Will being a 0231(intel) give more chance of getting federal jobs?

[Kambosoulja]

I'm currently 16 years old and in 4 months on my 17th Birthday i will swear in as a Poolee. I've already taken the ASVAB scored a 92, talked with my recruiter, and have somewhat a general knowledge of the Marine Corps but i'm having troubling deciding my plans for the Marine Corps. I'm just wondering what type of jobs would be available to me after the Marine Corps if my mos was an intel specialist (0231) and is it a good idea to do 4 years as a 0231 while at the same time working on an online 4 degree then enlisting again as a ground intel officer? And will doing both of these MOS's give me a good chance at applying for federal jobs in Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, NSA? and is it even worth it to pursue the Marine Corps as officer after my enlisted service

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[Failla]

Couple quick things before I answer your question.

1) Not sure if you're assuming, or your recruiter actually told you you could be an 0231 for sure, but you won't know that until third phase of boot camp. All you can "sign" for is a slot somewhere in the 0200 / 2600 fields.

2) Intel contracts are five years, not four.

Now onto your specific question, it will help in terms of your job skills, knowledge, and work experience, obviously. However, what will help more is the fact it will allow you to network in the field. Haven't been around many 0200's so maybe one of them can tell their side of the story, but I know for 2600's if you want a "comfortable" job when you get out, in a lot of instances the bigger thing is to be good at what you do and make an impression on the civilians who matter and can get you that 150k/yr job after EAS.

Good luck.

[m14ed]

# 1 i'm having troubling deciding my plans for the Marine Corps.

# 2 I'm just wondering what type of jobs would be available to me

# 3 after the Marine Corps
if my mos was an intel specialist (0231)
is it a good idea to do "X"years
while at the same time working
on an online 4 year degree

then (( "enlisting" again
as a ground intel "officer" ))?

is it even worth it to pursue the Marine Corps
as officer after my enlisted service

Excuse me for kicking out what I felt was UnNeeded

1..first consider you have to "EARN" the title
2..you don't "ENLIST" as an "OFFICER"

You're taking a whole bunch for granted that you shouldn't.
Some of which is understandable due to your age.

You're doing well to consider "Options"...
Plan your route as best you can.
Keep your eyes and ears open.

You've got a SET of ears
a SET of eyes
and a SET OF LIPS....

Learn to use your LIPS 1/3 as much
as your eyes and ears.....

[Kambosoulja]

Thank you both for your responses and yes Fallia my recruiter told me to pick three MOS's that would best suite me and I picked three MOS's within the 0200 range, he also told me that the chances of me getting the 0231 was about an 80% chance because it's one of the few MOS that are not constantly flooded.
@M14ED yes Thank you i'm aware now that I MUST earn the title of a United States Marine before anything else.

[Failla]

Thank you both for your responses and yes Fallia my recruiter told me to pick three MOS's that would best suite me and I picked three MOS's within the 0200 range, he also told me that the chances of me getting the 0231 was about an 80% chance because it's one of the few MOS that are not constantly flooded.

He told you to pick three MOS's and you say you chose three within the 0200 field? Maybe something is getting lost in translation here in which case I'm getting confused, but my problem with that is as an enlisted Marine straight out of boot camp there are only two MOS options for you in the 0200 field, 0231 and 0261. Realistically, I would say you have a 20-25% chance of getting 0231. With all due respect to your recruiter and his rank, unless he is intel himself, he may not know exactly how jobs are assigned in our field. All his job is about is getting you to boot camp and filling OccField slots. He can get and will know you shipped with a DD contract, that is all. From there I'd say you're about 50/50 going to Pensacola for the 2600 field or going to VA for 0200. Then obviously even if you go to VA, it could be 31 or 61.

Now things are always changing, so you will never have an exact answer. Even from someone like me who fairly recently came through the pipeline you are trying to pursue. My advice can become inaccurate fairly quickly each time the Marine Corps changes something. And I do know as of late there has been a larger push for Intel contracts because they are increasing numbers as we move towards a peace time Corps. Never the less, my entire point of this response if to advise you to keep an open mind about it because no one, not even your recruiter, can be certain about what will happen to you once you go to boot camp.

[Tennessee Top]

The civilian guy on the news who leaked government secrets (Snowden) is a highschool drop-out and STILL got hired by the CIA and until recently was a contract intel guy for the NSA making $150K a year. If somebody with his background can get a civilian intel job I don't think anybody getting out of the military with an intel MOS/current clearance would have a problem. The government intel agencies have stated in Congressional investigations they cannot complete their missions without the help of civilian contractors (who generally are paid better than their government counterpart).

So, the answer to your question is yes (both federal and civilian job opportunities will be better). I never had an intel MOS but I did work in the Intelligence Directorate, US Central Command, MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL (Special Security Office). USCENTCOM is a joint command (all branches of the military work there). For continuity sake, there are also a lot of civilians there. All the civilians I knew were former military; many of them retired.

[0231Marine]

It's been a couple years since I've been on here (extended vacation but I'll give you my two cents as it's pretty relevant. Just a brief background, I was an 0231 from 2002 - 07, got out and I've been contracting ever since. I currently work for one of the 3 letter agencies in Virginia.

The short answer to your question is yes, having real world experience as a military intelligence analyst and/or intelligence officer will benefit you greatly if you decide to get out and try to gain a job with an external agency. This is especially the case if you have a degree.

The important thing to take into account right now is that very little advice that is offered to you regarding any chance of employment will likely not be relevant by the time you do make that decision to enter the civilian workforce. Just look at the last 5 years as an example of what I'm saying. In 2008, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were going strong and there was this huge demand for civilian intelligence professionals to augment military forces and agencies due to the operational tempo that was needed to fight 2 wars at the same time. Now fast forward 5 years and we're out of Iraq, Afghanistan is winding down and the need for intelligence production has decreased significantly. Add to that the budgetary problems our country is experiencing where tens of thousands of government workers are being furloughed to save money and it paints a much different picture.

Contracts are drying up because 1) the government is going to save money where they can and the need for all these analysts no longer exists and 2) you have all these unemployed analysts now fighting for the few jobs that are out there. Many times, there are analysts that are significantly over qualified for a position that are being turned down because the companies know they can hire someone with less experience at a reduced cost.

I don't expect you to understand the fundamentals of the United States Government labor force as it relates to the supply and demand during war, but the simple point is, the jobs available at any one time can always change. Sometimes it's good and other times, it's very hard to get a job. If I were you, I'd get into intel and stick with it for a while. Get your degree along the way and then as you make those connections on the outside, you'll be able to test the job market and see how things are during that time.

Best of luck and let me know if you have anymore questions.