I got the call Tuesday that I was selected for 1815 and wanted to share my background in hopes that someone will find it helpful or provide a sanity check. This was my first time applying.
I am a current Navy reservist, having done five years active duty and 3 years in the reserves. I’ve been a Hospital Corpsman the entire time.
For my bachelors I majored in Digital Forensics with a minor in cybersecurity and had a 4.0 GPA.
For my masters I am in my last semester with an expected graduation of April 2025. I am in UC Berkeley’s Master of Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) which is entirely online, but reputable. I had a 3.9 GPA at the time of applying.
Another quick note about education, I did not take a physics class or any calculus. However I have taken a discrete mathematics/cryptography course during my masters program.
For my civilian career I am an Information System Security Officer government contractor (not for the DoD). I have been in the role since June 2024, so less than a year from my selection. Prior to that I had roughly two years of experience doing GRC in the private sector (CMMC consulting for members of the DIB). Therefore, a little more than 2.5 years of experience doing cyber adjacent work, the rest of my professional experience is as a Pharmacy tech in the Navy and a couple small pharmacies while in college. I have several certifications, such as Security+, CySA+, eJPT, and AWS Cloud Practitioner. I now have my CISSP-A but that was not included in my application.
As for letters of recommendations, I had 1 from a retired navy pharmacist (LCDR), 1 from my undergrad professor who worked at the NSA for 10 years, 1 from my work supervisor (retired Navy IT Chief), and 1 from my unit OIC (LCDR in the medical corp).
As for my interviews I’m not sure on score, I didn’t have a chance to ask but my recruiter told me I interviewed “well”. I studied for two weeks prior to my OIC and panel interview reviewing current events (great power competition) and potential interview questions. I cannot recommend enough studying for your interviews.
Just wanted to share as I am relatively young, prior enlisted in a non-IWC capacity, and have minimal technical experience and was selected my first time applying in case anyone is in a similar boat. Feel free to reach out with any questions or advice!