Congressional Interview

Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
17
Hello all,

I just had an interview over the phone with a Senator from my state's nomination committee. The call came out of the blue and caught me off guard. I answered all of the questions honestly, which I believe is the best anyone can do ever. I was told I articulated well, but I don't feel so confident about the interview. If anyone has insight or suggestions or anything at all, that would be great.

Thank you all!
 
Never head of Senator interview out of the blue and that too over the phone. Does that happen in your state. Which state is this
 
This happened to us for our BGO interview. Got a call on Saturday for a Sunday interview at our house, but we are told our Senators and Congressmen interviews are in person in front of a very large panel of people here in NJ.
 
Never head of Senator interview out of the blue and that too over the phone. Does that happen in your state. Which state is this
I agree, that is very unprofessional to not get some kind of a "heads up". What if you had not been home? What if you were sick? What would have happened if you had been away on vacation or visiting a sick relative and no one was home? Don't know, but seems sort of not right. In Florida, (at least for last cycle) all MOC's notified every applicant of either an interview (at least 30 days in advance), or that while they had done well were not being considered for an interview. There was one MOC who did a "paper" Board, where the panel reviewed the applications and supporting documents and based their Noms on that. But again, I believe every applicant was notified of their results.
 
I will admit, the blind call approach is different, but there are 535 MOC, and how they conduct their interviews and nomination selection is their prerogative. Who are we to judge whether its professional or not ? Perhaps the MOC wants to see how the Candidate thinks on their feet, without he benefit of preparation or polishing ? There are a lot of things that MOC's (on both sides of the aisle) do that I don't like, but I'm not going to judge them on their approach to appointments.
 
This happened to us for our BGO interview. Got a call on Saturday for a Sunday interview at our house, but we are told our Senators and Congressmen interviews are in person in front of a very large panel of people here in NJ.
NJ Senatorials are not in front of a large panel. I've been a Senatorial Interviewer for many years and the panels are generally two or three people. Each Candidate normally gets interviewed twice on their interview day by two separate panels who each "score" the interview.
 
Can students use the same congressional appointment / nomination for USNA / USAFA or do they need to get different ones for each school? Also, can they use more than one for a single school.
 
NJ Senatorials are not in front of a large panel. I've been a Senatorial Interviewer for many years and the panels are generally two or three people. Each Candidate normally gets interviewed twice on their interview day by two separate panels who each "score" the interview.
That’s exactly how it went for my DS today at his dual senate interviews here in NJ.
 
Can students use the same congressional appointment / nomination for USNA / USAFA or do they need to get different ones for each school? Also, can they use more than one for a single school.
Different nominations
 
Different nominations
Thanks for the info. :) We are not a military family and are totally new to this process. When DD applies for the nominations should she specify the exact school or does the congress person choose for which school to provide the nomination? She plans to apply for USNA and USAFA.
 
Our DS did his first senator interview panel yesterday. 6 rooms going at one time, interviews were 15 minutes with 3 panel members per room. It was 6 hours round trip for 15 minute interview and will do it again this Friday for next senator interview. Then MOC an hour from home the following Saturday. He said it was more conversational than a grilling and felt good about it, they smiled at each other after a few responses and were engaged and leaning toward him. Timing was strict and a staffer gave a 2 minute warning. Now we wait.
 
Thanks for the info. :) We are not a military family and are totally new to this process. When DD applies for the nominations should she specify the exact school or does the congress person choose for which school to provide the nomination? She plans to apply for USNA and USAFA.
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Your DD will have a choice on the MOC application .... Some MOCs allow multiple choices, where the applicant ranks their SA preferences in their respective order, while other MOCs only allow 1 SA choice.

Some districts are so competitive that 1 choice is the only option that can be reasonably accommodated.
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Thanks for the info. :) We are not a military family and are totally new to this process. When DD applies for the nominations should she specify the exact school or does the congress person choose for which school to provide the nomination? She plans to apply for USNA and USAFA.

Check out the individual congressional source websites. Sometimes you have to search for something like their ‘services’ tab, but they will have explicit instructions on how to apply for their nomination. Pay attention, follow steps, meet the deadlines.

Additionally, check out the NOMINATIONS stickies on the nomination forum. Lots of good info there.
 
Our DS did his first senator interview panel yesterday. 6 rooms going at one time, interviews were 15 minutes with 3 panel members per room. It was 6 hours round trip for 15 minute interview and will do it again this Friday for next senator interview. Then MOC an hour from home the following Saturday. He said it was more conversational than a grilling and felt good about it, they smiled at each other after a few responses and were engaged and leaning toward him. Timing was strict and a staffer gave a 2 minute warning. Now we wait.
Man, that is tough. 14 hours of travel for 3 interviews? We have 2 hours of travel total for the 3 interviews, here in our densely populated morass of a state.
 
Man, that is tough. 14 hours of travel for 3 interviews? We have 2 hours of travel total for the 3 interviews, here in our densely populated morass of a state.
Yes, it's a lot. And yesterday, he was my navigator, he was advising me of a wreck up ahead in 4 lanes of interstate travel. I slowed when I saw brake lights, semi behind me not so much, I hit my hazards hugged the right line, we were under a massive overpass and heard a horrific sound, like a semi overhead dropping a load of steel, I ducked, he said 'look out' and a car slid past me on the left and came to a halt when it collided with the car in front of them, who had hit the car in front of them. It was millimeters from us. I looked back, a semi had hit another semi who hit the car that narrowly missed us. Needless to say I was a bit jittery the rest of the drive to Phoenix, which has some pretty horrific drivers. We made it safely, and will attempt it again Friday. Someone was lookin' out for us, he would have missed the non reschedulable interview.
 
Our DS did his first senator interview panel yesterday. 6 rooms going at one time, interviews were 15 minutes with 3 panel members per room. It was 6 hours round trip for 15 minute interview and will do it again this Friday for next senator interview. Then MOC an hour from home the following Saturday. He said it was more conversational than a grilling and felt good about it, they smiled at each other after a few responses and were engaged and leaning toward him. Timing was strict and a staffer gave a 2 minute warning. Now we wait.


One down two more to go! Those will be probably some of the last few long car rides you have with DS before he leaves, hopefully to his first choice SA! Best wishes to your family 💕
 
DS completed Senator interviews on Saturday. From the 650+ applicants, they down-selected to ~90 for the in-person interviews. Three individual interviews for 10 min each. Appeared to take the Goldilocks approach… One brusk, the next approachable, the third friendly. The panel was professional and time disciplined.
 
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