Working the Marketplace, Not Hoping for It

The talent marketplace process is inherently exciting, as it allows officers to exert an unprecedented amount of control over their future assignments. However, the lack of information on how to navigate the process, combined with the understanding that trying to learn it through trial and error can lead to disastrous results, makes it seem daunting. Increasing your understanding of how to approach the process will allow you to take charge of your career and maximize your chance of attaining a desirable assignment; this guide will illustrate how to do exactly that.

Pre-Marketplace

1.    Prepare Deliverables

a.    Work with your S-1 to get your STP as correct as possible. The STP is usually the first document that a unit will look at after you apply.

b.    Create a baseball card (there is no standard format, but it should represent who you are personally and professionally beyond your STP).

c.    Get any evaluations closed out

2.    Develop & rehearse your ‘elevator pitch’

a.    ‘Tell me about yourself’ was by far the most common question, and was usually the first question asked during an interview. Get it down to less than 60 seconds and be confident.

3.    For Units that you Are Particularly Interested in, Make Pre-Marketplace Contact

a.    Express interest and inquire if they will have any positions available in the marketplace once it opens

b.    AIM can be searched via UIC for potential incumbent / POC info by: Choosing “Assignments” -> “All Authorizations” -> Filter by Unit Description or Location

Marketplace Execution

1.    Send applications as early as possible

a.    The email should contain at least your STP, baseball card, and AIM resume

i.   Units are not supposed to request evaluations, but if you have recent evals where you received an MQ from your senior rater, I recommend you send them voluntarily as part of your application

b.    Very popular positions will receive so many applications that they may stop accepting more once their interview calendar is full

2.   Start the marketplace with 2-3 interviews for positions that are not your top choices to get more experience and familiarity with the process

a.    It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing an interview for your #1 preference first, but this is not conducive to success

3.    Use the marketplace process to asses the units as much as they are assessing you

a.    Use the interview scheduling process/correspondence to get a sense of whether the unit is well-organized. If they are difficult to communicate with, seem disorganized, etc., that may be an indication of how they operate as a whole

b.    Even if you are enamored with a position ‘on paper’, the unit may not be the best for you

4.    Rank every single position in the marketplace

a.    Unranked positions are all considered ‘equally ranked’ after your lowest ranked position

i.     So, if your marketplace has 100 positions, and you only rank 50, then the 50 unranked positions are essentially all ‘tied for 51’

5.    Don’t be Afraid to Use your Connections

a.    If you or one of your mentors knows somebody at a unit that you are applying for, ask them for a recommendation

6.    Diligently Follow-up

a.    Pre-Interview

 i.    If a unit does not respond to an application within 3 business days, inquire again. If they still do not respond, try to find a different POC.

ii.    Sometimes I even resorted to calling staff duty desks and asking them to check for contact info on their alert rosters

b.    Post-Interview

i.     The same day as the interview, send a follow-up email to the interviewer thanking them for their time and consideration

ii.     As the marketplace begins to conclude, reach back out to units to inquire where you stand in their rankings

7.    Create a Tracker

a.    List every position that you have applied for, the date that you applied, the POC, interview date/time, and any notes about the unit, mission, or interviewer

Interviews  Marketplace Interview Example Question Pool

1.    Pre-Interview Preparation:

a.    Do your Research

i.     On the interviewer

ii.     On the position (Understand the roles & responsibilities that you would have)

iii.     On the unit (mission, personnel, & equipment)

1.    MTOE is a good resource for understanding the personnel & equipment

2.    ATN is a good resource for understanding the METL

b.    Have questions prepared for the interviewer

i.     ‘What questions do you have for me?’ was the second most common question, normally asked at the end of the interview

c.     Have a pre-interview routine to get ‘in the zone’ mentally

i.     You cannot wargame everything

1.    ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’ – Mike Tyson

2.    Despite extremely thorough preparation, most interviews contained at least one question for which I had not prepared anything prepared for

ii.     Always conduct a ‘technology check’ well beforehand to avoid issues with your internet, microphone, camera, etc.

2.    Be unabashedly yourself

a.    If you pretend to be someone else during the interview just to get hired, you may end up pretending to be that person if you do ultimately fill that assignment

b.    Use many examples from your personal experiences when answering questions

3.    Interview Format is Unit-Dependent and Varies Widely

a.    Some units conduct their interviews at a high level, such as the BDE CDR interviewing all applicants, whereas others will have the position incumbent (a peer to the applicants) execute the interviews. Some units even had a panel of multiple interviewers at once

b.    Time can vary from as little as 15 minutes to as much as an hour

c.     Camera usage was about 50/50 in my experience

d.    Some units (typically SOF) have multiple ‘rounds’ of interviews (e.g., first an interview with the BN XO, and then later one with the BN CDR)

4.    Interviewers sometimes do not know (or care) which position you think you are interviewing for

a.    If a unit has multiple positions in your marketplace, they will probably assume that you are applying for all of them. It could be received poorly if you state that you are only interested in certain positions within the unit