IWC Board 2 MAR 2020

[NCCGT]

Better hope to get picked up this next board because it’s only going to get more competitive with the pandemic ramping up. Unemployment is feared to pick up and add to that all the college graduates who haven’t lined up jobs yet coming into a depressed economy. Any guesses on where many of these people will turn to? I know I joined in 2009 out of college because of the economic destruction caused by the housing collapse.

Not trying to be a “Debbie downer”, but something to think about.

 

[Ancalagon]

Yep. I was in the Army during and after the 2008 crisis, and there was a big rush of people to join the military due to the increased unemployment.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Better hope to get picked up this next board because it’s only going to get more competitive with the pandemic ramping up. Unemployment is feared to pick up and add to that all the college graduates who haven’t lined up jobs yet coming into a depressed economy. Any guesses on where many of these people will turn to? I know I joined in 2009 out of college because of the economic destruction caused by the housing collapse.

Not trying to be a “Debbie downer”, but something to think about.

Having recruited officers during the "economic destruction" and can tell you what happened on the enlisted side for recruiting was not what was seen on the officer side, on the officer side there were many districts that could not make officer goal. We had guys getting picked up for SNA and SNFO with DUI's, SWO's was a mixed bag, Supply was always tight as lots of priors wanted to go that route, the IWC designators were very competitive and that was due to a few reasons which included people thinking IWC did spy stuff and that IWC had a higher age limit than all other designators so that people who aged out of SWO and SNA/SNFO would then apply to IWC.

 

[NCCGT]

Having recruited officers during the "economic destruction" and can tell you what happened on the enlisted side for recruiting was not what was seen on the officer side, on the officer side there were many districts that could not make officer goal. We had guys getting picked up for SNA and SNFO with DUI's, SWO's was a mixed bag, Supply was always tight as lots of priors wanted to go that route, the IWC designators were very competitive and that was due to a few reasons which included people thinking IWC did spy stuff and that IWC had a higher age limit than all other designators so that people who aged out of SWO and SNA/SNFO would then apply to IWC.

That’s refreshing to hear. Thank you for giving some recruiting perspective from that time. I bet I’m not the only one that feels better having read this.

I just re-read what I originally posted and realized I failed to say that is what I suspected would happen instead of stating it as gospel. Thanks again for the info.

 

[sd16g]

Having recruited officers during the "economic destruction" and can tell you what happened on the enlisted side for recruiting was not what was seen on the officer side, on the officer side there were many districts that could not make officer goal. We had guys getting picked up for SNA and SNFO with DUI's, SWO's was a mixed bag, Supply was always tight as lots of priors wanted to go that route, the IWC designators were very competitive and that was due to a few reasons which included people thinking IWC did spy stuff and that IWC had a higher age limit than all other designators so that people who aged out of SWO and SNA/SNFO would then apply to IWC.

That’s surprising, I wonder what would cause this to happen on enlisted side but not officer side?

 

[NCCGT]

That’s surprising, I wonder what would cause this to happen on enlisted side but not officer side?

In my original post I didn’t take into account how many people (unemployed or newly graduated) would need a job right away and didn’t have the time to go through the lengthy Officer application process. Also, it’s not guaranteed so there are plenty who don’t want to risk applying only to remain jobless. I’m guessing this is part of the dichotomy.

 

[sd16g]

In my original post I didn’t take into account how many people (unemployed or newly graduated) would need a job right away and didn’t have the time to go through the lengthy Officer application process. Also, it’s not guaranteed so there are plenty who don’t want to risk applying only to remain jobless. I’m guessing this is part of the dichotomy.

Hadn’t even thought of that, I understand. Enlistment process is almost immediate while officer applicants have to go through a much lengthier process, and it’s possible they don’t even get a job after that process.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Hadn’t even thought of that, I understand. Enlistment process is almost immediate while officer applicants have to go through a much lengthier process, and it’s possible they don’t even get a job after that process.

Sounds a lot like any other civilian job process...

 

[Roger O. Thornhill]

Sounds a lot like any other civilian job process...

Too true.

I was friends with a now-law student who went into his senior year of college with a sweet offer from Lehman Brothers. Needless to say, it wasn't there when he graduated in May 2009. Him and quite a few others, who lost their entry-level jobs on Wall Street, decided to overlook the private sector completely and join PeaceCorps or Teach for America--not that many military. The number of officer applicants may go up (if a full-fledged recession happens) but probably not by that much.

 

[NCCGT]

Sounds a lot like any other civilian job process...

Depends what kind of civilian job you’re referring to, but of the 10-15 civilian jobs I’ve had, none has ever come close to taking as long as applying to OCS. Including a multi-round interview process with a trip to New York for the final round of a consulting gig I did with IBM.

...unless you’re only referring to the possibility of not getting the job in the end and not the length of the process. In that case disregard the above.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Depends what kind of civilian job you’re referring to, but of the 10-15 civilian jobs I’ve had, none has ever come close to taking as long as applying to OCS. Including a multi-round interview process with a trip to New York for the final round of a consulting gig I did with IBM.

...unless you’re only referring to the possibility of not getting the job in the end and not the length of the process. In that case disregard the above.

Every civilian job I have applied for the process has been 3-4 months from initial application to the final decision, I apply for mid-level jobs, being in HR I have seen VP level positions have a hiring process or 6 months or longer.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

In my original post I didn’t take into account how many people (unemployed or newly graduated) would need a job right away and didn’t have the time to go through the lengthy Officer application process. Also, it’s not guaranteed so there are plenty who don’t want to risk applying only to remain jobless. I’m guessing this is part of the dichotomy.

Every person who had a degree that was trying to enlist via my NRD had to be screened by an OR, I can count on 1 hand the number that were going enlisted that would have had a chance at being picked up for OCS, the majority had very low GPA's or other issues.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

That’s surprising, I wonder what would cause this to happen on enlisted side but not officer side?

Trickle down effect, experienced people lose their jobs, apply to what they can get, they end up getting jobs that are normally held by less experienced people, those end up going into entry level jobs including those that don't need a degree, then the people that don't have a degree get pushed out and look for anything.

We were seeing people that were outside of the normal age enlisting during that time.

The makeup of employees at the restaurants we would frequent looks much different now then it did 10 years ago.

 

[dsv493]

Anyone hear anything from their recruiter?

 

[A-Aron]

Anyone hear anything from their recruiter?

Only the sound of silence...

I did find it disheartening to read in another thread that new accessions from CA, NY, and WA will not be shipping off to OCS. It is possible that I may have misinterpreted or misread something though.