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Hi sharks,
One of my friend might get offer from value labs for QA automation tester profile. How is the company and culture. Looking for good culture and wlb and job security, ready to compromise on compensation. Please share your experiences. Also they mentioned its WFH, could you please confirm ?
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McKinsey & Company Anyone at McKinsey & Company willing to refer a Marine veteran (OIF, I swear I will not eat all the crayons. "Crayons" are for art is what my wife tells me to tell myself)
5yrs Marines (Sgt, Comm maint tech w infantry Bn)
8yrs in Oil & Gas (engr coordinator, qty surveying and proj ctrl)
CM undergrad
MBA (professional program, graduated May 2022)
I'm looking for a role in McK serving O&G, industrial, capital projects clients. Open to generalist roles as well. Can review for vetting.
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I was an AD enlisted Marine, got out and did college and grad school, and went back in as an officer on the new (at the time) reserve officer program.
The program offered an option to spend 1 year on active orders which gave me the flexibility to have one foot in and one foot out.
Ultimately I was on active orders nearly the entire time, and many reserves across branches have done similar things. Think of it like contract consulting.
That said, I recommend you at least consider an AD tour. Research to be clear on the branch you want, the job you want, and enjoy the ride.
Former AD and reservist Marine - got out as I pinned on O-4. The Reserves is a totally different animal than AD. You’ll always be a second class citizen to your branch but it may scratch that fulfillment itch. Not a guarantee. Benefits like post 9/11 GI Bill and VA loan aren’t the same for reserve (these allow ppl to climb the social ladder on the AD side). Army is notably better at managing their reserves, but there’s still plenty of dead end Military Occupational Specialties- so research thoroughly. The retirement only matters if you stick through to 20y - which less than 15% of vets ever do, and it’s a pittance compared to your consulting pay. I make more at EYP than my Division Commanding General - and very few ever leave with a star on their collar.
I was thinking about the MGIB.....dating myself here...lol. It was offered to Os after adding on another 6 years of service. Post 911 is incredible. I'm happy officers can qualify with honorable service too.
I'm Navy reserves. You will definitely get a little change of pace now and again. But it's not anything to compare with active duty. Monthly drill is pretty boring and 2 weeks of training depends on your unit. I wouldn't join just for a change of pace, but rather you are actually wanting to serve your country.
Thanks. Yeah I wouldn’t say it’s just for a pace of change. It is more about serving the nation and doing something in public service. It’s something I considered in high school and college, but never went through with it because I was worried about what others would think and also about the money. It’s just now that I’m working in corporate America I’m really banging my head against the wall and realized it’ll be the same no matter which job I do
Currently b4 consultant, enlisted active duty Veteran, currently have a packet in to commission Reserve.
Additional pluses (though not as noble):
1. I'm consulting on the GPS side. Client is military. Veteran/reserve service is an instant "in" with clients.
2. Differential pay
3. Veterans Network gives you exposure/contacts across service lines
4. 2 retirements
Reach out to folks in our company's Military Afinity Group
As an officer, it’s often the worst of both worlds. It’s gonna demand enough of your time that it’s probably gonna be a drag on your free time, if not on your civilian career.
On the military side, you often don’t get much of an opportunity to do much beyond showing up for a weekend once a month and maybe doing a little bit of training. And even your two weeks of annual training can consist of almost nothing worthwhile - I just had one where we basically sat around and did nothing besides a day or two of ranges. I never felt like I gained any competency in my job from just the regular Reserve training.
Additionally, you don’t qualify for most veteran benefits unless you do at least 90 days of non-training/school or AT active duty time. Essentially you have to mobilize or deploy. If you just did your Reserve time without doing either of those, you’re basically coming out on paper no different than a civilian.
Maybe I’m a bit negative but I don’t think it’s worth it to do the military part-time for most people. If you want to scratch the itch, go active duty for like 3-4 years and get out. At least then you could have the GI Bill, get out into an MBA program and get back onto whatever career path you were on before.
Yeah, I have been a reserve officer for almost 8 years. I chose it over active duty and was fortunate to get a pretty amazing deployment opportunity. If it wasn’t for that single thing, I honestly don’t think I would have felt that it was worth it at all. In many ways, I probably would have been better off if I had just gone active duty for 4 years out of college like my peers did.
On the other hand, the positive about going officer in the Reserve is you get to choose your MOS so could actually make sure you get an intel one. You can also basically pick your unit. Active duty you’re basically at the mercy of the Army ranking system and I’ve seen plenty of people put something like infantry last and still get that chosen for them.
Have you looked much into the requirements of the IC you’re interested in? I’m sure there’s plenty of people without military backgrounds. I don’t think you need to do any of this just for a job/clearance. If you’re in Big 4 consulting, I assume you already have a decent profile. Maybe it just requires some networking to get your foot in the door.
Army NG enlisted here also who just recently retired...my two cents.
1) Compare both NG and the Reserves, as both have their pros and cons. Both will offer different MOS/Branch opportunities and different training and deployment opportunities. Obviously if you want TS then your choice may already be limited.
Also, NG can vary greatly by state, so what may be true in one state can be the complete opposite in another (so please take that into account).
2) speaking from my experience, most (non Birgade staff) officers and Plt Sgts and above will need to spend a significant amount of time outside of drill. This may be at home doing Ncoers, opords, other planning or even needing to go in for the day during the week.
There will come a time where you will need to choose between your military career and civilian career.
As an enlisted, you'll most likely have a solid 5 - 10 years before your really comes into play (however, you may have to decide on an extra school/training at some points.
3) Experiences vary greatly from person to person, unit to unit. Mainly I enjoyed my 22 years, but there were a few years where I was downright miserable. Basically what I'm getting at is talk to multiple people in different roles. Almost 99% of the b people I served with seemed glad they did it (however many were also glad when their contract was up.)
4) if you are in a significant relationship or have a kid, are you prepared to be away for a year? Is your significant other also prepared for that? (As much as 1 can be).
5) I'd be remiss of i left this out, but go Air Force.
Emphasis on the go Air Force lol
Kinda feels like you’re throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
True. I’m not sure of the order, I just know I want to do all three eventually. The reason why I want to go reserves before IC is because the army was just something I wanted to do and was always on the back of my mind. Also I thought that being in the military would help me be a stronger candidate for the IC since I’d have a security clearance and because they value military experience. IC wouldn’t have to sponsor me and I wouldn’t have to wait around for over a year to get one while working in my current job).
That's an unconventional, albeit noble goal.
Is military service the only route to serving, or is it your preference? I think it makes some sense considering your down-the-road career aspirations. I would normally say, "You're young, give it a try, it couldn't hurt! " but military service CAN hurt in the literal sense. A Global War on Bad Thoughts could break out at any given moment.
Retiring Regular Army COL here…if you have a desire to serve, go for it, but do it right. Even in the Reserves it is a profession and lifestyle all its own. In fact, I would argue that being a successful Reserve Officer is harder because now you have even more to balance and excel at.
There is risk. Of course, there is the safety risk that can have long and short term mental and physical impacts. There are civilian career risks, despite laws to the contrary. Family sacrifices, time away, real discomfort.
And I would do another 30 years if I could. Good luck!
It’s solid idea, risk you wont like it is probably about the same as any other choice in life. Guaranteed you’ll learn, grow, and be stronger. Chicks dig the uniform and you’ll make close friends.
Dress Blues ftw!
NG here so similar but different if you want your clearance just enlist in the reserves. Less responsibility and less time. Pick an MOS that gives you a TS.
If you really want to go O. Really find out your why, because at least on our side OCS has one of the highest attrition rates in the army. A lot of people say it’s not worth it but if you’re a guy that likes to mentor your soldiers and can get their respect (ie you spend a bit of time with your Jr enlisted and help them with their civilian lives)then you’ll really be making a difference.
It’s never a bad idea to want to serve your country.
Airfare gets all the love AND gives it back.
Good ol Marin Crops just hits you with a stick and only enough, you ask for more like some sort of weird homicidal gimp.
Yeah - I’d second this. USMC gets funded by a rounding error in the Dept of Navy budget, and USMCR is even worse. Their model for the Reserves is to have a standing Division and Wing, whereas Navy sends their Reservists to the schools. Air Force is well funded so you’ll be treated better and get the same benefits - outside of the being a badass with a cool uniform and better training and war stories
I’m looking at 35A btw. Career goals are to exit into big tech ASAP and also work for one of the intelligence agencies in my later 20s (NSA preferably but also CIA). I currently work in cybersecurity consulting (not a pentester and not really interested in the cyber MOS).
Just do it.
What do you do under civil affairs? Also what was that like at the NSA? I’m assuming you have TS clearance. How was it like going through the process? Did the polygraph scare you?
Wanted to give an update and say that I won’t be able to go through with this plan. I talked to the recruiter and she said the regs won’t allow me to join because of my mental health issues and I won’t be eligible for a waiver. Pretty sad and think it’s total bullshit that the military discriminates against those with mental illness (I understand the whole idea of safety for yourself and others). Thanks everyone for commenting and giving your thoughts.
It’s probably too late as you posted 12 weeks ago… but uh.. you don’t always have to be completely truthful about everything. A friend of mine enlisted and later commissioned as a Marine officer. He definitely had mental health issues… but kept it hidden. Not telling you what to do, but if you think you can make you can just go for it and no one will ever know (just don’t pick a branch that’ll require a top secret clearance)