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Any Fed. Government/ Government Contractor Employees Out There?

OnlyPantherFaninMaine

By OnlyPantherFaninMaine,
in Huddle Lounge

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OnlyPantherFaninMaine Community Regular

OnlyPantherFaninMaine

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Recently finished up my master'a degree in Homeland Security and have been applying for a bunch of federal jobs and positions with the likes of Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics etc without much luck and just wanted to touch base with any current employees if possible.

Feel free to shoot me a PM or post here if you want.

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OnlyPantherFaninMaine Community Regular

OnlyPantherFaninMaine

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Also have been applying to a bunch of jobs in the operations/ security realm of the professional sports industry as most of my internship experience has been with NFL teams and I'm beginning to think a lot of arenas/stadiums are weary of handing some of that responsibility over to a 24 year old which is understandable. I have connections with the Patriots, Chargers, NFL security division, and the NFL PA but have come up empty thus far in part because competition for those jobs is always very stiff. I've only been out d school for a couple months but it is frustrating but I suppose part of that has to do with choosing a career field in such a niche market.

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Captroop Veteran

Captroop

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Recently finished up my master'a degree in Homeland Security and have been applying for a bunch of federal jobs and positions with the likes of Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics etc without much luck and just wanted to touch base with any current employees if possible.

Feel free to shoot me a PM or post here if you want.

 

What kind of positions in Homeland Security are you looking at? What do you want to end up doing? I'm a federal contractor, and I could give you some pointers.

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OnlyPantherFaninMaine Community Regular

OnlyPantherFaninMaine

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What kind of positions in Homeland Security are you looking at? What do you want to end up doing? I'm a federal contractor, and I could give you some pointers.

Well the majority of entry level positions I have applied for within the contracting companies have been in some form of intelligence analysis and I think this is definitely where I would like to start my career. I have research experience and am a strong writer that doesn't have a problem researching and writing reports all day for a few years.

Using USA Jobs I have applied to a bunch of entry level positions within DHS, CBP, DOJ etc. and keep getting the email responses back saying that I am qualified, but not amongst the "most qualified" based on the answers to the questions on the application questionnaires.

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Captroop

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Well the majority of entry level positions I have applied for within the contracting companies have been in some form of intelligence analysis and I think this is definitely where I would like to start my career. I have research experience and am a strong writer that doesn't have a problem researching and writing reports all day for a few years.

Using USA Jobs I have applied to a bunch of entry level positions within DHS, CBP, DOJ etc. and keep getting the email responses back saying that I am qualified, but not amongst the "most qualified" based on the answers to the questions on the application questionnaires.

 

Intelligence Analysis: Unless you are tri-lingual or better, you're gonna have a very hard time breaking into that field. I worked at a Geospatial intelligence firm, and man, all of our intel analysts were fluent in 6 to 8 languages and/or dialects.

 

Applying through USA Jobs, especially the kinds of jobs you are applying for, there will probably be a veteran's preference, meaning that an equally qualified vet will have a higher weighted score, which is probably why you aren't among the top rated candidates. Also, a lot of questions on USA Jobs are "screen out" which means if you don't answer a certain way, it doesn't matter if you are qualified on 90% of everything else; you're out. So keep that in mind. Sometimes it's better to answer the way you know they want you to answer (as long as you're truthful).

 

Here's what I would do if I were you. Look at the small, and especially 8(a) firms in the field you like. 8(a) or certified disadvantaged small businesses, get a certain percentage of all government work set aside for them so they have a pretty good chance of winning a contract when they compete. And then they win one, and are flush with cash overnight and double or triple their staff to do the work they just won, so they tend to be hiring frequently. And they're small enough that you're not going to get your resume logged in a database to be reviewed some time between now and next year. It's a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor at a growing company, get a good title and experience.

 

Let me know if you need any more advice and I'd be more than happy to help you out!

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Captroop Veteran

Captroop

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Same problem. I know several CIA. If you want to be upwardly mobile within the agency, don't even bother if you're not bi-lingual and preferably tri-lingual.

 

But in the same vein, check out the US Postal Inspection Service. It's basically the FBI except it's part of the post office. Not nearly as many apply there as apply to the FBI (Who, I poo you not, receive 300,000-500,000 applications every year), and their physical fitness requirements are not quite as demanding.

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OnlyPantherFaninMaine Community Regular

OnlyPantherFaninMaine

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I've applied to an armed police officer position with both the CIA and NSA and have yet to hear anything back after a couple months…which is almost expected and not out of the ordinary. I was told by some supervisors in the CIA that with my education and fitness that position would be a great foot in the door for the Agency and after a few years I would/should be able to maneuver my way to where I want to be.

 

I speak German, and have a basic understanding of French and Khmer though none of those languages are really in demand at the moment. 

 

I appreciate all the help and advice and will keep you up to date with my search. 

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