Just found out that I (finally) got my board date for next week. I feel like I've been waiting forever just to get to this point. Was looking for any advice before going in. What questions were you asked? How long did the interview last? Anything that you remember could help me and would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Put your best foot forward, be honest, and be ready for their mind games! lol.

I've shared this here already, but here goes again:

My interview lasted two hours. I spent the second hour respectfully debating with the interview board why they should give me the "go" and submit my packet

They insisted my packet wouldn't be selected, and I more or less ended up begging and pleading they give me my shot.

In the end, they rated me a 25/25 and I was selected on my first look.

mind games. SO!

How bad do you want it! Show 'em your WAR FACE! AGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

oh and um... I would wear something business casual. I mean, I did. A suit and tie seemed too uptight for my taste.

It's an interview, not a trial. heh.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mr_Motivated,

quote:

Originally posted by Mr_Motivated:
They straight up told me my packet was worthless, and I more or less ended up begging and pleading.

Oh, details please :P I can painfully imagine what you describe and sadly fear myself in the same position. Would be interesting to hear how you handled that!

I think they wanted to see what my attitude would be in the face of an impossible situation. It was a test.

During the interview, they were like "we are 100% sure you will not make it, and you can't reapply for another year. Here's your packet back. Work on your qualifications, and come back in six months."

In the future, it might be "this is a dangerous mission, and your own and others' lives are on the line. The cost of failure is not only your death, but a psychological victory for the enemy. Do you still want to proceed with this mission"

Do you follow?

The reasons they gave me for why I wouldn't be selected included:
I don't have flight time
I don't have a four-year degree
my PT score wasn't good enough
my transcripts were poor
my civilian job was inadequate
my personal statement was weak
all of aviation is over-strength
there are no guarantees any civilians will be selected, and they might just fill all slots with active duty soldiers
my letters of recommendation were bullsh*t

They also accused me of being lazy, immature, inexperienced...

They asked...
Do you realize you are asking us to let you operate multimillion-dollar military equipment?
When the Air Force has jets, why do you want to fly the Army's helicopters?
Why do you deserve to be a Warrant Officer, who has the "best of both worlds"?
What is your idea of leadership?
What will you do when you're not selected(like we said will happen)?

Hostile. What better way to discover how an applicant reacts to pressure, than to put them under pressure!

The NCO handling packets said "everyone gets 25/25" (which might be true... I haven't heard of anyone not getting a 25/25.)

They were all Psychology majors, so their "game" was BE-autifully coordinated.

Whether it's a game or not, I couldn't tell. I honestly couldn't tell. I left it to God and did what I could just to sleep at night. My wait was less than 2 weeks, which was a huge relief.

my recruiter called me the day after the selection board convened, and was irate about how much work he put into me, and after all his patience I wasn't selected--he told me to get my ass down to his office to pick an MOS and enlist. I said OK, got ready to leave and he calls back saying 'just kidding, you made it.'

I called him back that night, and said I got arrested for a DUI. lol I got him back good. anyway.

Wow. Well I appreciate the info. Now I'll go in expecting the worst! Couldn't be more nervous about this but at least the process will be done with.

Most of the questions weren't hostile in and of themselves. It was the context they asked them of me.

Just think this through the best you can.

Well just got back from my board. Went a lot easier than I thought. One of the people gave me a 24/25, the other two maxed me out. Guess now it's waiting time.

What was the 24/25 about?

No idea. Wish I could have seen it. My recruiter is the one that told me my scores.

I see. I wouldn't worry about one point.

One of my interviewers wanted to downgrade my score, because his OCS review board gave him a less-than perfect score and he was under the impression 'that's how it's done'... he tried to convince the other interviewers to do the same.

Now, this being after the fact it's not useful to you, but how was anyone going to know how you'd react really. AAR's are good, though.

I asked to see my evaluations at the end of my interview. In response to the one CPT wanting to grade me on the 'nobody gets a perfect score' scale, I asked that if they believed I was qualified and capable of being a successful Aviator, to please give me a score to reflect that and help me get selected.

I had to have a straight answer.

What else happened? What was it like?

Ya, fair enough. I had about 5 other OCS guys go in front of me so when I got in it felt like they were ready to head for lunch. The interview itself only lasted about ten minutes or so. Just asked me a few questions - tell me about yourself, why do you want to be a warrant, what can you give, how does your wife feel, and if not accepted what will you do? Pretty straight forward stuff.

In the end I am just glad to be finished with this process. Started talking to a recruiter back in October so it's been a little while. Now I just need to figure out what my backup plan is going to be in the event I don't get picked up.

Are you doing GA NG?

ok, it sounds like you had a great experience.

was it because they were blowing you off, or because you have great qualifications?

ten minutes, wow. Lol where was this? To anyone else who is considering applying, you might want to go where MustFly is.

No, this is for active duty. GA NG has a loooong waiting list to get a WOFT date. If I don't get picked up for AD then I may try for NG in another state though. Would move anywhere in the country if I could get a date.

Like I said, I think they were just trying to get through the interviews. Didn't feel like I was being blown off, but in the end they aren't really the ones the make the final decision. All of the interviews went 20 mins or less, some even seemed like they were only in there for 5 mins. Guess they were just giving short and to the point answers.

Were these guys pilots? My guess is: no.

10 minutes isn't enough time to gauge someone's suitability to haul a bunch of other dudes around and be responsible. You got pencil whipped, plain and simple. What a bunch of $hit.

You got off light...thank your lucky stars. My interview was over 40 minutes; and I am already a rated pilot with a ton of hours.

I got grilled, rakes over the coals one way and then the other. It was about composure, and ability to handle several folks talking and asking things at once. Almost like 4 radios chatting in your ear...

There's the correlation......DING!

I'm happy for you, MustFly. But the interview board is charged with having eyes on the applicant. At least, that's how I feel. So yes I do wish a terrible, nerve racking experience on every applicant. lol.

Even if it doesn't happen, I like to believe the process is still thorough, such as every packet is re-evaluated at the paper board.

Last line of defense is the CW5 of Aviation. He has a hand in every selection and continues to remove people from the program he feels are unfit...

He looks for them. heh. you'll see.

A lot of people talk about the attrition rate like it's something to take comfort in, but I disagree. 3-5% is high considering these are AVIATOR hopefuls. 1 out of every 30-20 future aviators who don't take it serious enough? That's about right.

Are you in that group? I dunno, you tell me: are you determined to give 100%, even if only 60% is asked of you?

I take issue with the unmotivated types. In my opinion, they should be allowed to fail at every available opportunity.

It's not about talent, and not nearly as much about ability, as it is about MOTIVATION.

So. Good for you on the pleasant interview experience, and I hope you're still able to take this seriously. It would be to everyone's benefit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mr_Motivated,

Well I went in expecting to get grilled like never before...maybe they didn't feel that I was worth 40 mins of their time, who knows? I'd take a rake over the coals and a flight slot any day, than a somewhat uncomfortable interview and not being selected.

Motivation is not an issue with me. Never wanted something so bad in my life. Just wanting to get in and show people what I can do.

Just saying.

Make something too easy for a person and they're liable to take that thing for granted.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mr_Motivated,

quote:

No, this is for active duty. GA NG has a loooong waiting list to get a WOFT date. If I don't get picked up for AD then I may try for NG in another state though. Would move anywhere in the country if I could get a date.

Ok, let me know, I can link you up with the Aviation Training Officer in South Dakota. Yea it gets cold out there but man I was just there on leave, it is beautiful country. You'd get to fly the Lakotas too. I love SD.