OCS December 2016 IWC Board

[meduses]

Congrats on the selection! I applied with a degree in education and only a 3.0. What else did you have for your package that made it stronger? Thanks!

I had a pretty significant internship where I worked alongside members of the IW community, and got a fantastic LOR from a formal naval officer (not sure what rank). Plus knowing a critical language and having some good leadership experience throughout college.

 

[Gogakuhei]

The Butt commented a page back (p. 10) that he has yet to have had heard anything from his Jacksonville NRD (Florida?). I, too, have yet to have received my board results.

May I ask are board results simultaneously released to all NRDs across the country, or are they disseminated on a region-by-region basis? If an authority (recruiter) or perhaps veteran applicant (I realize that is a moniker that none amongst our number want . . . .) wouldn't mind terribly illuminating this process for those of us for whom this is a first time, I, for one, would be most grateful. Thank you kindly, sir/ma'am.

***Also, was the Navy closed for business on both Monday and Tuesday of this week? If so, that would explain a good deal, I think.

 

[the butt]

The Butt commented a page back (p. 10) that he has yet to have had heard anything from his Jacksonville NRD (Florida?). I, too, have yet to have received my board results.

May I ask are board results simultaneously released to all NRDs across the country, or are they disseminated on a region-by-region basis? If an authority (recruiter) or perhaps veteran applicant (I realize that is a moniker that none amongst our number want . . . .) wouldn't mind terribly illuminating this process for those of us for whom this is a first time, I, for one, would be most grateful. Thank you kindly, sir/ma'am.

***Also, was the Navy closed for business on both Monday and Tuesday of this week? If so, that would explain a good deal, I think.

Last time I applied, I also received my results kind of late. Could just be NRD Jacksonville (FL) getting results late.

 

[Gogakuhei]

Is that right, brother? Wow. . . I look forward to putting this whole process behind me, don't you! Well, geographically speaking, I suppose it could be said that our NRDs are close to each other, right? NRD Nashville (TN) here. All that to say, perhaps we are experiencing the same delayed response owing to the means by which this intel is disseminated throughout the NRDs. In any event, I am going to attempt to establish contact with my recruiter again today. Here's hoping for positive results! Good luck to you, my brother! Cheers!

This hoary bit of knowledge popped into my consciousness as I was writing this to you.

Article IV:

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.[3]

Come on, results, where are you! Haha

 

[Thomas Wright]

You have a non-STEM degree, no IWC experience, and a fairly average GPA, which are big items that hurt selection chances. I would advise getting a national security-related Masters degree and/or to check out LDO/CWO programs. I would pursue the latter between the two.

Thanks for the candid response! I'm sure you're right. I was hoping to offset my degree by taking classes in the IWC field, but having a major in it would be much better. I'll look into the Master's and LDO. Great advice, thanks!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

The Butt commented a page back (p. 10) that he has yet to have had heard anything from his Jacksonville NRD (Florida?). I, too, have yet to have received my board results.

May I ask are board results simultaneously released to all NRDs across the country, or are they disseminated on a region-by-region basis? If an authority (recruiter) or perhaps veteran applicant (I realize that is a moniker that none amongst our number want . . . .) wouldn't mind terribly illuminating this process for those of us for whom this is a first time, I, for one, would be most grateful. Thank you kindly, sir/ma'am.

***Also, was the Navy closed for business on both Monday and Tuesday of this week? If so, that would explain a good deal, I think.

When the send button is pushed on the email it goes to everyone at the same time, or if a person looks up a candidate in Texas or if they look them up in VA they will see the same info.

If the recruiter is only looking in the system it may not be uploaded, they tend to upload pro Y's first, which given the low number doesn't take to long, in many cases not hearing back isn't a good sign.

 

[Eonami]

I can tell you what I had from an INTEL applicant perspective. First, I earned Political Science and Spanish degrees, which INTEL seeks. Then, I lived and worked abroad in Spain for a year, which I think helped my application. I've also had a variety of diverse legal and political internships and volunteer work throughout and post-college career. I'm fluent in Spanish and picked up Arabic while in Spain.

Coming from the AD side, our selection criteria might be a little different, but I think there is a lot of overlap for Intel. I have degrees in Korean and East Asian Studies, which as you mentioned are desirable for 1830. I also completed the Military Language Analyst Program Internship at Fort Meade, which I'm sure had an impact.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I can tell you what I had from an INTEL applicant perspective. First, I earned Political Science and Spanish degrees, which INTEL seeks. Then, I lived and worked abroad in Spain for a year, which I think helped my application. I've also had a variety of diverse legal and political internships and volunteer work throughout and post-college career. I'm fluent in Spanish and picked up Arabic while in Spain.

Non-STEM degrees are still an outlier when it comes to IWC selections whether a person is prior or not, sometimes with non stem selections it is just plain luck that one great application gets picked over another, non-STEM application make up the vast majority of IWC submissions but make up only 40% of selections (per RUFIO's other post more like 30% on the last board).

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I can tell you what I had from an INTEL applicant perspective. First, I earned Political Science and Spanish degrees, which INTEL seeks. Then, I lived and worked abroad in Spain for a year, which I think helped my application. I've also had a variety of diverse legal and political internships and volunteer work throughout and post-college career. I'm fluent in Spanish and picked up Arabic while in Spain.

Those are two degrees that actually aren't really desired by IWC. Folks have a way better chance with a degree say engineering than a Poli Sci/Liberal arts.

Aside from your degree and travel experience there had to have been other factors (high OAR, professional interview) that attributed to the selection. Knowing Arabic might have helped but not as much as you think.

 

[Chop07]

The Butt commented a page back (p. 10) that he has yet to have had heard anything from his Jacksonville NRD (Florida?). I, too, have yet to have received my board results.

May I ask are board results simultaneously released to all NRDs across the country, or are they disseminated on a region-by-region basis? If an authority (recruiter) or perhaps veteran applicant (I realize that is a moniker that none amongst our number want . . . .) wouldn't mind terribly illuminating this process for those of us for whom this is a first time, I, for one, would be most grateful. Thank you kindly, sir/ma'am.

***Also, was the Navy closed for business on both Monday and Tuesday of this week? If so, that would explain a good deal, I think.

IWC Board results were out before Christmas, posted to our internal Sharepoint for the entire recruiting "nation" to see. We made our good/bad calls immediately and have moved on. It is amazing to me that some of you sit waiting for results. If you're one of them, private message me your recruiter's name and Navy e-mail address and I'll gladly send them the link to where all results are posted.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Good to know! This goes to show that there really isn't a "magical formula" for selection. My OAR score was fine - 56. My letters of recommendation/appraisals were strong: (1) Naval Attache for U.S. Embassy in Madrid and 2 officers from a Board interview at the Embassy; (2) a retired Navy Captain, (3) an INTEL officer who interviewed me in Madrid, (4) my university's President, and (5) a State Representative.

In terms of professional undergraduate experience, I worked in D.C., a large law firm, in politics, a legal clinic, and was selected to be an apprentice for one of my professors at my university's political science department. Volunteer work was diverse. (Though, again, not sure how much of an impact this had.)

There actually is a magical formula, it is high GPA and STEM degree!

Evaluations from those who saw you perform day in and day out hold much more weight than a person who interviewed you for 30 minutes and wrote up something.

In most cases OAR follows GPA, I did have a few with high GPA's who did crappy on the OAR and some who had low GPA who blew away the OAR but for the most part they tracked fairly well.

 

[Skikopey]

For Jill, Thomas, Eonami and others, maybe I can help put Rufio and NavyOffRec's often discouraging comments into perspective...Look at my profile...and see that results have been Pro Rec N 3 times (including N this past board). It really does feel like some bs that they weigh GPA so much and almost more of a crap shoot. Especially when you have a cumulative 3.2 from an overseas undergrad and the (highly quant) #1 IR Master's program in the world vs. a 3.8 from some online school or otherwise unimpressive school with a degree in any liberal arts and no Master's....but when you can only select 12 out of 266...I guess that's what you get.

And remember all...discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

IWC Board results were out before Christmas, posted to our internal Sharepoint for the entire recruiting "nation" to see. We made our good/bad calls immediately and have moved on. It is amazing to me that some of you sit waiting for results. If you're one of them, private message me your recruiter's name and Navy e-mail address and I'll gladly send them the link to where all results are posted.

I worked with 2 OR's, one in particular that didn't call candidates to tell them they were a "N", only called the "Y" ones. The other would call the "N" candidates when there was time.

 

[Skikopey]

Happy Holidays everyone! Here's the board stats. As a whole (all IWC programs) selection rate was a 13.6%, which is around average for these programs.

OCEANO: 1 selected, no fleet applicants
Cryptologic Warfare Officer: 14 selected, 1 fleet
Information Professional Officer: 8 selected, 2 fleet
Intel: 15 selected, 1 fleet
Cyber Warfare: 1 selected, no fleet

SWO OCEANO/IP/IWC options: None selected

There were roughly 18 applicants, 3 fleet who were not selected but will be reviewed at the next board. It's HIGHLY ENCOURAGED applicants make improvements between now and the March board.

STEM majors continue to be key for selection. High GPAs, High OAR scores, and leadership experience are important. If you don't have a STEM degree, you better have some sort of graduate degree (Masters, JD, etc.) to counter STEM majors.

If you're under 29 (non-prior) or 31 (prior), I would highly recommend considering other options as a backup plan. If you have a Poli Sci degree with a 3.0 GPA, the stats are significantly against you getting selected. I have only seen one non-STEM major selected, prior CTT with a 3.98 cumulative GPA from a very prestigious school

BTW Rufio, Would the Recruiters have been told who were the 18 that would be looked at next board? Also, my recruiter told me only 12 out of 266 were selected which is obviously different from your numbers. I don't mean/want to question anybody for a liar, but if you read my posts from a couple boards back...my recruiter has been known to commit some major fails in the past which NavyOffRec attested to as well. Morever, each time I talk to him, it seems like he has no clue who I am and mistakes my info. Two boards back my packet didn't make it to board and the recruiter blamed it on the processor. Then the Sept. board I was told my application was "tabled" to the Dec. board, which makes me also question why they would table it and then give me a Pro Rec N...why wouldn't they just have rejected me in Sept. instead of making me wait until December? Maybe this is like the HIGHLY ENCOURAGED applicants you mention? I wasn't made aware that I could make any improvements between the the Sept. board and Dec. board however.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

BTW Rufio, Would the Recruiters have been told who were the 18 that would be looked at next board? Also, my recruiter told me only 12 out of 266 were selected which is obviously different from your numbers. I don't mean/want to question anybody for a liar, but if you read my posts from a couple boards back...my recruiter has been known to commit some major fails in the past which NavyOffRec attested to as well. Morever, each time I talk to him, it seems like he has no clue who I am and mistakes my info. Two boards back my packet didn't make it to board and the recruiter blamed it on the processor. Then the Sept. board I was told my application was "tabled" to the Dec. board, which makes me also question why they would table it and then give me a Pro Rec N...why wouldn't they just have rejected me in Sept. instead of making me wait until December? Maybe this is like the HIGHLY ENCOURAGED applicants you mention? I wasn't made aware that I could make any improvements between the the Sept. board and Dec. board however.

"tabled" does not mean they looked at your application, it could be as simple as the board decided to review only X number of applications so it was just put in the next group. It could also mean it was reviewed and they thought it was good enough to hold on to so they could see how you stack up against the next group. I had a CEC candidate that was reviewed and tabled because they didn't have enough spots, then when compared to the next group didn't stack up and was a "N", that person tried again but was never a "Y"