Number of Applications Increasing

[O Face]

16 hours ago, tlaw99 said:

Agreed with O-Face. Before, I know some suggestions said to not waste time enlisting with the unit. But even before the pandemic, guys that are “familiar faces” and have trusted work ethic and attitudes ALWAYS have the upper advantage over some dude from the street. During interviews they are able to provide examples related to a deployment or TDY experience, know the environment of the unit, etc. I can not stress how much enlisting makes a difference. If you are young (18-23) I highly recommend joining your local air guard unit while taking advantage of the free college benefits.

Yup. We have selected countless unit members, with significantly lower scores, over an unknown person off the street.  It may not seem fair to the off the street guy, but you gotta look at it from the unit’s perspective. Test scores are just a small slice of the whole pizza we’re looking for. 
In years past, maybe enlisting could have slowed the process down for a very select few people, but with competition being what it is these days - Enlist if you want a leg up on the competition, or even a chance in hell, I’d wager. 

[brabus]

We didn’t hire a single home unit person this board (we hired three last time). Not every unit puts a lot of weight into an applicant being a current member. Kicking ass at the interview is what matters most. 

[O Face]

On 4/3/2021 at 9:31 PM, brabus said:

We didn’t hire a single home unit person this board (we hired three last time). Not every unit puts a lot of weight into an applicant being a current member. Kicking ass at the interview is what matters most. 

Ok, but I bet you guys gave the home unit guys an interview though?  Point being, times are tough and apps are way up. Kicking ass in an interview is always great advice. 

[brabus]

That’s true, they did get an interview. But point is being home unit doesn't give them any amount of leg up in the interview/job offer itself. That’s why age is very important when considering enlistment for the ultimate purpose of getting a UPT slot. Enlist at 18-20, sure...20s post college maybe not. But that’s just an opinion based off how we specifically run our hiring. I know some other units are like us, and I know some are not. I also don’t know even remotely every unit’s stance on this subject. Play accordingly. 

[slc]

Exactly.  I've had current unit members come in to interview with the "expectation" that the slot is guranteed.  Wrong answer

[tlaw99]

Everything above is true. My last board, I was hired along with 2 civilian applicants. 3 current members interviewed but I could tell they did not take it “seriously” (mediocre scores, not prepping for the interview, etc.) The point I want to make is that if everyone had the equal scores, killed the interview equally, same great attitude, but the only difference was enlisted vs not enlisted? The enlisted will get picked up.

[O Face]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:01 AM, slc said:

Exactly.  I've had current unit members come in to interview with the "expectation" that the slot is guranteed.  Wrong answer

For certain...It’s pretty easy to smell entitlement in an interview.