• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Direct Commission Interview - Thoughts?

FinkUFreaky

Well-Known Member
pilot
Seems the easiest answer would be that @jstamos1290 has no response? I don't mean this to seem hostile, but please if there was something objectively wrong about the "commitment" asked for, please put it. The silence is deafening.

And yes, @nodropinufaka , I'd agree that it's totally ok to seek the job for personal decisions. Understand that the hiring decisions of the Navy aren't based on those, but on the needs of the Navy (just like any other larger enterprise, Google isn't going to hire me because I like technology if I'm not the most qualified that is the most willing to live by their rules and pay decisions etc; it's a bit of a sliding scale I'm sure. More qualified get more slack in their demand, less qualified get less... and always remember the US Navy aqusitions is quite different from a private company in their ability to differentiate.

But the US Navy also isn't a jobs program... As much as it may seem it is at times. And it's purpose isn't to hire anyone that passes the minimum standard, but to hire the best qualified they can to fill the billets they need to. These accusations of questions regarding commitments haven't even been qualified as to what they are, which is kind of the problem.
 

nodropinufaka

Well-Known Member
I guess my bigger issue is some of the questions I have seen people pose and the canned responses they get. "serve my country" "make a difference" "sacrifice" etc. Its all canned responses and you are going to get those answers if you pose certain questions.
 
I guess my bigger issue is some of the questions I have seen people pose and the canned responses they get. "serve my country" "make a difference" "sacrifice" etc. Its all canned responses and you are going to get those answers if you pose certain questions.
I see your point, but I’m kind of done with the OP. If I were the officer, he’d have lost my vote already. But now I’m curious...what do folks think the right answer to an inappropriate question should be? “If your wife said she’d divorce you if you signed up, would you still do it?” (As an example). Something like that? I think it’s tough, but a competitive applicant could still give a thoughtful response that would demonstrate maturity and officer-like-qualities. I think he could talk about his commitment to his wife, how he made that commitment first, and blah blah. I’d have an idea of his thought process, his values, and his ability to think on his feet.
I’m a BGO, and I’ll often ask questions about which I really don’t care, just to get the candidate to demonstrate his/her thought process. I want the OP to succeed, but his post has me thinking the interview didn’t go well and now he’s flailing.
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
I spoke with the applicant and the question that was asked was highly inappropriate. The OP was trying to be sensitive and anonymize the ask and in the process, confused everyone ?

I confirmed the highly inappropriate nature of what was asked with a Flag I know who was the previous community lead for the community to which the applicant applied (not the same community the OP posted).

It's being addressed.

MODs any way to close this thread now?
 

FinkUFreaky

Well-Known Member
pilot
I guess my bigger issue is some of the questions I have seen people pose and the canned responses they get. "serve my country" "make a difference" "sacrifice" etc. Its all canned responses and you are going to get those answers if you pose certain questions.


I see your point, but I’m kind of done with the OP. If I were the officer, he’d have lost my vote already. But now I’m curious...what do folks think the right answer to an inappropriate question should be? “If your wife said she’d divorce you if you signed up, would you still do it?” (As an example). Something like that? I think it’s tough, but a competitive applicant could still give a thoughtful response that would demonstrate maturity and officer-like-qualities. I think he could talk about his commitment to his wife, how he made that commitment first, and blah blah. I’d have an idea of his thought process, his values, and his ability to think on his feet.
I’m a BGO, and I’ll often ask questions about which I really don’t care, just to get the candidate to demonstrate his/her thought process. I want the OP to succeed, but his post has me thinking the interview didn’t go well and now he’s flailing.
Until it's closed, I'll add on to this. As an IP I'll often ask questions that don't have a perfect answer, but some are better than others and some are flat out wrong. Anybody that's been in the military for any real period of time can often sniff out the overly-patriotic ass-kisser. But most do join for some sort of patriotic satisfaction on top of their personal goals; when it lines up perfectly it can be a great deal for the individual and the Navy. I'd imagine most of those (not this guy apparently) that interview the applicants would have questions they ask that AREN'T inappropriate but can help fill their "decision matrix" of who to recommend highest to the board, while being able to ascertain the fake "I just want to serve my country" answers. That shouldn't necessarily be in the top one or two reasons most apply, although after certain crazy events (9/11, etc) or rare family backgrounds, I could totally see it being the number one.

To the OP, I'll somewhat apologize if I casted any aspersions your way, but we didn't have much to go on beyond what you posted. I don't know the whole story, sounds like it was out of line, but even had you posted the real deal there wouldn't have been blow-back on you.... professionally or personally. Unless it's like deep in the House of Cards type stuff...
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Unless I missed it, no one offered a simple comment or opinion on the OPs analogy. If I may...

The analogy question would have been out of line. The questioner has not authority to bind you to that commitment, nor is there any similar restriction anywhere in the Navy. That means it has no value except to rattle you or probe the depths of your commitment. That may have been the intent. But there are far better ways to get at that then the question in the analogy. If the questioner was actually trying to misrepresent or imply a commitment greater than in actuality, then it would have been unethical.

These professional community interviews can be important, especially to DCO programs. BUT, many of those guys have little to no experience interviewing people, may have less than ideal oral communication skills (engineers, go figure), or know how to write a useful appraisal for the Board. When I was a recruiter I didn't let these interviewers go until they TOLD me what they thought of the guy. I in turn told them what to avoid in their appraisal. On receiving it, if it didn't look like it would communicate to the Board what the guy told me, I would call and we'd discuss it. You, apparently, think you did not give the answer he was looking for. But it may not even make it to the actual appraisal. I have interviewed hundreds of people for the naval service. I try to rattle them. To do so, I may ask things beyond their experience level in hypothetical scenarios. I don't expect them to hit a home run and their specific answer does not inform my opinions. You can hope that is all it was.
 
Top