Officer Interview Questions

[TA910]

Dude - don't be a smart ass to those that have gone before you and done what you haven't. Naval Aviation is a small community with a long memory.

Never meant any disrespect to anyone. Bottom line is advice is just that. Advice. Who is to say the guy listened to any of us. My comment stem from the fact of it being the night before the interview. Really nothing left to do at that point. I can only share my view from an applicant point of view, which is what he was. So hearing it from some one in his shoes, may help as well. We all (as applicants) thank each of you for your service and light you shine on what to look forward to. No disrespect intended

 

[BackOrdered]

I'm afraid we are going to agree to disagree here.

Agree, certainly, with the first part. An interview is an interview…be prepared.

Disagree whole-heartedly with the second part. WTF? Who TF knows what kind of job one might have, or where one might be deployed? Is this a modern luxury?

Knowing that as say, a SWO, you may be a DIVO on a ship that deploys in the Pacific on the west coast or the Atlantic on the east coast is a modern luxury? From there, you can take a wild guess and know where you will deploy. I understand that Aviation is more dynamic than that, but elsewhere the path is fairly even across the board. And yeah, I would want a nuke hopeful to know what being a nuke will entail early on before they commit to that with my recommendation.

Asking someone where they will go if they commissioned tomorrow is a fair assumption of knowledge, especially if they have a personal preference. If they have a wife or kid, they owe it to them to know alot more about what they are getting them into. No, no one is going to have the foresight to have the billet list in their hand at interview phase, but if I find that they are too surprised and haven't researched, I'm going to tell them to come back another day and try again.

Fuck current events…know how to make every switch position and every sensor/weapon in or on your platform cockpit or bridge/weapons suite "work as advertised" and you'll do fine. F-it…leave the "where and why" to those who get paid bigger bucks. Show up ready to contribute.

This is the shit we do in peacetime screening interviews, I guess. None of which matters, of course, except that the interviewers can puff a cigar at the end go the day over a single malt and say "Well, damn my eyes, we picked the best of the best!" Which they probably didn't...

And as far as current events, I find it immature that an adult would "dream" of entering the armed forces as an Officer and not know what is going on. We have been in conflict for over a decade. They owe it to the men they may lead to "look into it" a little. A novice understanding of what they saw on CNN last week is enough, but zero clue is a red flag for a civilian. As far as a prior goes, if I see a warfare pin they best have a softball understanding of what their platform does in the world today if they tell me they want to return to it as an Officer.

 

[Renegade One]

I'm afraid we are going to agree to disagree here….as far as current events, I find it immature that an adult would "dream" of entering the armed forces as an Officer and not know what is going on. We have been in conflict for over a decade. They owe it to the men they may lead to "look into it" a little. A novice understanding of what they saw on CNN last week is enough, but zero clue is a red flag for a civilian. As far as a prior goes, if I see a warfare pin they best have a softball understanding of what their platform does in the world today if they tell me they want to return to it as an Officer.

BO has it better than I. I was "too flip" about the whole current events thing. I surely agree with him that an aspirant should know what is going on in the large and complex world in which we live…and into which a new officer and his/her unit might be deployed.

"Knowledge Is Good." (~Emil Faber)

I continue to learn/understand that the entry bar is much higher these days. Not sure the end results are widely different, but the entry bar is higher. Be ready to jump and smile while your picture is being taken.

BackOrdered: Good post. Thanks.

 

[LawlessNavyman]

I didn't mean to get everyone so crazy about this topic. I was just looking for maybe a pool of some of the not so generic questions that people may have heard, that way you can prepare for a similar odd ball question. I understand not everyone is going to hear the same questions but if you had a pool of questions you could get your own ideas of other questions to think about. Just a preparation tool to help, my interview went well and my CO is writing up my recommendation as a write this.
Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[TA910]

Good job buddy

 

[mike23!]

I'm in the same boat as LawLessNavyman, I am scheduling my interviews and was wandering what others did to prepare as well.

 

[dmamula]

I am in the same boat as mike and Lawless, I have 4 interviews plus my CO's next week and was thinking the same thing. "How can I prep?"

 

[mrdrown]

I've done 3 interviews throughout my application process, one for supply and two when I submitted for IDC. All three included some very generic and predictable questions. "Why do you want to be a Naval Officer?" I also got more job area specific questions as well as, "How would you lead in this given situation?" "What would you do if this happened?" "Can you describe a time when you faced adversity and overcame it?"

The best feedback I got from these interviews is that the officers interviewing me appreciated that I did not use scripted/rehearsed/cliche/cookie cutter answers. My responses were all very sincere and personal. I didn't talk about generations of military officers who proceeded me or a childhood hero or playing with navy ship figurines when I was 5. Even when my answer could have gone in that direction, I made a direct attempt to find a more personal route because I didn't want my answer to sound like any they'd heard before. I suppose that could be as much a risk as an advantage, but in my case it worked. I scored two 9s and a 10 (out of 10).

 

[Sjohnny15]

Don't know how or why I stumbled on this thread, but that is horrible advice.

Prepare for this like you would any job interview. Have someone who has been there, preferably someone who got selected, drill you with tough questions shotgun style. Have a mental "box" with some good leadership examples and good and bad stories that you can open up and reach into when asked a question that applies. There aren't any new questions, people. These interviews have been going on since the dawn of time.

I have done about a dozen interviews and I have seen them go very well and very poorly. I had to end one early it was going so bad. Yes, you want to seem confident and poised, but by preparing, preparing, preparing that will come naturally.

The advice above about reading a leadership book is also bad advice. People that have books about leadership on their desks are, by and large, horrible bosses. Experience is the best teacher. Other people's experiences are the second best.

Take this advice for what it's worth. I usually don't peruse the wannabe threads, but thought I would drop this bomb of knowledge on you.

Boom.

I got knocked down on 2/4 interviews for the oral communication. I received excellent instead of outstanding, will this have serious effect on my package?

 

[Brett327]

I got knocked down on 2/4 interviews for the oral communication. I received excellent instead of outstanding, will this have serious effect on my package?

Yes. Boards generally expect perfect scores. Anything less is sending a message.

 

[Sjohnny15]

I get my last one back tomorrow. If it is all 10’s should I just submit 3 and leave one out? That way I don’t have 2 reflecting a non-perfect score.

 

[Brett327]

I get my last one back tomorrow. If it is all 10’s should I just submit 3 and leave one out? That way I don’t have 2 reflecting a non-perfect score.

If you have that option, yes.