US Secret Service SA Applicant Thread 09/10/09

[FBI_SA_Jarhead]

Finally got around to reactivating my account; had some visa fraud and had to cancel the card and didn't get around to reactivating my account til last night. let's hope for some movement this week!

Welcome back! I've been studying the USSS history and such for my initial this week. Anyone else got any last minute advice?

[sgtjdd]

Welcome back! I've been studying the USSS history and such for my initial this week. Anyone else got any last minute advice?

Relax, It is going to be more of an informational session and questions about your past and suitability. You will be fine.

[chadliey]

For those curious, here were my splits for my marathon last Sunday. I was doing great until mile 21.5 and my quad locked up and I had to limp/run/walk the last 5 miles whiched added almost 20 mins to my time. Other than that, I was on a 3:05 hr pace but lost it the last 5. My finish time was 3:23:23.

10 Km: 43:26 Pace: 7:00
8.9 Mi: 1:02:07 Pace: 6:59
Half: 1:31:57 Pace: 7:01
17.5 Mi: 2:05:51 Pace: 7:12
20 Mi: 2:25:18 Pace: 7:16
21.1 Mi: 2:34:40 Pace: 7:20
26.2 Mi: 3:23:23 Finish

And for what it's worth, I only trained for 3.5 weeks. It is my first and my last marathon. Got it out of my system.

[wingedfoot97]

Welcome back! I've been studying the USSS history and such for my initial this week. Anyone else got any last minute advice?

Like what was posted above they just want to know more about you. I too studied the history and was prepared to talk about President Lincoln and what went wrong, the Kennedy assasination, and the budget constraints on the agency (LOL!!!!).

Its mostly finishing up paperwork that you have already submitted, scheduling you for the TEA, and getting to know you and what you have done and what you bring to the table.

As a caveat: There have been people fail out at this point for obivious reasons such as driving a stolen car to the interview and admitting it, showing up in flip flops and shorts, and for lying on their application.

Good luck!!!!

[wingedfoot97]

For those curious, here were my splits for my marathon last Sunday. I was doing great until mile 21.5 and my quad locked up and I had to limp/run/walk the last 5 miles whiched added almost 20 mins to my time. Other than that, I was on a 3:05 hr pace but lost it the last 5. My finish time was 3:23:23.

10 Km: 43:26 Pace: 7:00
8.9 Mi: 1:02:07 Pace: 6:59
Half: 1:31:57 Pace: 7:01
17.5 Mi: 2:05:51 Pace: 7:12
20 Mi: 2:25:18 Pace: 7:16
21.1 Mi: 2:34:40 Pace: 7:20
26.2 Mi: 3:23:23 Finish

And for what it's worth, I only trained for 3.5 weeks. It is my first and my last marathon. Got it out of my system.

Most of that stuff is greek to me. Sounds like ya did good. For me and most of the agents I work with we run when they say run and stop when they say stop!

[FBI_SA_Jarhead]

Most of that stuff is greek to me. Sounds like ya did good. For me and most of the agents I work with we run when they say run and stop when they say stop!

There are some mentally defective people out there. I remember the old Marine "fun runs." Which were usually of the 10 mile variety. I never figured out the "fun" part of that.

The only way I'm participating in a marathon is if I am driving the saftey van in the back!

[wingedfoot97]

This has been asked and I wanted to put this out on here...

The proper attire for the home interview would be neat casual. Thats what I wore. I must admit that my wife took off early to clean our house and the two agents busted me out about it (!).

The purpose of the home interview is to tell you the not so glamourous things about the job and to let you and your spouse ask questions in an informal setting. Mine was actually a lot of fun.

[FBI_SA_Jarhead]

Like what was posted above they just want to know more about you. I too studied the history and was prepared to talk about President Lincoln and what went wrong, the Kennedy assasination, and the budget constraints on the agency (LOL!!!!).

Its mostly finishing up paperwork that you have already submitted, scheduling you for the TEA, and getting to know you and what you have done and what you bring to the table.

As a caveat: There have been people fail out at this point for obivious reasons such as driving a stolen car to the interview and admitting it, showing up in flip flops and shorts, and for lying on their application.

Good luck!!!!

So you are saying I should have brought dress shoes to wear and not my Crocs?? I suppose next you'll be telling me I should have shaved and wore a tie!!!!!

I've already passed the TEA (whew! brought back my PTSD from algebra).

The nice lady that administered my TEA said they got tired of interviewing people only to have most of them flunk the TEA.

Of course, I have no doubt the SAC (yes, I get the SAC for the interview) will love me. What isn't to love? I'm a big body suited for being a meat shield (6'4 220), and hearing me talk is like being at a Larry the Cable Guy comedy show! Ok, maybe not that bad. There is little doubt I'm from the south though. That fact didn't get past many locals in San Diego when I was stationed there. Ah, the memories...I'll never forget that first look when I ordered a sweet tea.

[FBI_SA_Jarhead]

On my way to the initial...leaving a little early because Alabama has decided to turn into Seattle and rain every day for the past month. I-65 in the rain is not for the faint of heart. NASCAR should sponsor rush hour here...

[mx1111]

On my way to the initial...leaving a little early because Alabama has decided to turn into Seattle and rain every day for the past month. I-65 in the rain is not for the faint of heart. NASCAR should sponsor rush hour here...

Go get em!!!!!

[williamske]

Okay, so I am new to the board. Just joined up. I applied during the June/July 2009 announcement. I got a call about a week ago asking if I would like to take the TEA exam. I accepted. I was given two dates to choose from one in October and one in November. I am taking it in November. I picked up the study guide from our local library and I am brushing up on my math skills.

Here is the part where I state my back ground:
I am a 24 year old female applicant from the east coast. I have a four year degree with a double major in Global Multinational Studies and Political Science with a minor in Business. During my undergraduate studies I worked on and off at several law firms because at that time I wanted to go to law school. After graduating in 2007 I worked fulltime as a legal assistant/paralegal at a small law firm. I also had an odd gig during undergraduate studies at a club in town. I worked for security and basically wrote all their incident reports by interviewing various individuals. Reports had to be made just in case a legal matter occurred. I took the LSAT and was accepted to a few law schools, but I decided that I didn't want the debt just yet this early on in life (over 100k). I tried applying to various agencies for 1811 positions, but I was never deemed qualified until now. To gain some quality experience I applied to the Department of Defense. I have been here a little over a year now. I am currently a GS-09 and I will be obtaining my GS-11 in October 2010 (it was part of the hiring deal).

It's hard to talk about yourself haha. So to say the least, I probably do not have your typical USSS applicant background. I am afraid if I get to the panel interview they may just laugh at me - but I hope not. Being an investigator is something I want to do. I also thought that maybe I was not considered qualified because I lacked law enforcement experience. I applied to the FAMS earlier this year and I have completed their entire process. I am on the list and referred for selection.

I have no combat or military experience or training. I have never qualified on a weapon. I have gone to a range to fire some guns in the past few months. They do not intimidate me - which is a good thing.

I look forward to sharing my application process with everyone. Good luck to everyone. From what I heard this process takes a while.

[ROBObiz]

S/A Applicant Status Update 10/14/2009

This week’s movement:
FBI_SA_Jarhead has his Initial interview today. Good luck!

AT FLETC/JJRTC
CIDSA: TEA 09/07, PANEL 10/07, MED 10/07, POLY 11/07, BI 04/08, Drug Screen 04/08, THE CALL 02/09 (April 09)

RECEIVED “THE CALL!” FLETC BOUND
1811BigFella: Applied 10/08, INITIAL 02/09, TEA 03/09, PANEL 04/09, POLY 05/09, MED 06/09, BI 06/09, HI 06/09, Drug Screen 06/09 (October 09)
1811DADx2: Applied 08/07, TEA 10/07, INITIAL 11/07, PANEL 01/08, POLY 04/08, MED 04/08, BI 05/08, HI 05/08 (October 09)

APPLICATION COMPLETE - WAITING ON “THE CALL”


POLYGRAPH/MEDICAL/BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION
ROBObiz: Applied 12/08, TEA 04/09, INITIAL 05/09, PANEL 07/09, POLY 09/09, MED 09/09, BI 10/09
DetroitPros: Applied 02/09, INITIAL 03/09, TEA 04/09, PANEL 04/09, POLY 06/09

COMPLETED PANEL INTERVIEW
FedHopeful29: Applied 03/09, INITIAL 03/09, TEA 05/09, PANEL 06/09
chadliey: Applied 03/09, TEA 05/09, INITIAL 06/09, PANEL 07/09
fmac: Applied 04/09, INITIAL 05/09, TEA 06/09, PANEL 07/09
sgtjdd: Applied 04/09, TEA 05/09, INITIAL 06/09, PANEL 08/09
LP5: Applied 09/08, TEA 01/09, INITIAL 03/09, PANEL 04/09

COMPLETED INITIAL INTERVIEW
Jack66: TEA ’02, Applied (?), INITIAL 10/09
FBI_SA_Jarhead: Applied 07/09, TEA 08/09, INITIAL 10/09

COMPLETED TEA EXAM
Jlac20: Applied 07/09, TEA 10/09

APPLIED
ZeroG: Applied 02/09
Chemo: Applied 03/09
zoxman: Applied 05/09
NCK9Cop: Applied 09/09

If you would like to be added to the list PM me with your time line. If your time line needs to be updated PM me with your updates.

*= New to the list.
(Date) = Class Date

[7mary4]

williamske,


First, welcome to the boards, you will find, as all of us did, that this place has invaluable information. I would first suggest perusing the older USSS threads to see what questions were asked and answered, and what useful information was given out. We do have a few agents who chime in when we get stuck, so don't be afraid to throw it out there.

Second, since you didn't mention the initial interview (which not all offices do), study hard for the TEA. Even though you took and got a good score on the LSAT, the TEA is a different animal, but with some good prep it is definitely doable. Your initial interview should be after the TEA, so be ready to sell yourself then.

Third, don't worry about what you have seen and/or heard about other applicants backgrounds/experiences. If they liked your application enough to offer you a TEA slot, then they must think your qualified.

Finally, don't be concerned that you don't have military or LE experience, or that you've only fired a gun a few times. The "top gun" (scored a 100%, 100%, and 99.6% on his three qualifying attempts in my local PD academy) had only shot rifles before entering the academy. Some have military, some have LE, some have both, but a lot have neither. The USSS likes applicants with a wide range of backgrounds. What makes an organization great is it's people, with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, sets the USSS apart, so don't think your not qualified just because you don't have military or LE. I have a friend who was a cell phone salesman, with 3 months experience as a county jailer (not considered LE for USSS purposes), and he will graduate the USSS academy next week as a Special Agent.

The initial interview is to get to know you and your background, so don't go in there expecting to fail based on lack of experience, they will see this and fail you anyway (not because of experience but because of lack of confidence), but the end result will be the same anyway. The panel is designed to see how you react to certain situations and to get to know you better as a person, so use your particular background to show them why you would be a good fit in the USSS.

Just remember, they offered you the TEA, so they must have liked what they saw in your application, this is your chance to prove them right!!

[FBI_SA_Jarhead]

as 7mary4 said...don't compare yourself with ground pounders like me. Be yourself. TEA weeds'em out. Study good.

That being said...I feel good about how my initial went today

[chadliey]

as 7mary4 said...don't compare yourself with ground pounders like me. Be yourself. TEA weeds'em out. Study good.

That being said...I feel good about how my initial went today

Did your interviewer say anything about when they would schedule you for a panel or? Good job !