Military opportunity's for college grads - Not ROTC

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forumjunkie

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A young man who is my son's best friend is having a hard time finding employment. He just graduated A state college with a mechanical engineering degree.

Are any of the branches taking these type of people for Officer Candidates? I know the Army is not even able to offer full time slots to all it's ROTC grads.

Other thoughts, Civil service obviously but more specifically?
 
If he had a decent GPA and is in good physical condition, he'd be a great candidate for Army OCS. He should visit the OCS website below, make an account and introduction, then research and ask questions. FYI unless he specifically pursues Guard/Reserve OCS, he would go active duty.

http://www.armyocs.com

As an aside, what was his GPA? Is he willing to relocate? We're hiring
Engineers at the moment, if he doesn't have his heart set on the military.
 
Totally flexible, single, and I think he paid his was through college as he went so I don't think he has any college debt.

Have to check on his GPA. He comes from a good Family, Dad was a Nuclear engineer traveled around to power plants when they did the rod changes. When they started a family he needed to stop traveling, so he left that work to become a lawyer. This young man has always been a Hands on Kinda Kid, building stuff in his Garage. He was the Lead fabricator for the TN Tech Baja racing team, which ranked 11th in the Nation this year. India flew him over to their country to consult for their Baja team.

On a personal level He was always the kid who when my Son said, "I can't go with you tonight, I have to mow the Lawn" would show up an hour later towing a trailer with a Big Mower on it zip out the 4 acres and say "OK, lets go!" The rest of My sons "Friends" would say "sorry about that see ya next time".

Always military friendly, but at this point it is just a be a possible fall back option. The Job market is pretty tough for young men these days. I will private message you with GPA and a resume when I get it. Asked him for one for another lead. Thank you for your time and consideration.
 
forumjunkie said:
He was always the kid who when my Son said, "I can't go with you tonight, I have to mow the Lawn" would show up an hour later towing a trailer with a Big Mower on it zip out the 4 acres and say "OK, lets go!"
Click to expand...

Love this. Everyone should have at least one friend like this.
 
Not sure what he is interested in doing but AF OTS (air force version of OCS) is also a good option. Not sure what the manning situation is right now in the engineering career field but it's a possibility. Problem with that route is that final assignments are still based on needs of the Air Force so it's possible to get something not so related to engineering, but if leading is of interest independent of engineering, still might be a good choice.
 
forumjunkie said:
A young man who is my son's best friend is having a hard time finding employment. He just graduated A state college with a mechanical engineering degree.

Are any of the branches taking these type of people for Officer Candidates? I know the Army is not even able to offer full time slots to all it's ROTC grads.

Other thoughts, Civil service obviously but more specifically?
Click to expand...

Unlike the Air Force or the Navy, whom have specialized recruiters for their OTS (Officer Training School) and OCS (Officer Candidate School) applicants, any US Army recruiting office can handle an application for OCS. So advise this young man to just walk in and spark up a conversation about OCS.

I was in such an office in Quincy, Massachusetts several months ago with my DS & was informed that out of their last 100 applicants all were accepted, 98 for active duty and 2 for reserves.

GPA is key, along with fitness test, LORs, etc.

No guarantee, of course, that they would get anything related to their degree. For that, go Navy and Air Force.

And, unlike the other three branches of the armed forces, the US Marine Corps gets the majority of their officers through the OCS process.
 
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forumjunkie said:
Other thoughts, Civil service obviously but more specifically?
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Just my opinion, but going the GS route (civilian for the govt) is very, very competitive. They hire very few every year and many are hired on for :
1. Military experience
2. Security clearance.

The most popular site is usajobs.gov. It will allow him to look not only by the job, but also the state. Beware though that many of the jobs are being filled by those that are already there, and by law they must advertise the position. I.E. A GS 12 position may be open in an office, as well as the GS 10. Many times the GS 12 position is being filled right now by the GS10 (acting as the GS 12). Thus, chances are the GS 12 position is filled and the real opening is the GS 10. Don't over reach.

I am not sure I agree with Day Tripper regarding AF recruiters for OCS. Our friends DS just walked into the local AF recruiting office and stated to an enlisted recruiter he wanted to go to OCS for a rated (flying) position. They set him right there. For ROTC this is true because they do not deal with scholarships typically, but for OCS they do deal with that.
~ Caveat: Our friend was living in what I do not consider a large metropolitan area.

Has he thought of applying FT Guard? For the AF you apply to the unit...think like applying to any corporation.

Is he willing to relocate? If so, look into companies like Lockheed, Raytheon, Rand, L3 Comm. All great defense contracting companies that like engineering majors.
 
Pima said:
Just my opinion, but going the GS route (civilian for the govt) is very, very competitive. They hire very few every year and many are hired on for :
1. Military experience
2. Security clearance.

The most popular site is usajobs.gov. It will allow him to look not only by the job, but also the state. Beware though that many of the jobs are being filled by those that are already there, and by law they must advertise the position. I.E. A GS 12 position may be open in an office, as well as the GS 10. Many times the GS 12 position is being filled right now by the GS10 (acting as the GS 12). Thus, chances are the GS 12 position is filled and the real opening is the GS 10. Don't over reach.

I am not sure I agree with Day Tripper regarding AF recruiters for OCS. Our friends DS just walked into the local AF recruiting office and stated to an enlisted recruiter he wanted to go to OCS for a rated (flying) position. They set him right there. For ROTC this is true because they do not deal with scholarships typically, but for OCS they do deal with that.
~ Caveat: Our friend was living in what I do not consider a large metropolitan area.

Has he thought of applying FT Guard? For the AF you apply to the unit...think like applying to any corporation.

Is he willing to relocate? If so, look into companies like Lockheed, Raytheon, Rand, L3 Comm. All great defense contracting companies that like engineering majors.
Click to expand...


Air Force & Navy both are hard up for pilots (sorry navy, "aviators" & "flight officers", is it?) these days thanks to big-time hiring by domestic & international air carriers. But to get a package for consideration for OCS/OTS you have to deal with a specifically designated Officer Recruiter, whom aren't anywhere near as numerous as enlisted recruiters and can often be hard to reach.

I forgot to mention before that the Air Force is really, really hard up for Remote Piloted Aircraft ("drones" to the rest of us) operators. Any degree, not just the prized STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), is OK. Retention for RPA operators is terrible & the demand is rising rapidly. So if anyone with a BS/BA degree is interested in going to USAF OTS in Alabama for 9 weeks, getting commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant & eventually finding yourself sitting in an air conditioned trailer outside of Las Vegas while "piloting" a Hellfire-armed drone over Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanista, Yemen, etc. & then hitting the casinos after work, go visit https://www.airforce.com/education/military-training/ots.
 
forumjunkie said:
A young man who is my son's best friend is having a hard time finding employment. He just graduated A state college with a mechanical engineering degree.

Are any of the branches taking these type of people for Officer Candidates? I know the Army is not even able to offer full time slots to all it's ROTC grads.

Other thoughts, Civil service obviously but more specifically?
Click to expand...

Have him research the Federal Civil Service Pathways program. It's designed for recent college grads, to attract them into civil service. The boomers are retiring at a steady rate in the coming years, and they need entry level college grads to grow the white collar pool of replacements.

https://www.opm.gov/about-us/careers-at-opm/students-recent-graduates/

The Navy loves degreed engineers for its nuclear power program - meaning, submarine officers or nuclear carrier engineers. See link below. If there's any interest, next step is talking to a recruiter.

https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/nupoc.html
 
Thank you all for your time and consideration. It is what I value so much about this forum!

I had a quick discussion with him yesterday and he still has several interviews/ leads pending in the civilian sector, so he may not be in as bad a shape as I thought, My husband has also submitted a resume to an associate with an unadvertised position. However he still needs to keep up the hunt.

Our is a family that spent many years as "Guard Bums" / Army AGR/ and defense contracting. So I am somewhat familiar with many of your suggestions, however all my husbands jobs were acquired through personal contacts, and though he has applied to the gov job sites we were aware that most of those jobs were posted with a person in mind.

I welcome all your input, we try to help all the young people we come in contact with these days so I can always use the education.
 
Oh it was asked..
3.37 GPS
great internship and other experience for a new graduate
extremely good health (Funny aside, when one of my boys was training for CFA this young man spent the night, so when they got up the next morning he dedicated to run with my son just for the fun of it. Smoked him with no practice at all, I was amazed.)
No College Debt
single
Willing to relocate
 
Make sure he has an accurate and professional profile on LinkedIn.
Many Fortune 500 HR recruiting folks that I know feel that this is more important than most career/job seeking websites.
 
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