WHAT ARE THE BEST THINGS TO PUT ON AN E-RESUME, WHAT SHOULD I AVOID SAYING? HOW MANY BILLETS SHOULD I CHOOSE IF I AM ONLY LOOKING AT STAYING IN A SPECIFIC AREA?

I'm not trying to derail this thread immediately; however, this question should be directed to your First Class or Chief. They have done this several times in their career and should be there to assist you for your first time.

You can always put only one specific area. Then when "needs of the service" take you elsewhere you can scream "I got screwed!" from the mainmast.

Do they still publish a shopping list? I would highly recommend consulting your 1st or Chief as TCtoOS said then create a realistic E-resume based on career intentions not geographic desires. Though these caveats are not necessarily exclusive of each other, it's the rare person who can spend a career in one geographic area.

As for your questions, you should state your intentions, needs and desires in that order. Fill the form to capacity else risk utter mental anguish when you don't get the one billet you were going to put on it.

Finally, do you have your sea time for Chief? Better to start thinking of that now rather than when you make 1st.

You have to base you e-resume on two possible questions.

1. Do you want your next assignment to be in a desired area?

2. Will this assignment benefit your career, and is item 1 more important than item 2.

Oh and don't put a choice on your e-resume just because your detailer tells you to. The e-resume is there for you to make your desires known, not help the detailer with their averages.

Let me tell you a little story... coming off a cutter, tour complete, I wanted to stay in Boston. Another Chief, stationed at D1, wanted to stay in Boston also. I supposedly held higher assignment preference by a factor of 2 (or 3, I don't remember the preferences just now). His billet was on the shopping list as was mine. Guess who got extended at his tour?

Frankly, it doesn't matter what you put or what your preference is, the assignment officers pretty much do whatever they want under the phrase "needs of the service." In my case it was "I have to transfer one of you." How in the world I was chosen to uproot my family and move 650 miles while an assignment preference 2-3 slots below me was allowed to extend is incomprehensible. I would have understood the reasoning behind his extension if I was moving into Boston from another city, I was already there. By the way, guess who retired upon completion of his extension?

When I questioned the logic and the assignment preference policy I was told, "I'm told what to do by my superiors and I do it." Read: Someone of reasonably high rank at D1 made a call and this guy got what he wanted. So much for policy.

The AO had the gall to call me and ask me to put Cleveland on my dream sheet as my #1 pick. Yes, they do like to keep their numbers up. I refused and was transferred anyway.

That said, over a 22+ year career this was the one and only time I felt the system failed. Being shafted just once, or so was my perception, in over 20 years isn't bad.

Whining complete. Fire away.

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

Only those with nothing to lose can speak like that about the AOs.....good thing you are retired and don't worry about transfers anymore, eh?

The AO and I spoke when I put in my letter just two months after said D1 Chief put in his. Interestingly enough, I put the entire debacle in writing (e-mail) to the AO -- a full two months before my retirement date. He called me a couple days after receiving it. He took it directly to his boss and also to MCPO Patton. He stated again how his hands were tied. I told him had I stayed in Boston I would have done a full tour and competed for 8. Though I liked the people I worked with in Cleve-burg, I didn't care for the CO thus retired. It was time to move on.

But yes, it is much easier to speak your mind when you're retired. Looking back, as I said, I had extremely good fortune with all the AOs up to that point. I pretty much got what I wanted for every assignment prior to that time. I fully understood the detailer's hands were tied, he simply could not give me D1 and I wasn't about to extend my tour on a ship, it was someone else's turn.



You'll find when you look back at your career you only remember the positive, for the most part. Only when someone brings up a specific incident or issue will it pique your mind to recall something negative. I enjoyed my career and would do it all over again. Ah, to be young again.

My old Chief is one of the AO's. He has already told me I'm SOL! Oh-well.

All AOs have this on their walls at HQ:

quote:

Originally posted by TCtoOS:
I'm not trying to derail this thread immediately; however, this question should be directed to your First Class or Chief. They have done this several times in their career and should be there to assist you for your first time.

Xshiprider hit it on the nose.....but here is the funny thing,the questions about E-resume should be directed to the chief, since these days you are very likely to have a first that has only been to one unit him or herself.