Golden Handshake USNA

[101pages]

What I'm about to disclose may be surprising for some because I'm also one of the many who has heard of this saying, "Attending service academies opens many doors." I'm not discounting the academy experience, and I hope my story doesn't discourage other golden handshake grads. My case is truly...rare.

For privacy purposes, I'll keep my grad year vague (202x). Like the other golden handshake recipients, I was fortunate enough to receive many mentorships. Due to various reasons, I chose to go back to school and complete my master's in STEM. Soon after, I took roughly an additional year chasing after a high-risk career dream. I knew well ahead that I was gambling my life away, but I'm a "give it my all" type of person. So I don't regret my decision! While that journey didn't result in what I expected, I still amounted to some accomplishments, and I'm thankful for the lessons I've gained. My family has supported me thus far; however, I feel like my entire post-academy life sets me as an outlier. Recently, I was told that my surprisingly ongoing med board faced some discrepancies, and the academy is working on correcting the issue. Which means I don't have my DD214. Currently, I'm part of a tech training program sponsored by one of the FAANG companies. Even so, a career there isn't guaranteed. As my email inbox continues to be flooded with job rejection emails, I'm beginning to lose hope. I did the schooling, completed internships, got a professional certificate, did the resume rewrites/ counseling, scoured the available resources for service members, attended SACC, etc. Despite relentlessly pursuing various professional skills to make myself appear more appealing in the job market, I struggle to land a career opportunity. I'm already ashamed of not commissioning, and I'm even more disappointed in myself. I'm not asking for pity. I know life has its ebbs and flows, and we all have our destined narratives to follow. I want to know how else to optimize my situation. What are others doing that I'm not? How can I improve myself? What am I lacking? I would greatly appreciate any guidance. Thank you in advance for reading this post.

 

[Capt MJ]

What I'm about to disclose may be surprising for some because I'm also one of the many who has heard of this saying, "Attending service academies opens many doors." I'm not discounting the academy experience, and I hope my story doesn't discourage other golden handshake grads. My case is truly...rare.

For privacy purposes, I'll keep my grad year vague (202x). Like the other golden handshake recipients, I was fortunate enough to receive many mentorships. Due to various reasons, I chose to go back to school and complete my master's in STEM. Soon after, I took roughly an additional year chasing after a high-risk career dream. I knew well ahead that I was gambling my life away, but I'm a "give it my all" type of person. So I don't regret my decision! While that journey didn't result in what I expected, I still amounted to some accomplishments, and I'm thankful for the lessons I've gained. My family has supported me thus far; however, I feel like my entire post-academy life sets me as an outlier. Recently, I was told that my surprisingly ongoing med board faced some discrepancies, and the academy is working on correcting the issue. Which means I don't have my DD214. Currently, I'm part of a tech training program sponsored by one of the FAANG companies. Even so, a career there isn't guaranteed. As my email inbox continues to be flooded with job rejection emails, I'm beginning to lose hope. I did the schooling, completed internships, got a professional certificate, did the resume rewrites/ counseling, scoured the available resources for service members, attended SACC, etc. Despite relentlessly pursuing various professional skills to make myself appear more appealing in the job market, I struggle to land a career opportunity. I'm already ashamed of not commissioning, and I'm even more disappointed in myself. I'm not asking for pity. I know life has its ebbs and flows, and we all have our destined narratives to follow. I want to know how else to optimize my situation. What are others doing that I'm not? How can I improve myself? What am I lacking? I would greatly appreciate any guidance. Thank you in advance for reading this post.

Have you looked at federal service? With the waves of baby boom generation degreed professionals headed out the door, federal civil service is eager to hire bright young minds with degrees. STEM degrees in demand. Federal service has excellent benefits, opportunities to advance and get additional professional certifications. You are also not tied there for 20 years. It’s a good place to start and gain actual resume work experience. Then you might stay or look at private sector.


Take a look at:

Students & Recent Graduates

Welcome to opm.gov

www.opm.gov

More later as I think about it.

Yes, service academies open doors, but the usual paradigm is the SA background is enriched with at least 5 years of leadership, operations management, decision-making, resource allocation, work experience in a specialty field - quite often more advanced than age-group non-military peers. SA grads with commissions also often use the services of junior officer placement firms, such as Bradley-Morris and others, who specialize in transitioning JOs. You could explore that path since you are a grad - they are well-connected with industry. There may well be entry-level white collar positions for the management STEM track - you are solidly degreed with some experience. The job-seeker pays these placement firms nothing. If you are successfully placed, they earn a fee from the hiring company, usually calculated on your hiring salary.

Military & Veteran Staffing Agencies | Bradley-Morris, LLC

Bradley-Morris, one of the leading military and veteran staffing agencies, specializes in placing qualified talent into rewarding career opportunities.

www.bradley-morris.com

Since you have attended SACC, also take a look at Corporate Gray, their website, events, webinars, etc.

For your LinkedIn profile, to optimize for recruiters, run google searches that are site specific. Try this search string:
site:www.LinkedIn.com optimizing profile for recruiters

 

[justdoit19]

Hang in there!! Things will turn around eventually, and someday this will be a story you tell, about how you got to where you are.

You have come to the right place for help. Lots of amazing people, with life experience here!!

 

[Capt MJ]

And welcome new member!

 

[raimius]

Sounds like you have a good starting point, but it sounds like you are comparing your job prospects to those who have a few years of experience (junior officers separating to civilian fields). That isn't an even comparison.
Keep applying, but zone in on those entry-level spots that require a lot of education.

 

[mike1979]

Current job market is not very good for the prospective job applicants. This is not something that is being discussed on the news. The reality is that many business are stagnating and becoming more conservative with resources and new hires. The only positions that are being filled are the ones requiring senior professional experience or some niche specialty. IT sector specifically is overpopulated. At the Junior or entry level positions it is race to the bottom for salaries. And for me personally FAANG would be the last place where I would want to work.

 

[101pages]

Have you looked at federal service? With the waves of baby boom generation degreed professionals headed out the door, federal civil service is eager to hire bright young minds with degrees. STEM degrees in demand. Federal service has excellent benefits, opportunities to advance and get additional professional certifications. You are also not tied there for 20 years. It’s a good place to start and gain actual resume work experience. Then you might stay or look at private sector.


Take a look at:

Students & Recent Graduates

Welcome to opm.gov

www.opm.gov

More later as I think about it.

Yes, service academies open doors, but the usual paradigm is the SA background is enriched with at least 5 years of leadership, operations management, decision-making, resource allocation, work experience in a specialty field - quite often more advanced than age-group non-military peers. SA grads with commissions also often use the services of junior officer placement firms, such as Bradley-Morris and others, who specialize in transitioning JOs. You could explore that path since you are a grad - they are well-connected with industry. There may well be entry-level white collar positions for the management STEM track - you are solidly degreed with some experience. The job-seeker pays these placement firms nothing. If you are successfully placed, they earn a fee from the hiring company, usually calculated on your hiring salary.

Military & Veteran Staffing Agencies | Bradley-Morris, LLC

Bradley-Morris, one of the leading military and veteran staffing agencies, specializes in placing qualified talent into rewarding career opportunities.

www.bradley-morris.com

Since you have attended SACC, also take a look at Corporate Gray, their website, events, webinars, etc.

For your LinkedIn profile, to optimize for recruiters, run google searches that are site specific. Try this search string:
site:www.LinkedIn.com optimizing profile for recruiters

Hello Sir! Thank you for responding to my post! I have applied to some job postings on USAJOBS before, but as you can predict from my post, I've been rejected several times. But I do appreciate your advice! As for firms, I've also attempted that option. Sadly, I was informed that I was ineligible due to not being a JO... I completely understand where those firms are coming from. I'll give Bradley-Morris a shot and see where that takes me. I'll also check out those webinars and websites again. Hopefully, I'll have some good news to share.

 

[101pages]

Hang in there!! Things will turn around eventually, and someday this will be a story you tell, about how you got to where you are.

You have come to the right place for help. Lots of amazing people, with life experience here!!

Thank you for your kind words! I completely agree with you. Listening to others speak about their experiences eludes a sense of sonder in me. It's nice knowing that there are many helpful and supportive people out there.

 

[101pages]

Sounds like you have a good starting point, but it sounds like you are comparing your job prospects to those who have a few years of experience (junior officers separating to civilian fields). That isn't an even comparison.
Keep applying, but zone in on those entry-level spots that require a lot of education.

Thank you for your advice! I hate to sound so negative... but "entry-level" has always been the first keyword that I type. I even searched for apprenticeships! I haven't entered the rat race; I'd be delusional to apply for mid-level jobs. I'm well aware that this entire journey is just a fraction of what life has to offer. I figured it wouldn't hurt to hear what others have to say. Perhaps someone can shed more light on where I need to focus. You are precisely right about sticking to entry-level roles!!

 

[101pages]

Current job market is not very good for the prospective job applicants. This is not something that is being discussed on the news. The reality is that many business are stagnating and becoming more conservative with resources and new hires. The only positions that are being filled are the ones requiring senior professional experience or some niche specialty. IT sector specifically is overpopulated. At the Junior or entry level positions it is race to the bottom for salaries. And for me personally FAANG would be the last place where I would want to work.

Thank you for responding to my post and also being candid with me!! I follow the news daily. So yes, I know the contributing factors to my predicament. I'm also aware of corporate politics. That is why I am looking into startups and smaller companies. Regarding on your comment about the IT sector, I agree that the field is saturated, especially with the rise in resources. I must say that the work-life balance is alluring, and it makes sense why the competition is steeper than before. For all the reasons outside of my control, I just have to keep chugging along. I'm waiting for that eureka moment when I finally discover a creative solution. As for FAANG, I believe I understand what you mean...lol.

 

[mike1979]

Thank you for your advice! I hate to sound so negative... but "entry-level" has always been the first keyword that I type. I even searched for apprenticeships! I haven't entered the rat race; I'd be delusional to apply for mid-level jobs. I'm well aware that this entire journey is just a fraction of what life has to offer. I figured it wouldn't hurt to hear what others have to say. Perhaps someone can shed more light on where I need to focus. You are precisely right about sticking to entry-level roles!!

You need to stop positioning yourself as entry-level. Number one is those vacancies may not be real, as companies just looking to receive resumes. Number two is that they receive million resumes from everyone, and yours is buried deep within. Delete your linked account, the network is absolutely useless and won’t benefit you in any way. Try to find folks, your friends, your friends parents, the friends of your parents, etc.. that will get you into any job on almost any role.

 

[MidCakePa]

The perspective of someone who spent 25 years in the corporate world (including F200), hired countless candidates, and now coaches new grads as a college professor: The single best way to land a job is to network EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY. The research shows that 70% - 80% of all jobs are found not because of WHAT you know, but because of WHO you know.

The problem is, very few people truly understand what constitutes good networking and how to execute it properly. So do yourself a solid — not just for this job search but for all those to come — and get “The 20-Minute Networking Meeting.” Make sure you get the graduate edition (there are also versions for middle managers and senior executives). It costs about $15 on Amazon and takes less than an hour to read. But it will pay dividends for a lifetime. If you follow the guidance, you’ll transform your networking from an ordeal to be endured into a fruitful exercise in relationship building and knowledge gathering.

Learn to network properly and everything will get better: your search, your applications, your outreach, your interviews, your career. Best wishes.

 

[mike1979]

The perspective of someone who spent 25 years in the corporate world (including F200), hired countless candidates, and now coaches new grads as a college professor: The single best way to land a job is to network EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY. The research shows that 70% - 80% of all jobs are found not because of WHAT you know, but because of WHO you know.

The problem is, very few people truly understand what constitutes good networking and how to execute it properly. So do yourself a solid — not just for this job search but for all those to come — and get “The 20-Minute Networking Meeting.” Make sure you get the graduate edition (there are also versions for middle managers and senior executives). It costs about $15 on Amazon and takes less than an hour to read. But it will pay dividends for a lifetime. If you follow the guidance, you’ll transform your networking from an ordeal to be endured into a fruitful exercise in relationship building and knowledge gathering.

Learn to network properly and everything will get better: your search, your applications, your outreach, your interviews, your career. Best wishes.

Every time there is an open position that needs to be filled the first question in the room and around the table is “does anyone know someone whom we can bring?” No one wants to have an unknown stranger from the outside (if that can be avoided) and have to deal with them later.

 

[Capt MJ]

OP - are you using the resume builder inside USAJOBS? Federal resume requirements are notoriously different than private sector resumes, with specific requirements. ATS software will dump your application for the slightest deviation. Are you applying for jobs for which you are eligible - not the ones open only to current federal employees, etc.? The Pathways program I mentioned is designed for degreed people with little actual job experience, new to federal service. Are you putting Pathways into your keyword search?

And, are you tailoring your resume to each and every job you apply for, putting in the work to pull keywords from the job description and integrating them into your resume, whether federal or private sector? Again, you wil not get past the ATS screen if you don’t. There are hundreds of articles online about “how to tailor your resume” and “how to create an ATS-friendly resume.” Ditto ditching any fancy formatting.
Here’s a link to a series of informative videos about overcoming the challenges to federal employment. I am not trying to steer you to their paid services, but their free content is good. If you follow them on LinkedIn, you will see they offer free webinars. You can pick up a lot of good tips.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9MWQiru4UZh898wk2gkRH5qUElop5xW4

Have you explored Feds Hire Vets? Though your status as a SA grad discharged medically may not allow you to meet criteria for many veteran benefit programs, you were in an active duty status for a number of years. I don’t know what the hold-up is on your DD-214, but that is a critical document for both federal and your home state access to any benefits you might qualify for. Keep the pressure up on getting that DD-214.

Veteran Job Seekers - OPM.gov

Welcome to opm.gov

www.opm.gov

The VA itself has an active team of recruiters, as do many of the larger agencies and departments. See the link below - they actually bypass usajobs and ask for a resume upfront - note there is an IT section.

Connect with a recruiter | VA Careers

Our specialty recruiter teams provide personalized support to help job seekers in high-demand clinical and technical fields find a position at VA.

vacareers.va.gov

Have you tried external google searches such as:
Recent graduate IT jobs with (pick an agency or department)

NSA career fields

The National Security Agency offers opportunities in many career fields.

www.intelligencecareers.gov

Recent Graduates | Homeland Security

Recent graduate job opportunities at the Department: Presidential Management Fellows, Financial Professionals Program, Acquisition Professional Career Program.

www.dhs.gov

Recent Graduates | DOD CIVILIAN CAREERS

www.dodciviliancareers.com

Federal job fairs:

USAJOBS - Events

Last question - and all my questions are rhetorical, just to help your strategy and tactics:

Have you researched articles on optimizing your LinkedIn profile for recruiters?

How To Craft A LinkedIn Profile That Recruiters Love, According To 100 Hiring Professionals

Tips for optimizing each section of your LinkedIn Profile to attract recruiters and stand out as a candidate, according to 100 hiring experts.

www.forbes.com

How To Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile For Recruiters

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool to create new connections and expand your professional network. Editing your LinkedIn profile is something that can be done in under 10 minutes, yet will have long-lasting effects to turn your profile into a recruiter magnet! Read our 5 most crucial tips to op

www.linkedin.com

This is a favorite site of mine for career and job-seeking advice:

The Muse - Career advice and better job search

The Muse is here to give you expert career advice, inside looks into companies hiring & the tools to help find your dream job

www.themuse.com

And, I happen to be a ma’am, though I appreciate the intended courtesy and spirit.

 

[Capt MJ]

Oh - and have you connected with the alumni group for where you are living right now? Not just the headquarters association at the SA. Work every networking option. You are a proud grad in good standing - your local chapter should welcome you. Let them know your story, briefly and positively, and ask for introductions.

Do you have a networking pro bio? Very handy for networking when it’s not appropriate for a resume when there is no actual job on the table.

Plenty of formats for those. One page. Your “highlight reel.”

Our Guide to Writing a Professional Bio​

Stop agonizing over what to say with our template, tips, and examples!

www.themuse.com

 

[NavyHoops]

Agree with connecting with your Alumni Group and introducing yourself. If you are in the DC that group is very large and has helped lots of grads in your situation. Also attend a Service Academy Career Conference. Lots of opportunities.

 

[Kierkegaard]

Just echoing the advice of reaching out to alumni. I have always found that many are willing to take some time to provide advice, and who knows, some might even have connections that could help you land something. In addition to your local alumni chapter, you can go to LinkedIn and search for fellow grads who are currently employed in the industry you’re looking to join.

I myself am still years away from transitioning out, but I have reached out to a few of my former Academy instructors who are now in the private sector, just for general guidance on post-military options. They’ve always been happy to hear from me. Don’t be afraid to make a new connection, the worst that can happen is you don’t hear back.

 

[severn]

... so just my $.02 cents (parent perspective)... .
My golden handshake started during I day because I don't have to pay the plan B school (Drexel) to the tune of $65K annually.
Regardless if DS decides to go 5&Dive or stay for 20 or 30, golden handshakes are everywhere... as long as you're nice, kind, not too ruthless, firm but not cruel among humans .

 

[USAFA10s]

What area are you looking for a job in? What's your STEM MS degree in? There are definitely lots of federal jobs (Air Force civilian are the one's I'm most familiar with) that are looking for bright young people to step in. The trick is having the right STEM background, as most of those jobs, while entry level, require a pretty good foundation in some specific technical area.

 

[ders_dad]

The job market in the Midwest has NOT cooled down. In my state, unemployment rate is below 3.5% and many entry level technical/STEM jobs go unfilled. Have you considered relocating?