How was your service academy interview?

E

egreene80

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Sep 27, 2020
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Hi everyone, today I just had my first service academy interview for my congressman and it didn't really go how I expected. I expected it to be around 20 minutes to 30 minutes long, but it only lasted about 10 minutes and I wasn't asked many in depth questions. I was asked the obvious like why West Point and tell us an example of leadership you've demonstrated, but it was really just kind of lackluster from there. My responses were fairly good imo. It was obvious I was nervous, but my responses were about a minute long for each question. A friend of mine also had the same kind of experience today with his interview, very short and lackluster. So, my question is if this is normal for an interview? Did any of you experience the same thing?
 
egreene80 said:
Hi everyone, today I just had my first service academy interview for my congressman and it didn't really go how I expected. I expected it to be around 20 minutes to 30 minutes long, but it only lasted about 10 minutes and I wasn't asked many in depth questions. I was asked the obvious like why West Point and tell us an example of leadership you've demonstrated, but it was really just kind of lackluster from there. My responses were fairly good imo. It was obvious I was nervous, but my responses were about a minute long for each question. A friend of mine also had the same kind of experience today with his interview, very short and lackluster. So, my question is if this is normal for an interview? Did any of you experience the same thing?
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It can be normal when they have a large number of interviews to complete. It often isn't the answer to a question that they're looking for, but rather CAN you answer the question and think on your feet. They also want to get a sense of you and how much thought you've put into this, among other things. It doesn't necessarily take a lot of questions to accomplish these goals. After all, they already know a lot about you from your application.
 
kinnem said:
It can be normal when they have a large number of interviews to complete. It often isn't the answer to a question that they're looking for, but rather CAN you answer the question and think on your feet. They also want to get a sense of you and how much thought you've put into this, among other things. It doesn't necessarily take a lot of questions to accomplish these goals. After all, they already know a lot about you from your application.
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Thank you for the reply. In a sense it did feel like they had a lot they needed to get through so that could've been it. I was just kind of concerned as I didn't get to express myself as much as I wanted 😆
 
Building on @kinnem, I used to interview candidates regularly back in my corporate days. Except for the biggest roles, I could get a very good sense of someone within the first 7-8 minutes, 10 tops. Don’t sweat it. Others in your district/state are getting the same treatment, so you won’t necessarily be at any disadvantage.
 
Logging into the zoom call, I was met with an older gentleman sitting alone in a dark room. He introduced himself and the two of us shared pleasantries. Then, and this is not an exaggeration, less than a minute into the interview he said, "You're probably going to get the nomination." Before I could comprehend the shock, he continued, "You're clearly qualified for the nomination" and "We don't want to get in the way of your hopes and dreams" He spoke for 3 minutes about how great he thought my application was, asked two easy questions, before going on to say, "Yeah, you can anticipate a nomination from us. We'll shoot you an email soon." He asked a few more questions, each followed by another bout of compliments and praises. Taken back by his surprising frankness, I ended up being untypically awkward and clumsy. He was very nice, gave some great advice about how to be a leader, and the interview ended.

At no point in the interview did I stop smiling. It was exceedingly embarrassing in retrospect. Generally, you smile at the beginning of an interview in hopes of landing a good first impression. Attempting to be responsive, I also smile whenever someone gives a compliment, gives advice, or tells me I'm getting a nomination. The thing is, at every point in the interview I was either talking (so that I couldn't smile) or one of the aforementioned things was happening. My interview was early on the first day of interviews (perhaps even the very first). If someone else was modestly better than me, it's easy to imagine the gentleman might change his mind as to who should get the nomination. It was three days ago now, so I'm excited to hear back.
 
So far, I've had my MOC interview, and the interview for one senator (the other one is tomorrow!). Seems like the MOC one was more general, like what you described, and the senatorial one offered more unusual, creative questions. Personally, I had a lot of fun with the senatorial one, because the questions made me think more, and they weren't just the kinds of questions that one memorizes.
 
This new covid era we are living in could be throwing interviewers for a loop, too! I know I would NOT feel comfortable at this point in logging in to a zoom call to interview someone. My own insecurities about my own professionalism. And unfamiliarity with zoom/virtual stuff. Somone who isn’t comfortable with the techno/virtual stuff could also feel akward. Out of their own comfort zone. But it’s where we are presently. Unprecedented times.
 
Completed all 3.

2 interviewers from Senator 1 in person
3 interviewers from Senator 2 in person
3 Interviewers from Congressman via Zoom

Zoom was awkward because the interviewers seemed tired and overlapped in speaking a couple of times.

All of them were approximately 15 minutes on a 20 minute slot schedule. Candidates were coming and going. Estimated they had 40 - 50 candidates all day long. Interviewers were former SA grads and 1 ROTC. Toughest questions were on current Global policy such as the "Abraham Accords." Seemed like they wanted to make sure you know what you were "signing up for." Had to "call an audible" and follow up in thank you email, acknowledging I had to research that issue and gave a 2 sentence email answer.
 
I have sat on our local MOCs board the last few years. I sat on another MOCs board a handful of times in another state previously. I interviewed candidates two weekends ago. We had 15 USNA candidates. We had a panel of 5 for our interviews. Sorry if your experience was lackluster. To be honest, your interview type and questions do not sound that foreign to me.

I can't speak for each panel across the country. Prior to the interview I get a large binder with your essay, LORs, resume, transcript and scores. I read each one very carefully and take tons of notes. From reading each packet I am able to develop questions about your academics, leadership, etc. When I ask certain questions it is giving me two things... one an answer to something that is standing out, a gap, or something I want clarification on while evaluating your presence, communication and confidence. We also ask questions like why USNA, what do you want to major in, what service selection interests you to gauge your interest, your "why", and what research you have done. If you have nearly zero athletics on your resume I am going to ask your CFA scores. With it being late Nov/early Dec if I hear you have not scheduled it yet I am questioning things. If I ask why a Naval Officer and I hear all about USNA and then ask what your plan B is and it does not include NROTC or an OCS discussion, then I question things even more. I don't expect a 17/18 year old to know what they want to do until they retire. I expect them to understand USNA specifically has limited majors, is STEM focused and that just because they major in engineering doesn't mean they are going to design ships as an Ensign. USNA is there produce Unrestricted Line Officers. Honestly I can formulate an opinion within about 2-3 minutes of a candidate talking. Each interview on every panel I have sat on has been 15-20 minutes max. I take a great deal of time to review each packet and discuss that with the panel. Trust me when I say every panel member I have encountered takes their job very seriously and wants to provide a nom to the best candidates. The most recent panel I sat on, we were all grads. We take who joins our institution very seriously!

If a board member said you are "pretty much getting a nom" it means they probably don't have more than 10 or so candidates in that area or your paper really stands out amongst others. I interviewed 15 candidates this year. Only 2 really stood between paper and the interview. Another 2 were borderline... I really liked their resumes and interviews, but they have some academic stats that were very borderline and honestly a prep year would do them wonders. The year before we had around 20 candidates and 12 very qualified. Year to year varies and every district is different.
 
NavyHoops said:
I have sat on our local MOCs board the last few years. I sat on another MOCs board a handful of times in another state previously. I interviewed candidates two weekends ago. We had 15 USNA candidates. We had a panel of 5 for our interviews. Sorry if your experience was lackluster. To be honest, your interview type and questions do not sound that foreign to me.

I can't speak for each panel across the country. Prior to the interview I get a large binder with your essay, LORs, resume, transcript and scores. I read each one very carefully and take tons of notes. From reading each packet I am able to develop questions about your academics, leadership, etc. When I ask certain questions it is giving me two things... one an answer to something that is standing out, a gap, or something I want clarification on while evaluating your presence, communication and confidence. We also ask questions like why USNA, what do you want to major in, what service selection interests you to gauge your interest, your "why", and what research you have done. If you have nearly zero athletics on your resume I am going to ask your CFA scores. With it being late Nov/early Dec if I hear you have not scheduled it yet I am questioning things. If I ask why a Naval Officer and I hear all about USNA and then ask what your plan B is and it does not include NROTC or an OCS discussion, then I question things even more. I don't expect a 17/18 year old to know what they want to do until they retire. I expect them to understand USNA specifically has limited majors, is STEM focused and that just because they major in engineering doesn't mean they are going to design ships as an Ensign. USNA is there produce Unrestricted Line Officers. Honestly I can formulate an opinion within about 2-3 minutes of a candidate talking. Each interview on every panel I have sat on has been 15-20 minutes max. I take a great deal of time to review each packet and discuss that with the panel. Trust me when I say every panel member I have encountered takes their job very seriously and wants to provide a nom to the best candidates. The most recent panel I sat on, we were all grads. We take who joins our institution very seriously!

If a board member said you are "pretty much getting a nom" it means they probably don't have more than 10 or so candidates in that area or your paper really stands out amongst others. I interviewed 15 candidates this year. Only 2 really stood between paper and the interview. Another 2 were borderline... I really liked their resumes and interviews, but they have some academic stats that were very borderline and honestly a prep year would do them wonders. The year before we had around 20 candidates and 12 very qualified. Year to year varies and every district is different.
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Superb insights from Hoops and others who sit on that side of the long green table, virtual or otherwise. (The “green table” is an ancient reference to any formal board or interview proceeding, in the Navy, not sure elsewhere.)
 
NavyHoops said:
I have sat on our local MOCs board the last few years. I sat on another MOCs board a handful of times in another state previously. I interviewed candidates two weekends ago. We had 15 USNA candidates. We had a panel of 5 for our interviews. Sorry if your experience was lackluster. To be honest, your interview type and questions do not sound that foreign to me.

I can't speak for each panel across the country. Prior to the interview I get a large binder with your essay, LORs, resume, transcript and scores. I read each one very carefully and take tons of notes. From reading each packet I am able to develop questions about your academics, leadership, etc. When I ask certain questions it is giving me two things... one an answer to something that is standing out, a gap, or something I want clarification on while evaluating your presence, communication and confidence. We also ask questions like why USNA, what do you want to major in, what service selection interests you to gauge your interest, your "why", and what research you have done. If you have nearly zero athletics on your resume I am going to ask your CFA scores. With it being late Nov/early Dec if I hear you have not scheduled it yet I am questioning things. If I ask why a Naval Officer and I hear all about USNA and then ask what your plan B is and it does not include NROTC or an OCS discussion, then I question things even more. I don't expect a 17/18 year old to know what they want to do until they retire. I expect them to understand USNA specifically has limited majors, is STEM focused and that just because they major in engineering doesn't mean they are going to design ships as an Ensign. USNA is there produce Unrestricted Line Officers. Honestly I can formulate an opinion within about 2-3 minutes of a candidate talking. Each interview on every panel I have sat on has been 15-20 minutes max. I take a great deal of time to review each packet and discuss that with the panel. Trust me when I say every panel member I have encountered takes their job very seriously and wants to provide a nom to the best candidates. The most recent panel I sat on, we were all grads. We take who joins our institution very seriously!

If a board member said you are "pretty much getting a nom" it means they probably don't have more than 10 or so candidates in that area or your paper really stands out amongst others. I interviewed 15 candidates this year. Only 2 really stood between paper and the interview. Another 2 were borderline... I really liked their resumes and interviews, but they have some academic stats that were very borderline and honestly a prep year would do them wonders. The year before we had around 20 candidates and 12 very qualified. Year to year varies and every district is different.
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I made this comment earlier today in a different forum.

The panel that I just served on was three people and two of us were very long serving USNA grad BGOs who have well 25 years doing this while the third was less experienced and not an SA grad. That third member made lots of encouraging comments to candidates about how strong a candidate they were. We were one of seven panels so I expect that some of the folks who got that encouragement from him won't be getting a nom.
 
I know covid has affected everything, so this year has a lot of new normals. But, your experience sounds relatively similar to our son's last year. MOC interview was 30 minutes, they were running behind and a few minutes in, asked him if he didn't mind, they had seen what they needed to and they were moving on to the next candidate. They assured him it was not negative, but they were done. He of course was nervous.

The Senator interviews were considerably more intense according to him. 15 minutes for one Senator, 22 for the other. All panelists were very serious, professional, and asked as @NavyHoops the 'gap' questions. I am sure it varies state to state and panel to panel.
 
NavyHoops said:
I have sat on our local MOCs board the last few years. I sat on another MOCs board a handful of times in another state previously. I interviewed candidates two weekends ago. We had 15 USNA candidates. We had a panel of 5 for our interviews. Sorry if your experience was lackluster. To be honest, your interview type and questions do not sound that foreign to me.

I can't speak for each panel across the country. Prior to the interview I get a large binder with your essay, LORs, resume, transcript and scores. I read each one very carefully and take tons of notes. From reading each packet I am able to develop questions about your academics, leadership, etc. When I ask certain questions it is giving me two things... one an answer to something that is standing out, a gap, or something I want clarification on while evaluating your presence, communication and confidence. We also ask questions like why USNA, what do you want to major in, what service selection interests you to gauge your interest, your "why", and what research you have done. If you have nearly zero athletics on your resume I am going to ask your CFA scores. With it being late Nov/early Dec if I hear you have not scheduled it yet I am questioning things. If I ask why a Naval Officer and I hear all about USNA and then ask what your plan B is and it does not include NROTC or an OCS discussion, then I question things even more. I don't expect a 17/18 year old to know what they want to do until they retire. I expect them to understand USNA specifically has limited majors, is STEM focused and that just because they major in engineering doesn't mean they are going to design ships as an Ensign. USNA is there produce Unrestricted Line Officers. Honestly I can formulate an opinion within about 2-3 minutes of a candidate talking. Each interview on every panel I have sat on has been 15-20 minutes max. I take a great deal of time to review each packet and discuss that with the panel. Trust me when I say every panel member I have encountered takes their job very seriously and wants to provide a nom to the best candidates. The most recent panel I sat on, we were all grads. We take who joins our institution very seriously!

If a board member said you are "pretty much getting a nom" it means they probably don't have more than 10 or so candidates in that area or your paper really stands out amongst others. I interviewed 15 candidates this year. Only 2 really stood between paper and the interview. Another 2 were borderline... I really liked their resumes and interviews, but they have some academic stats that were very borderline and honestly a prep year would do them wonders. The year before we had around 20 candidates and 12 very qualified. Year to year varies and every district is different.
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Thank you for your insights. This is extremely interesting and beneficial to this forum. Per usual.
 
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