AROTC Interview

Zeringu_One

5-Year Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Messages
64
Today I was granted an interview with the PMS at LSU! I am super excited, but I have a bunch of questions running through my mind.

What should I wear?
What should I bring?
How will the interview be conducted?
What kind of questions will I be asked?

Any help or stories from personal experience will be greatly appreciated!
 
Today I was granted an interview with the PMS at LSU! I am super excited, but I have a bunch of questions running through my mind.

What should I wear?
What should I bring?
How will the interview be conducted?
What kind of questions will I be asked?

Any help or stories from personal experience will be greatly appreciated!

This topic has been discussed frequently on this forum, as a search will indicate. About a month ago the questions above were answered on a linked page provided by ClarksonArmy.

http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/the-interview/
 
+1 EDelahanty

Use the search tab here.

It really has been discussed at nauseum.

The best advice anyone can give you, is be yourself.They know you are 17, they don't have expectations of the perfect answer. Yes, some responses are better, BUT if that answer is rote, and you are only saying it because others have guided you in this issue, it can also harm you, twice as fast.

Just be you.
 
Today I was granted an interview with the PMS at LSU! I am super excited, but I have a bunch of questions running through my mind.

What should I wear?
What should I bring?
How will the interview be conducted?
What kind of questions will I be asked?

Any help or stories from personal experience will be greatly appreciated!

I had my PMS interview about a month ago. I was asked your standard questions such as why I wanted to be an Army Officer. I also received feedback on my appearance as well as how confident I was when answering questions so this will most likely be areas they look at. I hope this helps. Good luck.
 
Every school and every PMS is going to conduct the interview a little different. I've had my PMS interview prospects in the woods at training events. So, other than showing you what the interview sheet looks like here... http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/the-interview/ , unless someone has recently interviewed with the PMS from LSU (or whoever he has do the interview) the feedback you receive will only be speculation and anecdotal.
 
+1 clarkson

My advice would be to sit down with the folks or maybe your favorite relative, close neighbors and do a mock interview. They will be able to ask questions that you might never have thought people were thinking when they talk to a 17 yo wanting to dedicate the next 8 years of their life to the military. (Yes, 8, 4 in college and 4 after commissioning)

The thing is an interview has its own natural flow. It is a conversation and just like threads here it can twist and turn differently each time depending on a previous reply.

It will allow you to get accustomed to how it can move from subject to subject differently each time.

I.E.
Why do you want to join AROTC?

You answer when I was 8 my neighbor was in the Guard and deployed to Iraq for a year....yadda, yadda, yadda.

That can change the course of the conversation to:
Do you think we should have invaded Iraq given the current crisis with ISIS?

~ Believe it or not back in 07 our DS was asked at an MOC interview if he felt knowing that no WMDS were found we should have invaded Iraq.
~~ I am not going to publicly state what his response was, but he did get the nom. so I guess they liked his answer.

Now meanwhile, another cadet responds this way.

When I was 8, I went and saw the Golden Knights jump, and became interested with the way of life.
Oh so you want to go AB? Are you thinking about going Ranger?

Same 1st question, but due to the answer the interview goes in a different direction.

There was one poster that said they discussed a little known musical band the last few minutes because the PMS liked them too.

This is why asking about questions asked really won't help as much as having a conversation with adults. The ability to feel comfortable discussing some times difficult, thought provoking questions will help.

OBTW, Here are my big tips.
~ 1st appearance matters. I am not saying wear a suit is the must have. I am saying that if you have never worn a suit, nothing is more irritating to an interviewer than watching them take their fingers twisting the cuffs on their sleeves, or readjusting their pants because they sat on the tail of their suit jacket.
~~ They get many 17 yo do not own a suit, and parents are not about to spend 200 bucks for a 45 min. interview. DS had a suit, but wore khakis, collared shirt and boat decks. He got max points.
~ You don't need to have a crew cut, my DS had longer hair than his peers, but it was combed, and not in his eyes. He was comfortable with the length, and again, wasn't messing with it during the interview.
~ He entered with an official sealed transcript and a resume. He gave both to them. They had copies, but illustrated he was taking charge of his future.

For a female candidates lurking keep your jewelry to a min.,
~ It is akin to the suit issue. Girls when they get nervous tend to play with their bracelets, the charm dangling on their necklace, or their earrings. It is subconscious.
~ If you have long hair and know that you are like the avg girl and twist hair around with your finger, than put it up.
~ Remove funky color nail polish. Either wear no nail polish, or have it in a neutral color.
~ If wearing a skirt, than make sure you can sit comfortably. You probably want to go with a length longer than HS dress code of fingertip, but more like corporate with it being 2-3 inches above the knee.
~ If you are not comfortable wearing heels, DON'T wear them. You are not going to see many female officers wearing the new style of heels, nor anything that is above 2 inches. Conservative is better, than dressing like you are going out to dinner on a date.

Best of luck to the candidates of 19.
 
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PMS ROTC Interview

As a former PMS, there is guided interview that is used by many PMSs that is very helpful. It gives you a very good idea of what questions could be posed to you.

LTC Rob Kirkland, US Army Retired, 2x Former Army ROTC PMS

"The Insider's Guide to the Army ROTC Scholarship for High School Students and their Parents"
 
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