AF Officer Training Board

T

TopFlyr86

Well-Known Member
I applied for a pilot spot in the most recent AF Officer Training board and was denied. I contacted my recruiter and he told me (after 10+ attempts to get him to answer the phone) that they do not give out the reasons you are turned down for the board. Is this true? If not, how do I go about finding out why I was turned down? Thanks.
 
TopFlyr86 said:
I applied for a pilot spot in the most recent AF Officer Training board and was denied. I contacted my recruiter and he told me (after 10+ attempts to get him to answer the phone) that they do not give out the reasons you are turned down for the board. Is this true? If not, how do I go about finding out why I was turned down? Thanks.
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It's true. I doubt the recruiter even knows.
 
I suggest you go read the forums at airforceots.com.

Although the AF doesn't ever give out reasons for non-selection to anything, there are many other people like you who are trying to apply -- many of those people read and post on those forums.

The only gauge you will be able to get is to compare yourself to the other people participating on the forum who were selected and who were not selected.
 
OTS these days just keeps enough in to keep running. They have a huge complex at Maxwell and there are not many OTS candidates there.
 
The G-Man said:
OTS these days just keeps enough in to keep running. They have a huge complex at Maxwell and there are not many OTS candidates there.
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There were five student squadrons there in 2004 when I went. I have no idea how many there are now.
 
TopFlyr86 said:
I applied for a pilot spot in the most recent AF Officer Training board and was denied. I contacted my recruiter and he told me (after 10+ attempts to get him to answer the phone) that they do not give out the reasons you are turned down for the board. Is this true? If not, how do I go about finding out why I was turned down? Thanks.
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If you were being who you are (i.e being yourself) in the interview then the reason you were not picked is that they felt you were not a suitable as an Air Force Officer/Pilot candidate. You don't get to do something just because you want to.

And that's ok, because in my experience I have found that people who don't get accepted to do a certain thing, whatver it might be, would generally not have fit in to the thing they were trying to do had they been accepted. That's why organizations large and small have their respective screening processes.

Now if you never made it to the interview process, then obviously they had other applicants who were better qualified. So what you can do is find out who is getting accepted.
 
O&M said:
If you were being who you are (i.e being yourself) in the interview then the reason you were not picked is that they felt you were not a suitable as an Air Force Officer/Pilot candidate. You don't get to do something just because you want to.

And that's ok, because in my experience I have found that people who don't get accepted to do a certain thing, whatver it might be, would generally not have fit in to the thing they were trying to do had they been accepted. That's why organizations large and small have their respective screening processes.

Now if you never made it to the interview process, then obviously they had other applicants who were better qualified. So what you can do is find out who is getting accepted.
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Not necessarily; he may have been perfectly suitable as an officer/pilot but not offered a position because someone else did a little bit better in the interview and there are only a limited number of slots at any given time. I've seen many people who weren't selected the first time around who made it on their second or third attempts. The point is to not give up if this is something you really want to do; just because you're not picked up on the first try does not mean you've been determined "unsuitable".
 
germb747 said:
Not necessarily; he may have been perfectly suitable as an officer/pilot but not offered a position because someone else did a little bit better in the interview and there are only a limited number of slots at any given time. I've seen many people who weren't selected the first time around who made it on their second or third attempts. The point is to not give up if this is something you really want to do; just because you're not picked up on the first try does not mean you've been determined "unsuitable".
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My approach to interviews is that they have decided that I meet the requirements of the job, not they just want to see if I am a match for their culture. Likewise, that's also my opportunity to see if I like them. I've been to many interviews where I walked out with the realization that I am not interested in them. Some have even offered jobs, only to be surprised when I declined. One guy even called back and offered more money (I still said no).

As I re-read the OP's post, it now seems clear that he did not make it to an interview. So, my advice is try to find out who/what the successful candidates were, and use that information for next time.

As far as re-interviewing goes. I have had the opportunity to do that after not making the cut the first time. I didn't make the cut the second time. That's when I realized that I probably would not have fit into the culture there anyway. That's where my perspective comes from.
 
O&M said:
As I re-read the OP's post, it now seems clear that he did not make it to an interview. So, my advice is try to find out who/what the successful candidates were, and use that information for next time.
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Not bad advice but assuming the OP is referring to the last OTS board, an officer interview is required in order to submit a package for consideration. Also, just because he wasn't selected doesn't mean he wasn't qualified, I've seen a lot of qualified people get turned down, these boards are very competitive and there are only so many pilot slots to go around. Remember he's applying for a pilot slot in the Air Force not to be a greeter at Walmart, apples and oranges my friend.
 
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