Service Academy Grad Career - Non Commission
I am a recent graduate from one of the three Service Academies (USMA, USAFA, USNA) and although I just graduated, I was told last minute that I wasn't able to commission into the U.S. military due to medical reasons and would have to find a civilian job. I am incredibly interested in joining IB or Consulting but do not know the right way to go about doing so as an applicant with no prior applicable internships or job experience as those kind of opportunities are not available at any of the Academies. I have a 3.8+ GPA as a STEM major, was involved in club athletics, and have strong leadership positions that I have put on my resume. Any advice or recommendations from this forum? Thanks!
I think a big thing you'll run into is why you weren't able to commission.
Medical -- understandable. Character -- probably will be a hard pass from a lot of companies.
For example, recently an ex-Army Ranger and West Point grad was unable to commission because he put something about communism on his graduation cap. If you were in a similar situation, I'd say you're f'd.
But ultimately start to network with every single post-Academy grad that are in companies that you want to work for. It's a small cadre of people who went from Academy --> Success in Business so make sure to leverage that.
Next, you're a bit off cycle. There are some that are still picking up full timers.. but I'll be honest.. I wouldn't count on that 100%.
Two considerations: take a full time position at a company if possible, if not try to leverage into a "co-op" or "internship" type situation where you can network and leverage that experience to getting a great FT offer somewhere.
Consider a Masters. Most people honestly don't need to get a Masters, but I think with your background it would definitely be a value add and not a work around.
Thank you for the advice! I just updated my post, but it was due to medical reasons as opposed to any conduct/honor issues.
Your best bet is probably Defense Consulting. They need people pretty much year round, as they win contracts and you could probably place into one of their contracts.
If you want IB, you're likely going to have to do that after an MBA.
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