<p>I am scheduled for an Officer Interview for an NROTC 4-yr scholarship. I was wondering if anyone had advice for me on how to maximize my effectiveness?</p>
<p>So far, the only advice I've given is from my Navy Junior ROTC Commander. She recommended that I <em>not</em> wear my NJROTC uniform to the interview as the officer conducting the interview might judge me more strictly if I was in uniform rather than just wearing my street clothes.</p>
<p>Any one have any advice on how a girl should dress to an Officer Interview? This one will be at the officer's home.</p>
<p>What and how should I practice? What are the typical questions?</p>
<p>I don't know how a girl should dress, I just wore a jacket and tie. They asked pretty basic questions. Most of them were yes or no, with the occasional description of something I mentioned in my application. Know what to say when he asks "Why do you want to be in the Navy?"</p>
<p>DSL: my only advice would be to keep it neat and conservative. If you have a suit, wear it. Plain "pumps"... low heel- nothing flashy. Keep jewelry simple and limited; ditto for makeup. Neat hair. </p>
<p>As for questions...
typical ones will include "why"...
why the navy, why ROTC...
a few "whats"...
what makes you think you are up to the challenge-
what have you done to prepare-
what do u know about the program-</p>
<p>toss in a few curve balls aimed to see how you handle stress-
-what adversity have you faced and how did you handle it
-what has been your greatest accomplishment and your biggest defeat</p>
<p>Key: just be relaxed.
Sit up straight, feet firmly planted on the floor in front of you-
maintain good eye contact
have a question or 2 of your own to ask...make them good ones!
remember to say "thankyou" at the end.</p>
<p>Do practice with someone- it does help.</p>
<p>also- read through the attached thread- a lot of good advice, some of which just might come in handy! ( Post #9 has my own personal "top 15"!)</p>
<p>My son was awarded a 4 year NROTC scholarship and he did not have an Officer Interview. The only interviews he had were with BGO and MOC for USNA. Do they only interview some applicants?</p>
<p>I suggest you wear your uniform. You should be proud of what you have accomplished as a member of jrotc. Some people suggest against it, but its only because at times some cadets can come off as already knowing everything. Go in knowing that the lessons you learned in jrotc are valuable training, but at the same time recognize you have much more to learn.</p>
<p>I wore mine to my AFROTC interview and the Major who interviewed me mentioned he liked seeing cadets in uniform because it made it that much easier to picture them as a member of his unit. </p>
<p>In the end its up to you, just be sure to wear something that makes you feel confident.</p>
<p>I had an interview with a Senior Chief at my local recruiting office and it was fairly laid back. Everyone in the office was impressed that I wore a suit (even the Army office next door kept making fun of me and calling me "suit guy" hahaha). </p>
<p>Some of the questions he asked were why the navy, what career field, what after the navy, what would happen if I was given the order to hit the big red button, etc.</p>
<p>BTW: My interview was in September. I completed by app in November. I found out last Thursday that I received the 4 year scholarship.</p>
<p>Don't be that JROTC guy. The one who knows more about the Navy than the MCPON. Nobody likes that guy. You haven't taken an oath yet, so don't wear a uniform. Look good in a suit, you are a civilian applying to be selected for a commissioning program, and nothing more.</p>
<p>Ok. So I will wear a dark skirt suit with a light colored blouse and black low heal pumps with pantyhose. I'll put up my hair in a tight french twist. No makeup and trimmed but unpolished fingernails. (sorry kbd12, but if my NJROTC Commander advised me not to wear my NJROTC uniform, so I think it would be bad for me to do so.)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions on what to practice, especially from navy2010. I'm going to be practicing away.</p>
<p>One small question- I have a small US Navy pin. Unofficial of course. Can I wear this on the lapel of my suit, or would that seem too pretentious?</p>
<p>dsl1990 - perhaps you are overthinking this too much.<br>
The point is to arrive clean and neat. If you feel comfortable wearing makeup then wear it - just make sure it is conservative. Same with nail polish. you certainly don't have to put your hair up in a bun or french twist.</p>
<p>If you don't own a navy blue suit and black pumps then dont go buy them. If you can't afford them then definitely don't go buy them. No jeans, you can wear khakis if they are ironed, esp if you have a nice blouse or sweater. IF you need an excuse to get some nice clothes then get something that you will wear to a nice occasion. My daughter had several interviews - rotc, moc etc etc.....
She bought a nice skirt, slacks, a blouse, cami and sweater. She just mixed and matched to her interviews.</p>
<p>The point again is to look neat and not wear anything "distracting". just go and be yourself, relax and I am sure you will be fine.</p>
<p>Remember for the interview to be enthusiastic. I know that this probably depends on the officer that you interview with, but my interview was really fun! I had it back in August with the CO of the Arizona recruiting office. She was new ( I was actually her first NROTC app ever) and she was very friendly and cordial. I was pretty prepared with answers when I went in- but make sure you practice having a conversation with the questions. For me, I ended up talking about Naval Aviation for about 30 minutes. We were both sad when it was time for her to interview the next applicant because we were having a great conversation!
I guess I'm just trying to say loosen up during the interview if the officer seems friendly. Don't be afraid to seem excited about the scholarship! And have fun! (of course- if you have a mean scary officer, you may want to tone down the enthusiasm :) )</p>
<p>My officer interview was actually held at school (they scheduled a week prior) during the school day. I did not dress up (suit or dress) but did choose casual clothes carefully - nice sweater, khakis - for a neat appearance. Being that your interview is outside school, probably a good idea to dress more formally. Good luck!</p>
<p>Just wanted to thank everyone who gave me advice! I listened to all of it and practiced the questions.</p>
<p>I just had my interview with an O-4 this afternoon. Instead of 30 minutes, it went for a hour and a half until we got kicked out when the coffeeshop closed! The advice everyone gave was awesome! I was able to be completely polished on all my answers because of you. I even managed to improvise some jokes on the spot. The only question I was completely unprepared for was something like: "I know that you are well-rounded and can probably get in anywhere, but what if you win the scholarship but then you don't get accepted to any of your NROTC college choices?" Oops! I think I improvised well on answering that question, although honestly, I'd never even considered that possibility - after all, I'd applied to 9 different NROTC colleges and I can't imagine being rejected by all of them. At the end of the interview, the LCDR said that I was very impressive and going to make an "outstanding" candidate, and that my recruiter was going to hear about this "personally". I'm still floating on a cloud! Wheeee! But now the long wait starts..... </p>
<p>Oh, and I did dress how I said I would, except I decided to wear my NJROTC "anchor" pin instead of the little Navy commemorative pin I'd mentioned. I'm glad I dressed up since it turned out the LCDR was dressed pretty well even though we were meeting in a coffeeshop! It definitely made me feel more confident and I think that showed.</p>