DEA 2020 Applicants

[NYC1175]

Has anyone applied for this? I sent my resume, transcripts, and drug questionnaire about 2 weeks back. Still waiting on a response (I need to fill out the Occupational Questionnaire as well).

[WarDog01]

I sent everything in weeks ago. Haven’t heard anything back.

[NYC1175]

Same boat as you. I have a few applications going including the FBI, so I'll take whichever offer comes first. I'd like to be DEA though.

[porkchop23]

NYC1175, in your view, what is the special attraction of the DEA versus the others?

[NYC1175]

porkchop23, their focus on narcotics related crimes. It's a field that interests me and I like that they are very pointed in what they investigate. the FBI, while prestigious, can put you on a squad investigating anything from white collar crime to art theft. These don't particularly interest me. Going into the DEA, I'll at least know what type of crime I will be focused on over my career. That being said, beggars can't be choosers. I'll take whoever calls me first, including the uniformed LEO jobs I applied for. In a perfect world though, where I had several final offers, I'd choose the DEA.

[porkchop23]

Very interesting, NYC. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[BootsElectric]

I applied this week. Was in the FBI process and got a least competitive drop after the meet and greet. Bachelor's from a top state school, Army SF veteran with disability preference points, and about 3 years LEO wasn't even good enough to get a phase 2 invite from them. We'll see what DEA thinks...

[Levithane]

NYC1175 DEA takes people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Can police experience help? Possibly if you are able to market yourself the right way. It's been posted on here but I have heard the FBI is one of the ones that limits the number of people with LEO experience it will accept. What will help you with investigator type positions is having job experience where you are conducting some form of an investigation. If you can't write a well written report you will do terrible in any 1811, 1801 (designation for general inspection position I believe) position.

[NGPAPP]

Any insight on as to why you got ranked least competitive? I have a similar background (Army vet, private investigation and private security experience, no LE) and got ranked competitive/most competitive but that's surprising to me that they wouldn't rank prior special operations as competitive and frankly concerns me a little.

[Levithane]

NGPAPP because investigative experience is very different from the tacticool bust down doors experience. USMS is more likely to pick up someone with that experience than the bureau is. He got dropped at the meet and greet, those who assessed him probably didn't mesh with the personality he would have brought to the agency. All your experience does is get you an interview, if you interview and the people who interview you pick up on something they don't like, well you get a date with the exit door.

[NGPAPP]

Levithane I suppose that's true in the investigative capacity but the FBI also has the TRP where they recruit tactical experience for potential Hostage Rescue Team candidates or even field swat. Those guys are almost always former military/law enforcement and often former special operations.

I didn't graduate from from the Army's SFQC but I have experience with special operations. Army SF in particular is different from other special operations like SEALs or Rangers because they're not just kicking in doors, its more imbedding with indigenous troops and cultivating relationships/gathering intelligence (which seems like a perfect fit for FBI - to me at least)

[campuscop2000]

Is this a schedule B hiring? I never saw anything posted on usajobs

[DC13]

Pardon my ignorance. What is a schedule B hiring?

[NYC1175]

DC13 I'm not sure of the specifics, so I can't really answer. I just know, for our purposes as applicants, Sched B means there isn't an open announcement on USA Jobs so we kind of have to "seek it out" either through the agency's page or contract with an an agency recruiter.

[DC13]

Do you go ahead and send documents the first email or wait for them to respond back? Wasn't sure if you had to get the employment questionnaire from the recruiter first.

[NYC1175]

DC13 I went ahead and sent them my drug questionnaire, my transcripts, my DD-214, and my resume. In the email, I asked the recruiter for the occupational questionnaire to complete my package.

[BootsElectric]

Does anyone feel confident in explaining what exactly they're looking for when determining if you will be hired at GS-7 or GS-9? In my case, 3 years LEO (Not a detective but my federal resume articulates everything they're looking for as far as investigative experience) and a BA with a 2.7 GPA.

Based of my LEO experience I feel that I meet GS-9 requirements and obviously due to my low GPA I'm gunning for the work experience exception.

I played a round of golf with a retired FBI SA once who said something along the lines of, "If you're not taking a pay cut from your current job, you're not qualified for the FBI".

[Levithane]

Disclaimer: I am by no means an HR specialist that has an in depth understanding of these things.

It's going to depend on how you worded your resume. If you have experience writing comprehensive investigative type reports (IE long #%^ reports) you'll probably get the 09. If you have case management experience that will also probably help you net a GS 09. My COL came with a higher grade than I thought I was worth, and all I really had was doing background/security clearance investigations for 2 years with a 3.4 GPA from school (somewhere around there). Im a state employee now, and I haven't held my current position for very long.

[NYC1175]

Is it like the FBI where if you meet the basic qualifications you'll at least get a PTT invite (for the FBI, its the Phase I exam)? My background is sort of similar to both you (BootsElectric and Levithane). Served in the military, a bachelors and masters. My undergrad GPA was around 2.75, grad was 3.5, and I currently work in public sector finance (haven't been working there very long).

[Levithane]

So on paper it says if you meet basic qualifications you'll get an invite to PT. Now a lot of this is going to depend on how responsive your recruiter is, and how they go about processing you. The one at my FO is very on top of things, meanwhile my friend in DC who is Federal LEO hasn't heard a word since re applying.

Now I'll sound like Alex Jones from info wars, but like any LEO process there is probably a un-admitted layer of evaluating you to see if you will be a good fit. This is after your qualifications get reviewed, etc. At the end of the day you are investigating drug crimes, dealing with meth users, heroin users, repeat drug offenders, and the whole 9 yards. This particular subset of people will lie to you about everything. Example: person has what looks like a positive test for Cocaine "Man I took a male enhancement pill, and had sex the other day, thats why Im positive for cocaine". It takes a lot of self control, and perseverance to deal with people who routinely say crap like this.

[NYC1175]

This makes sense and it's not far fetched at all.

[NYC1175]

For those who applied, how long did you generally wait between submitting your documentation (resume, transcripts, drug questionnaire) and getting a PTT invite?

[JakeVE]

About two months but that was pre-covid era

[ZH97]

Sent in documentation 9/11/20, recruiter reached out about PTT on 9/17/20 and said I could take it between 10/8 and 10/23. I took it and passed on 10/22 and I’m scheduled to take the written assessment on 11/10 (any tips for that would help). I think I‘ve just been lucky to have a speedy process so far, but we’ll see how the rest goes.

[ChokenBako]

Got a PTT invite about three weeks later and took the PTT two weeks after that. That being said, some of the guys I ran it with had been waiting months (due to COVID).

[Alright2015]

NYC1175 applied 08/31/2020 took PTT on 10/23/2020. So a little less than 2 months

[porkchop23]

I submitted my DEA app materials via email on September 30. I have not heard a peep since then. It sounds like I am on track along with the rest of you in this thread.

[porkchop23]

Does anyone know if, given that it appears that DEA applicants take the PFT prior to other parts of the process, an applicant fails the PFT, how long before they can reapply?

[NYC1175]

It's schedule B hiring, so they hire whenever they have openings. I'm gonna go ahead and say try not to fail that PFT because who knows when you'll get a chance to apply again once this announcement closes.

[NYC1175]

Any movement for anyone on the most recent announcement? PTT invites? Interviews?

[ChokenBako]

Through communications with my SAC and with some SAs I've met, it seems like they're just now ramping things up again. I've got a MAC coming up in a few weeks.

[WarDog01]

I was invited to the PFT. It is the first step, but unfortunately I had to reschedule as I only was given a week notice and had prior engagements at work that I could not reschedule.

[BootsElectric]

Any movement for anyone on the most recent announcement? PTT invites? Interviews?

Applied sometime in early October. Contacted this week and scheduled PFT for early December.

[NYC1175]

What FO you guys out of?

[ChokenBako]

Houston FO

[BootsElectric]

Houston as well.

[JakeVE]

I live in TN so the Louisville FO for me.

[WarDog01]

What FO you guys out of?

I’m out of Texas.

[NYC1175]

Texas seems to be moving fast. Congrats on the progress fellas. Hopefully NYFO reaches out soon so I can at least get the process started.