I am in DEP status and will ship out on September 2nd. My job is an OS.I am considering hopping over to IS. What I am looking for is a job that will give me the opportunity to learn new skills and interact with different people and at the same time learn about their cultures, languages and ways of living. One more thing: I will go in as an E-3 since I have a college degree. Would IS be a better option for me? How would you choose if you were me? Thanks.

OK, I don't mean to be a smart ***(OK, just a little bit).
Opportunity to learn new skills: Any job in the Navy will provide this.
Interact with different people: As above, any job in the Navy will do this.

Then it gets down to this, which of the following links sounds like the better option for you? I am quite biased on which is better, at least from my standpoint.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/os.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/is.htm

Look through the forum and you will find all aspects of IS life noted, from A school through work in the fleet. While I was being a bit terse above, if you have specific questions not answered please ask, we will answer within allowable limits.

Thanks for the great information, although I already viewed that before coming here. You did not offend me or irritate me. I value your frankness. After looking through the forum and doing some late-night research at navy.com, I had made up my mind that what best suits my interests and career goal after my life in the Navy is the job of a CTI. I have a degree in Applied Mathematics from UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and two years of experiences in education. I speak, read and write a foreign language (Chinese). I think, being a CTI will allow me to utilize my prior skills and experiences. I called the office and told them that I want to switch to CTI this morning but I had not heard back from them yet. Can I ask you what you would do next if you were me? Thanks a lot.

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

quote:

Can anyone describe the job of an IS to me?

quote:

I called the office and told them that I want to switch to CTI this morning but I had not heard back from them yet.

Which rating are you REALLY wanting to switch to?
You seem to be under the inpression that just because you want to switch that you will be switched.
It ain't that simple. If all you did was call, you have not yet filled out a DAR.
Do you meet the ASVAB requirements for CTI vs OS?
Are you able to obtain the required security clearance for CTI?
Etc,Etc,Etc.

BoatsBM1

1) What I really want to switch to is CTI. There's no doubt about that.
2)I did't know that I might have sounded like I was "under the inpression that just because you want to switch that you will be switched."
3)I called the office again today and the Chief who is in charge said that we would talk about that on Wednesday in our DEP meeting.
4) I scored 85 on the ASVAB. Among the jobs that I was given to choose from, CTI was in it. But, at that time, it was almost 6:00pm and they were in a hurry to get out of work and I did not have time to really think it through. Maybe I should have asked them for advice before deciding what would be best for me.
5)Can you tell me a little more about DAR and things related to switching to CTI? Thanks a lot.

quote:

DAR

Dep Action Request

You will also be required to take the DLAB.

I would guess (if you can get a clearance) a fluent mandarin speaker and character reader would be quite valuable to the Navy as a CT. Just a guess though as I know the Navy does what it wants. I took a semester of Chinese before I dropped out of college, and toyed with the idea of telling my recruiter.... but didn't. I wasn't too good at it and its a hard #$% language to master. (Freaking tonal Ma MA ma mA)