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FY 23 IWC DCO Reserve Board
- Thread starter warthog_az
- Start date
Was hoping for some advice.
Applying for Intel
Bachelors degree in finance and business analytics: cum gpa ~ 3.1
Masters of science in finance: cum gpa ~3.45
Mixed work experience currently still looking for full time job (class of 2023)
I have submitted 1 application prior, began a second application but unfortunately had to cease my application after the interview portion for some personal reason. My next application will be my second official submission. Shooting to apply at roughly the 6 month mark of fully time job experience. What advice do you have to make myself a more competitive application.
Applying for Intel
Bachelors degree in finance and business analytics: cum gpa ~ 3.1
Masters of science in finance: cum gpa ~3.45
Mixed work experience currently still looking for full time job (class of 2023)
I have submitted 1 application prior, began a second application but unfortunately had to cease my application after the interview portion for some personal reason. My next application will be my second official submission. Shooting to apply at roughly the 6 month mark of fully time job experience. What advice do you have to make myself a more competitive application.
kaldor2c7
IWC CW Mustang
I assume you’re trying for DCO? I’m not the expert here on accessions but I believe that the direct commission routes might want a little more work experience to be considered competitive. Have you considered going the active OCS route?
I'm not trying to be rude, but: why aren't you applying for OCS?
Mainly comes down to a financial decision. Did 5 years of private school and racked up debt that is mostly outside of any loan repayment plans. I want to serve and DCO strikes me as the most viable route for myself.
The vast majority of DCO candidates with little or no professional experience are coming out of grad school and going directly into specialties, e.g. lawyers & doctors & nurses.
Everyone I know in the Information Warfare Community via DCO have significant professional experience in their chosen career, though not always in their designator. You should try talking to a recruiter, of course, but I don't see you being a viable DCO INTEL candidate if you are fresh out of grad school. OCS seems like a better fit.
kaldor2c7
IWC CW Mustang
And something worth reviewing is your suitability for a clearance as well (based on your comments about a personal debt ceiling). Not that this is the forum to peel back those layers, but the suitability process is rather intrusive and they’ll want to understand that in clarity…”much” more intrusive for the IWC candidate (IMHO). Be prepared!
And I align my guidance with the others here, explore the various programs and insure you align well with the various PA. I would think an OCS route in Supply or SWO might serve best (but again I’m not a recruiter)
I appreciate the advice. It’s student debt so it falls within what is considered normal debt and I do not believe it is a disqualifying factor. I’m pretty set on Intel for some personal goals of mine but again I appreciate the advice.
Let me ask the question a different way: why do you prefer DCO over OCS?
looking for advice, mainly in regards to timelines
I have a B.S. in Cyber Operations, B.S. in Computer Science as well as the OSCP, Security+, Network+, and another offensive security focused cert.
I (as of posting this) have about one year experience as a DoD civilian in offensive security. I am currently enrolled part-time in a Comp E Masters's, expected to complete in Spring 2025. I went to a military college and participated in ROTC, so I have experience with military-like culture and leadership positions. I do things such as capture-the-flags (the cyber type... not intramurals) in my free time.
My dream has been to commission into the Navy Reserves; however, I LOVE my job and OCS would be too much time off from my work. Therefore I have decided the DCO program is my most reasonable option. I would love to start trying for a commission ASAP, but I also don't want to waste my own time if there is little to no chance of selection at this point in my career. Although I have some good degrees/certs under my belt, I am aware that I am very green as a working professional.
Should I wait until I have graduated with my Master's (will also have ~3 years work experience at that point) to begin seriously applying? Is there maybe X amount of credit hours I should gain and then start my application? Is being enrolled w a plan of study enough? I know I can always just ask a recruiter, but I've been lurking on this forum for months and figured I'd at least poll the crowd before I looked for a recruiter. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have a B.S. in Cyber Operations, B.S. in Computer Science as well as the OSCP, Security+, Network+, and another offensive security focused cert.
I (as of posting this) have about one year experience as a DoD civilian in offensive security. I am currently enrolled part-time in a Comp E Masters's, expected to complete in Spring 2025. I went to a military college and participated in ROTC, so I have experience with military-like culture and leadership positions. I do things such as capture-the-flags (the cyber type... not intramurals) in my free time.
My dream has been to commission into the Navy Reserves; however, I LOVE my job and OCS would be too much time off from my work. Therefore I have decided the DCO program is my most reasonable option. I would love to start trying for a commission ASAP, but I also don't want to waste my own time if there is little to no chance of selection at this point in my career. Although I have some good degrees/certs under my belt, I am aware that I am very green as a working professional.
Should I wait until I have graduated with my Master's (will also have ~3 years work experience at that point) to begin seriously applying? Is there maybe X amount of credit hours I should gain and then start my application? Is being enrolled w a plan of study enough? I know I can always just ask a recruiter, but I've been lurking on this forum for months and figured I'd at least poll the crowd before I looked for a recruiter. Thanks in advance for any advice.
johngonavy
Member
You have a good background for 1815. But do you have any other work experience beside the one year in offensive security? Any leadership experience? The Navy Reserves is looking for people who are ready or almost ready to start leading a in specific area. If you can account for some leadership, i would give it a try and if you don't get selected, take some time and go back. While you are working and pursuing the MS, think about leadership. Try to take on responsibilities. They want to see credentials, expertise, leadership and character.
kaldor2c7
IWC CW Mustang
I think you’re very competitive for 1815/25. Worth a shot and meanwhile just keep layering on the leadership experience and roles.
When I applied I listed my CTF challenges/results within my resume and specific coding/signals projects that demonstrated various skill (GITHUB, Walkthroughs, Medium, TryHackMe, HackTheBox. etc) Be creative and list them, as it’s relevant
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
It would be worth talking to a recruiter as you have some good things in your background, better would be more work experience and a Masters but you may get lucky. A big part of the process is getting a good score from the OIC.
I just graduated my undergrad last year, so I'm very fresh to being in the workforce in any capacity. I did internships (NREIP) and worked part-time while as a student (cybersecurity research and tutoring), but that's it as far as relevant work experience.
As far as leadership, I did have a lot of leadership roles in college. Both technical leadership and actual staff/platoon leaders type stuff.