Crippy011
You live by the gouge, you die by the gouge
Don't get too discouraged. This is my second time up and I've heard it take several attempts before some get selected. It's not that your not qualified, but the board sometimes just looks for certain qualities each cycle.
On another note, 47 Intel isn't too bad.
Thanks for the encouragement. I have been monitoring the board and seeing how really qualified some applicants are so the thought was to spend the next year working on my certifications but I definitely don't plan on quitting anytime soon, if ever.
You are pretty young to apply for reserves, why didn't you look at active duty? looking at your background you look like you would be pretty competitive.
I actually did look at active duty a few years back, when I had completed my undergraduate degree, but at this point in time, I have had some significant success in the civilian world and I would like to continue that while also serving in some capacity in the military. I'd rather be doing both than one or the other.
Some advice: get commissioned however you can and then change your designator once you get in. I initially wanted IP, however, knew that it was next to impossible due to the number of applicants and the limited slots. The easiest way to get commissioned DCO is INTEL. This is based on numbers. Look at how many INTEL officers they select versus IW/IP/METOC, etc.
They take anyone for INTEL because folks come from varying backgrounds. Because of the limited number of IP slots, they have to rack and stack people. After you are already in, changing your designator is an administrative exercise and you are looked at on the basis of whether or not you will be successful in the new designator.
I was commissioned as INTEL and got fully qualified (PQS and IDWO). I then dropped a change of designator package to change from INTEL to IP. It took about 30 days. Easy. Changing designators after you are in is a completely different process and changing from one IDWO designator to another is not frowned upon.
Words of advice: keep your plans to yourself and kick butt as an INTEL officer.
Any questions, PM me.
I applied immediately after my first denial. Don't wait.
Thanks for the advice, I am considering INTEL now after seeing the results for the past two boards I've applied to (I've got tons of language skills), but at the same time, my specialty is cyber security, which makes IP the logical choice. I'm not sure how much security work is involved in intel, perhaps you could provide some insight.
I'm also planning on getting a security certification in the next month or two, so once I receive that, i'll reevaluate my options with my recruiter and send off another application.