Chuck Burger ⋅ King Of Prussia, PA Lockheed Martin ⋅ 47 years experience

JP, All good suggestions thus far! Here is a different wrinkle to consider. It certainly applies to the role of financial analyst.

Most if not all USG agencies including Civil (NASA, DOE, DHS) DoD, and Intel (NGA, NRO, DIA]) utilize the services of support contractors to carry out their respective missions. These support contractors provide consultation services across a wide array of functions including engineering (hardware/software) and administrative (finance, program/performance management) functions These support contactors offer opportunities both nationwide and worldwide. They include the likes of Booze, Allen, Hamilton (BAH), CACI International Inc. (CACI), Deloitte, and Tecolote Research, Inc. (TRI) to name a few. There are a few that are veteran owned and operated, such as SNA Software LLC and 540.co that latter of which lets you pitch your dream job to them for consideration.

Other categories of “consultants” include Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) which are public-private partnerships (sponsored and primarily funded by the USG) that conduct research for the USG and include such organizations as Aerospace Corporation, Institute for Defense Analysis, and Rand. And there are the similarly USG sponsored University-Affiliated Research Center Laboratories (UARCs) including Johns Hopkins (Applied Research Laboratory), Maryland (Center for Advanced Study of Language) , Nebraska (National Strategic Research Institute), Penn State (Applied Research Laboratory), Texas (Applied Research Laboratory), and USC (Institute for Creative Technologies ) to name a few.

Both resources can be Googled for a more exhaustive list of potential prospects. I suggest these resources because they are all to a large degree veteran friendly.

I would recommend researching their websites to obtain an understanding of the types of services they provide and career paths that they offer including the backgrounds in training and education required. You can then develop a pursuit strategy to match your ultimate employment goals.

Cheers!

John Dyck, Ph.D. ⋅ Spring, TX Career Strategies ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello JP,
My guess is you are probably tired of school by now. But you will learn, if you haven't already, that your education/training should never stop.

With that in mind, I suggest that in addition to and as a supplement for your MBA, you get certified as a professional business analyst.

iiBA.org is the primary grantor for Certified Business Analyst Professional certification.

The combination of the MBA and CBAP will open a lot more doors than just the MBA.

Also, there are a lot of want ads for business analysts. Read them and to get some idea of business world requirements for a professional business analyst

Good luck,
John

Bin Yu ⋅ Pleasanton, CA Adobe ⋅ 25 years experience

A good cover letter precise and concise in addition to your resume will definitely help increase the interview opportunity. There are many advice online about how to write up a good cover letter to attract hiring agents' attention. Good luck.

Arthur (Art) Richards ⋅ Santee, CA Retired ⋅ 15 years experience

Assuming you are interested in working for the government, watch USAJOBS.GOV. Federal Government employment is advantageous because the salaries are competitive, they have TSP investing, and there still is a federal retirement program. Federal employment requires a federal resume which is different than the private sector resume. I am retired USAF and also a retired civil service employee.

Bob Molluro ⋅ Wilmington, DE Benchmark Consulting Services ltd. ⋅ 30 years experience

JP most people have trouble interviewing. I conduct a one hour training session designed to improve your interviewing skills. I have helped 28 others to have successful interviews that resulted in getting job offers. If you want to speak just let me know.
Warmly, Bob Molluro

T D ⋅ Dayton, OH Self Employed ⋅ 25 years experience

I recommend using the resources that Mr. Watters tossed out there, but I'll add to that. Try to find a contractor job to get your foot in the door that you qualify for on that DoD installation or within whatever driving range you're comfortable with. Cotractors post jobs on INDEED and ZipRecruiter (I landed a prior contractor gig that way). From there, network with people and you can probably find someone who'll want to hire you via the government's expedited hiring authority system. That's how I landed my gov't role a couple of years ago. It's pretty much an unadvertised way to get hired.

Additionally, look for gov't job fairs (if they're doing them again - maybe virtually) with jobs being advertised there, and online too, that are advertised with the words "direct hire" in the postings. That means they usually need to fill the jobs fast and/or they're usually not finding the right candidates for the roles (hiring managers told me this when I was a gov't employee). Strike up a good conversation at a job fair or hopefully you can find a "direct hire" job that you're a good fit for.

Best of luck to you!

James Watters ⋅ Norman, OK Business Consultant, retired ⋅ 17 years experience

Corporal Barna -

Look at the site www.indeed.com, and enter DoD business analyst jobs or DoD financial analyst jobs. The lists are too long to list here.

Look at the website www.Glassdoor.com fill in US Department of Defense and Location.

Look at www.ziprecruiter.com

Look at www.simplyhired.com

Good luck Marine.

Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I’d suggest that you network at the target company or agency. Use LinkedIn to find people already working there and reach out to them. Ask them the process they used to get hired and ask them to help you navigate the hiring process and if they are willing, ask them to submit you as a referral. These activities require much more time on your part but in my opinion would greatly increase your chances for success. Good luck!