u/GrownMonkey

7 years military LE, disabled veteran, ~2 years municipal LE experience, bachelors degree in IT management. I tailor my resume for each application I submit (not lying, just fitting in different experience for different agencies: highlighting narcotics/firearms cases I’ve had for ATF/warrants and security missions I’ve worked for USMS, etc).

I usually qualify for GS7/9 depending on the agencies I apply for, but have never made it a single step beyond referral to the hiring manager.

I know failing at that step usually means that either I am not as competitive as I thought I was, or my package doesn’t capture my experience sufficiently, but realistically I don’t have relevant experience beyond the investigative work I’ve already done. I speed ran my BA and am looking to hopefully complete my MA in ~6 months depending on my hustle (I am also working the road), but realistically that may only qualify me for GS9 just to be under qualified for that pool too, lol.

So how do I make myself more competitive without actual investigation experience? My agency is smaller and is not opening up its investigator spot for another year and when they do they will expect a few years out of me (I’m 33 and don’t have that time).

Not SOF or aspiring so steer me in the right direction if I’m wrong here, but after a lot of conversations I’ve had with folks in that community, why are they so often inclined towards conservatism? Doubly so for trump.

My read of SOF is that this is a career field that rewards unconventional thinking, creativity, and high moral values. Particularly with this current iteration of conservatism, I find its leader to be particularly nihilistic and without much inherent virtue. I also don’t understand how conservatives are viewed as more friendly to the military given they are very quick to start confrontations but also antagonistic to the VA (at least comparatively).

Why exactly does the SOF community generally lean so favorably towards conservatism politically? Or don’t they? I’m sure the answer is a lot, but what am I missing here?