA in Accounting & Finance with a 3.5 GPA. Finishing a doctorate in Organizational Behavior with a 3.6 GPA. Plenty of extra curricular involvement, worked in corporate business operations for ten years. Physically fit. At 32 years of age I was hoping to enter Supply Corps, but have been told I'd be more competitive as an Intel Officer.

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm hoping to serve my country before the age requirements exclude me. Thank you ahead of time!

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 7 at 2019 5:48 PM

2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 17:48:48 -0500

I’d say you are pretty dang competitive. Try calling the Army instead!!

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 7 at 2019 11:46 PM

GySgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 23:46:53 -0500

So the demand for Officer accession is forever fluctuating. Make sure the are you are in has a need for a reserve officer in that specific job or check on a few others. If there is not a need or a specific job for your area, then check one near by that you would not mind making the commute for. I would also say keep contacting until you get an answer. If your local area is not being helpful then find one out of the area. Sometimes a certain area does not need to put in a specific entity like a naval reserve officer or maybe a specific field (not too savvy on naval officer accesion) There may be another area near by who desperately needs to put in naval reserve officer. If it is you dream, chase the dream and don't give up the fight. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Feb 8 at 2019 2:09 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 02:09:03 -0500

They're called Accession Officers unless they changed things up after I stopped working with them 6 years ago. There should be one that covers your region and are usually on the web site. Of course they aren't hot about staff corps frankly because of your age. It's like insurance actuarial tables. What's the likelihood that you'll be competitive for the years of pedigree building. The Pork Chop side has 10-12 years of contracting development and that's the basic side. Yes you have a Finance Rug. But it isn't likely in Federal Finance, appropriation, and contract law. Intel crams you up front and you progress as you drink from the ever running fire hose. They're likely to get more bang for the buck on that path. Second, there's an issue in trying to figure out what to do with you education wise. You are all over the board with a BS that has no relation to the MBA and then another weird turn to a fuzzy PhD (aka non science, non engineering, non medical, etc.).

When I was skippering, I worked closely with reserve Accession Officers in interviewing and evaluating candidates. I then had to do a "likelihood of success" drill to determine if the candidate was a go-no go. The AOs relied on folk like me having a deep knowledge of what my staff corps needs and to scrub the candidate pool for best fits. I had a very good track record of good careers created if they got past me. So in briefly reading your spiel, there are red flags jabbing me up, down, and sideways. If you showed up on my doorstep, there's a whole set of other questions for me to probe. On the face of it, one could assume you've been trying for a long time to decide what you want to be when you grow up. I'd probe that hard. I'd also probe why you presumably took to 32 years of age to poke the beast. I learned early on not to assume anything is bad, but the probing is to reveal if given everything, the Service needs you for the Win-Win scenario. Nothing personal; just business. There is no right or entitlement in joining the Service.

The third thing is AOs rely on ROs and if none of them are biting on the bait, there isn't much they will do because it's their neck on the line.

One thing I saw frequently amongst "highly qualified" on paper folk in both MIL and CIV (did that a long time too). It's an entitlement attitude that says "I'm all this, so what's your problem?" Please don't fall in that category as I've seen flameouts and much worse. Your journey to date tells me you have an interesting story to tell. Good Reviewing Officers can figure out the jigsaw puzzle and can help steer you towards your goal IF they deem you're worth their and the Service's time. Problem is if there's enough fresh meat being hung on the hook, why take the time to sort out a horse that's been around the track a few times. Your Human Factors piece that should have been in your current run should provide some enlightenment. That said, I like challenges and would have jumped in the saddle on this one, but only if your were a graduate engineer or architect. But I'd be a minority of those who would. I"d presume the AO floated your paper around to his RO pool asking if anybody wants you because he/she wouldn't have a clue unless they've been doing it a long time. Good luck son.