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DCOIC Gouge for those about to commission as a DCO

D

Deleted member 67144 scul

Guest
Also, I cannot prove that it was because of my Reserve status that I was terminated "at will."

And this difficulty proving seemingly obvious things is exactly why I will stay in the shadows. Especially in my industry which tends to lean anti-military. Even long before going into this whole process, I decided mentioning it to anyone in a work setting would be on a strictly need-to-know basis, eg. going for AT and informing my management.

Glad to hear it still worked out fine with you. Really sorry you had a ridiculous discriminatory boss.
 

Hair Warrior

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I had a weird job interview earlier this week. The interviewer clearly did not know very much about the military. Half the interview questions were basically “Why would you join so late in life?” So I get why people leave it off their resume. But also it helped me realize that the specific job was probably a poor fit and my skill set would be underappreciated.
 
D

Deleted member 67144 scul

Guest
When you get your CAC, of course make sure to bring the primary and secondary forms of ID (a driver's license and passport will do), but also bring your commissioning docs for good measure. Saved me some potential hassle.

Also important: beforehand, make sure you are in DEERS. Call the toll-free number, tell the automated system you're a sponsor, and it'll ask you to enter your SSN. If it finds you, it'll then ask your DOB and pay grade and such. If you're not in DEERS, it will tell you you're not in.
 

ABMD

Bullets don't fly without Supply
Height first, then weight. If you're over the weight limit for your given height, then they will tape you. Single site abdominal circumference (AC) measurement is taken at the upper most point of the iliac crest (hip bone) a Sailor will pass the BCA if AC is less than or equal to 39.0 inches for males.

If someone fails that, there is another 2 site measurement they do to determine body fat.
 

ABMD

Bullets don't fly without Supply
I fully understand and ruminate at length about this concern. But unless specifically asked or pertinent, I don't feel it should be what the interviews are about.

"Oh yeah, I play in a competitive amateur soccer league and regularly travel."
"Oh yeah, I very frequently take sick days with no advance notice because I and my kids are always getting sick in staggered intervals."
"Oh yeah, I have cancer and will be starting chemo and other treatments soon."
"Oh yeah, I'm having a surgery or even something cosmetic like a nose job and need to take the next few months off for medical LOA."
"Oh yeah, I take 4-8 weeks to my old country every year to visit family along with other vacations."
"Oh yeah, I plan to pop out 3-5 babies at 1.5 year intervals so I'll barely be here and neither will my hubby who also happens to work here."
"Oh yeah, I'm getting gender transition surgeries and treatment and recovery for the next few years."

I could go on and on.

Does anyone ever mention any of this in interviews? I've never heard of such a thing personally. It's not what interviews are about. I've yet to hear about someone thinking of an applicant not discussing those things as being untrustworthy.

Why is taking a couple weeks off a year, or worst case less than a year if the world's on fire, cause for losing trust but not taking months off for reasons that can be described as leisure, vanity, selfishness, or serious illness? And would you really want to work for someone who sees serving your country as sinister, untrustworthy, and dishonorable compared to someone having trouble figuring out what genitalia they want?

Like ABMD, I work at a large corporation that has the benefits he described. It's also very huge on "diversity" as most companies in my industry are. But while it's very big on things like racial and gender diversity, it's not keen on building its military diversity. In fact I'd go so far to say a lot of the US-based employees don't view the military positively.

Just my take. But I'd rather not discuss extraneous details in interviews, get hired, and prove myself to be a valuable employee, rather than get immediately rejected for no other reason than HR or hiring managers who may or may not be scared by something they know nothing about. It's taking a gamble in the latter scenario, and I don't like gambling.

Or better yet, you can say everyone is dishonest for job hunting while currently employed and not telling anyone until their 2 week notice. It's so excessively common, it's become a social norm and such "dishonesty" is simply part of the game.

My employer is also big on D&I (diversity & inclusion) whether that is gender, racial, sexual orientation, military, etc. They also have numerous employee resource group (ERGs), I'm a member of the military group, that are each sponsored by senior-level executives. They talk the talk, but they also walk the walk and are very supportive of my service. I'm not even questioned on the amount of time I've had to miss the last 2 years due to the military, AT and ADT plus Friday's for drill (Fri-Sun). I can for sure say the big banks, like the ones mentioned in this thread actively recruit people with military backgrounds. I recently participated in interviews at BoA that was exclusively for current/former members of the armed forces (was offered the position but turned down due to compensation and timing). I believe it really comes down to the industry and the company. The larger companies all use diversity, whether as described above or any other way, as pieces of "flair" for recruiting or to win the public image game.
 

shiner237

Member
Don't automatically assume that all military time qualifies for the pay differential benefit that some companies offer. My company does not do this for more than 2 weeks a year if it is classified as training. So the 20 weeks or so for IP/CW training will be 18 weeks at military pay only. When I went to tech school in the AFR, I had to plan for 6 months without diff. My company also has tiered return to work policies for extended absences to the point that they can make me reapply for a poistion if gone more than 6 months. I was lucky to have a supportive director so I didn't have to deal with that. So plan accoringly.
 

Markymark

Member
Don't automatically assume that all military time qualifies for the pay differential benefit that some companies offer. My company does not do this for more than 2 weeks a year if it is classified as training. So the 20 weeks or so for IP/CW training will be 18 weeks at military pay only. When I went to tech school in the AFR, I had to plan for 6 months without diff. My company also has tiered return to work policies for extended absences to the point that they can make me reapply for a poistion if gone more than 6 months. I was lucky to have a supportive director so I didn't have to deal with that. So plan accoringly.

Shiner, before I was accepted to swap over, I was an Army Guardsman, where I did 3 deployments. Each time my civilian job had to hold my job under the Soldier Sailor Civil Relief Act. By law they have to give you the same or an equivalent job upon your return, without losing seniority or benefits. If they are forcing you to reapply for a position, that is a violation, and you can go after them via ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves), literally their only job is to take legal actions against employers who try to screw over reservists.
 

shiner237

Member
Shiner, before I was accepted to swap over, I was an Army Guardsman, where I did 3 deployments. Each time my civilian job had to hold my job under the Soldier Sailor Civil Relief Act. By law they have to give you the same or an equivalent job upon your return, without losing seniority or benefits. If they are forcing you to reapply for a position, that is a violation, and you can go after them via ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves), literally their only job is to take legal actions against employers who try to screw over reservists.

Thanks for the info. USERRA is a better one to look up and reference. The application process is to determine the equivalent job so falls within bounds of USERRA. USERRA does not 100% guarantee that you will have a job when you return to work.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Thanks for the info. USERRA is a better one to look up and reference. The application process is to determine the equivalent job so falls within bounds of USERRA. USERRA does not 100% guarantee that you will have a job when you return to work.

That would be very rare though, I believe the main exceptions being the company goes under, has mass layoffs or closes the office/plant/location you worked at like GM recently did. I read a pretty good interview with a USERRA employee a while ago where they said that legal action was rare in response to complaints to them and usually just a simple contact with an explanation of the law and how it applies to the company and the employee was almost always sufficient to resolve complaints. In today’s environment it is a rare a company wants the hassle and bad publicity of screwing over a veteran.

More common are the subtle and hard to prove missed promotions and other opportunities that I’ve heard some experience because they aren’t ‘fully commited’ like their peers. That is rare though in my experience, though most of then folks I’ve been in the reserves with have been govies, contractors or airline guys enough have worked in private industry that any sort of retaliation or missed opportunities has been very rare. The worst they usually experience is that that the employer is uninterested in what they are doing and they have to take leave out of hide and work a little extra to catch up.
 

Hail_HYDRA!

One more question...
All great gouge and quite useful, but can we refocus back to "DCOIC Gouge for those about to commission as a DCO"?
 
D

Deleted member 67144 scul

Guest
More common are the subtle and hard to prove missed promotions and other opportunities that I’ve heard some experience because they aren’t ‘fully commited’ like their peers.

Or they just lay you off. It's ridiculously easy to get rid of people as part of scheduled division-wide or company-wide layoffs, whatever the reason. Especially in layoffs where executives/senior management are encouraging people to even volunteer to be laid-off to support outsourcing or downsizing efforts. Put a name on a list, and that person is gone.

I've known some people who optimistically thought that being highly skilled and brilliant professionals would make them "too big" to lay off. It was not so. Even when their teams take a huge hit due to their dismissal, things still move on, albeit in a manner that is not as productive and not so good for customers and driving business.

For a good amount of management, it's about having people around as much as possible. Then it begs the question, "Why do so many people consider a woman taking up to a year for maternity leave for each baby considered so much better than a service member doing the same to serve their country?" I think as with the discussion in the USA Politics thread about what the reaction would be to vivid imagery of women in combat roles and society not "being ready" for that sort of imagery, it will take time, effort, and awareness to culturally adjust across the board (and not just specific areas like government work, government/defense contracting, etc.) to the fact that there's also a small number of people of the overall population who are in Reserve/Guard components and may have to leave work for up to a year or more.

You're right in saying there's employers and management that aren't very interested. There's also people who are very supportive even with regards to extended MOBs. However, there's plenty of people who are anti-LOA or even anti-military.

My take? Be low-key. When you talk to colleagues about things that could be perceived as "conflicts of interest", or more precisely, "conflicts of time/energy investment" such as reserve duties, it can pass along a poor vibe, as Flash stated, about not being "fully committed". And this vibe can take root even if you're the most committed and productive person in a department. It's just how many people perceive someone with 2 jobs. I've already survived the most recently layoff by working on a need-to-know basis with direct co-workers as senior management had advised to remove people with "conflicts of interest".

Of course, my only interest is that no one, including random people on the Internet, gets screwed over in their civilian career due to their enthusiasm about and duties to their Reserve/Guard service. It's happened to friends and colleagues, and I'd hate to see it to happen to anyone else.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Or they just lay you off. It's ridiculously easy to get rid of people as part of scheduled division-wide or company-wide layoffs, whatever the reason. Especially in layoffs where executives/senior management are encouraging people to even volunteer to be laid-off to support outsourcing or downsizing efforts. Put a name on a list, and that person is gone.

No, not quite. Employers are stepping into a very big minefield if they lay someone off who is mobilized or on some type of reserve duty, the fact that there is an agency whose sole purpose is to make sure that very thing doesn't happen to Guard and Reserve members ought to tell you how robust those protections are. Anecdotally I've known a lot of of reservists, from every branch, and not a single one lost their job due to a MOB.

I'm not the expert on Guard and Reserve reemployment or USERRA but I am going to hazard a guess that I know a hell of a lot more about them than you, and I certainly don't need a dissertation to explain it all either. Maybe it's time you got back in your lane.
 
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