Government agencies and their contractors are hiring, and their need for engineers and IT specialists is greater than ever. Investment in homeland security and military support has increased, of course, but employment in other government programs has grown in recent years as well.
"The federal government employs engineers who do everything from developing safer rail lines to building helicopters," says Edmund Byrnes, spokesman for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). "In IT, three jobs are deemed mission critical by the federal government: project management, cyber security and enterprise architecture. So both engineering and IT are great disciplines for students to concentrate on." The OPM website, www.studentjobs.gov, lists many federal opportunities for students and new grads.
Internships are available for civilians in many government agencies, including the U.S. Navy. "For engineers we require an engineering degree from an ABET-accredited institution," says Marie A. Gibbs, intern program manager at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Washington, DC). "For IT we require a degree in computer science or systems management, also from an accredited institution."
DTRA looks for diverse staffers
Safeguarding the U.S. and its allies from weapons of mass destruction is the focus at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA, Ft. Belvoir, VA). Nancy Nachreiner, chief of the human capital office at DTRA, says, "Our technical positions involve a variety of engineering and scientific disciplines in support of national security, with particular emphasis in the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear areas."
DTRA looks for candidates with bachelors or advanced degrees in engineering and science. Experience working in a national laboratory and internships with defense contractors are also desirable.
Staff diversity is important to the agency as well. "Diversity brings to the table a plethora of experience, education and socio-economic insights. It fosters relationships between cultures, promotes team camaraderie, establishes an inclusive workplace, and helps in the development of more effective policies and practices," says Kimberly Loder-Albritton, DTRA's deputy director of equal opportunity.
DTRA's Amanda Richardson combines science with public policy
Amanda Richardson is a physical scientist for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA, Ft. Belvoir, VA), and deals with both the physical and technological sciences. She got her bachelors in biochemistry and molecular biology at Agnes Scott College (Decatur, GA) in 2002.
As Richardson worked in labs on campus, she realized that a lab career was not for her. Then she researched weapons of mass destruction as an intern for a U.S. Senate subcommittee on homeland security and governmental affairs in the spring of 2001. "I had the pleasure of working with a woman physicist. It was great to see a scientist in a non-laboratory position," she says. "That led me to consider different career options."
Richardson found that Washington, DC had plenty of non-laboratory opportunities for someone with a science degree. She enrolled in the graduate program at George Washington University (Washington, DC), and got a masters in technology and public policy in 2004. "I wanted a government job that would let me apply my scientific background to public policy," she says.
In graduate school she was chosen for the Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) program, designed to attract outstanding men and women to careers in government. DTRA offered her a position as a PMF in its chemical/ biological technologies directorate. The job had a steep learning curve; Richardson was responsible for managing projects and researching potential drugs and technologies to prevent, diagnose and treat the effects of biological and chemical warfare.
"I had the opportunity to work closely with lab scientists whose projects we fund," she says.
Richardson eventually moved into her present position, where she's evaluating and building a portfolio of proposals for future programs. She's developed a vast knowledge base in biological and technological subject matter. She focuses on potential health threats like anthrax and Ebola. And she evaluates technologies like diagnostic tools that can be put in the field with soldiers, or techniques to develop new drugs. Since she came to DTRA, she says, "Our team has grown a lot. It's exciting to watch that.
"DTRA is a great place to work," she says. "I've worked with many people who have been happy to sit down with me to discuss what they do. They continue to be very supportive."
She advises college students to "Network and find people you can chat with to explore job opportunities you may not even know about. I found something that was a perfect fit for me."
NOAA meteorologist Nicole Vanderzon provides IT support
For Nicole Vanderzon it's always been about the weather. She has been able to combine a career in meteorology at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with another great interest: computers.
Vanderzon got her BS in meteorology with a minor in math at Millersville University (Millersville, PA) in 1990. "Originally I thought severe weather like tornadoes was most interesting," she says. "But I realized work in that area would take me far from my friends and family."
She did temp jobs for several months while she considered her options. Then, in February of 1991, she took a position as a meteorological intern doing surface analysis at the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC, Camp Springs, MD). As data came in she helped analyze cold fronts, warm fronts and pressure changes. She also trained new hires. "I stayed on there as an intern for several years," she says. That's when she found her real interest: computing for weather analysis.
She provided computer support for the HPC, and helped the agency transition from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95. "I worked on the Windows helpdesk. There were four of us providing IT support for that center," she says.
In 1997 she moved to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Central Operations (NCO), located in the same building. "My work on the HPC computers got their attention, and they brought me downstairs to help them," she explains.
Vanderzon has continued in this area ever since, and served as temporary team lead at one point. She earned her Microsoft certification in August 2006. She completed the program as one of the high scorers in the training group, and was the only woman in the class.
Today she provides IT support for NCO, HPC and the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center. She supports Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, and has begun testing the Windows Vista Enterprise suite.
Although her work now is focused on IT, she says her meteorological background has helped her a lot. "In a big storm situation, for example, I have a true understanding of the forecasters' needs."
She says her job today is one she never imagined, but she's very happy with the choices she's made. "A lot of my IT training has been on the job, but I've demonstrated my ability," she says. "I'm treated like an equal, and I've earned the respect of my colleagues."
Juan V: Web applications for the CIA
Juan V, a Web developer for the CIA, grew up in South America and came to the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL) for college. He completed a BS and an MS in computer engineering and a second MS in engineering management. Juan can't disclose his last name or the year he graduated because of the sensitivity of his work.
Juan, who is now a U.S. citizen, always had career goals that went beyond computer engineering. He's fluent in both English and Spanish, and was interested in language-related work as well. "I didn't want to just be technical," he says. "I wanted to do something that mattered, something that would be a benefit to others."
As a student he worked in the university's IT lab with a team that supported the school's networks. In the last year of his graduate program he began looking for a full-time job. He applied to the CIA, and was offered a software engineering position. Because of the classified nature of the agency's work, the hiring process can be lengthy. It requires U.S. citizenship, and includes a thorough background investigation that examines the candidate's life history, character, trustworthiness, reliability and soundness of judgment.
Juan was willing to wait. Meanwhile he had met a recruiter from the simulations, training and support unit of Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD) at a university career fair. He took a job as a software engineer developing logistic information systems for the F-35 at the company's Orlando office.
After a year the CIA notified him that he could start work. He was thrilled and ready to relocate to Washington, DC. "It seemed to be a perfect fit," he says.
Since then he has become a developer of Web applications, and has been able to use his language skills. He is currently working on a new Web application, assisting with an existing Web application, and managing a third project.
Juan says he likes the variety of his work. "By taking different roles we become better at what we do. When I see a new opportunity I volunteer for it," he says. "This is the kind of environment where learning is encouraged, and training is always available to anyone looking to grow. I really enjoy that."
His South American childhood, travel through Europe, and now his life in the U.S., have all helped Juan gain a global perspective and interact more easily with people from other cultures. He encourages all technical students to work on their communication skills. "If you can communicate well, it does not matter where you come from, you will go far," he says.
Contractors are looking too
Much of the hands-on engineering and IT work that supports U.S. government programs is done under contract to private companies large and small. Lockheed Martin, the Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman were the top three contractors in 2006, according to Defense News (www.defensenews.com), followed by BAE Systems, Raytheon and General Dynamics. But a number of smaller companies, from ARINC to Washington Group International, also got a piece of the action.
Diverse techies will find active hiring at private government contractors too.
Cedric Thomas climbs the IT ladder at Bell Helicopter
Cedric Thomas is a senior systems specialist at Bell Helicopter (Fort Worth, TX). Bell is a subsidiary of Textron Inc, and makes vertical-lift and tilt-rotor aircraft for military and commercial use.
Thomas got his 2000 BS in business computer information systems with an emphasis on business applications at the University of North Texas-Denton. He spent his final year of college exploring career opportunities and talking to many employers, but Bell stood out as a company that offered the kind of career challenge he was looking for.
"I wanted a company that could teach me how it operates, and that would allow me to be a self-starter and use my programming skills to find solutions that would help the business," says Thomas.
He had interned for four years at IBM, where he worked on maintenance contracts, mainframe applications and more. "I was interested in IBM, but I was ready for a change."
Thomas applied to Bell before graduation, but didn't get an offer, he found out later, "because the company did not think I'd leave IBM." As graduation approached he found a new contact at Bell and tried again. The contact got back to him with the good news that "IT was looking for someone with my skill set." He interviewed with five managers in one day and was offered a position as a systems analyst.
He began at the company by participating in a rotation program called "walk a mile in my shoes." For two years he trained for several months at a time in a number of IT areas. He worked with Unix as an EDI administrator, then went on to mainframe, which was his emphasis in college, and wrote Cobol programs.
He finished the program in 2002, and became a programmer for ETL (extract, transform, load) software that automates certain database processes. "ETL was new then, something that no one here had used," he says. "Bell brought it in house and gave it to me and said, ÔWe're interested in using this.'"
He spent the next three or four years implementing ETL tools as the IT organization underwent some major changes. "We were a mainframe shop trying to become a 24/7 shop," he says. "It was all about making our system more integrated."
In 2005 Thomas was promoted to his current position. He is responsible for the IMS mainframe database and new SAP implementations, and oversees two other technical employees. Thomas says he has not only found a challenging job, he's managed to keep growing technically.
He adds that working for a government contractor is unique, because of the stringent standards that apply. "Compliance governs everything we do. You have to be very careful with the data you use and always pay attention. If one person does something that's not in compliance, it can impact the entire company."
Ensco's Jacinda Clemenzi: solar-powered security
Jacinda Clemenzi began designing electric race cars in high school, and worked on solar cars in college. She brought the solar power skills she developed to her job as an EE at Ensco (Falls Church, VA), an avionics and security company.
In high school Clemenzi worked on a team that built an electric vehicle from scratch. She contributed to the engineering for the project, and did fund-raising as well.
She headed for MIT (Cambridge, MA) in 1998, and joined a volunteer student team that prepared vehicles for the annual Solar Challenge race. In 1999 she took off a term to race the solar-powered car that she had helped design and build at the World Solar Challenge in Australia. "We came in first in our class and eighth overall," she says proudly, "which was especially impressive since we used cheaper, off-the-shelf technology.
"That experience solidified the kind of work I wanted to do," she says. "I wanted to design something and be able to go out and build it."
In 2002 Clemenzi finished her BSEE at MIT and went straight to her position at Ensco.She started there by putting together a solar electric system to power security for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) research vehicles. The expensive research vehicles were being vandalized in the rail yards where they were stored, and the system Clemenzi helped design was intended to protect them.
Since then she has taken on other projects, mostly in electrical design and data analysis. Her largest project to date has been a gage restraint measuring system, which applies loads to railroad tracks to measure lateral deflection and test the strength of "rail restraints," the ties and spikes that hold the rails in place. It's critical, Clemenzi explains, to maintain a consistent gage, or distance between the rails, under a wide range of temperature, load and other conditions.
She's also working on new methods for measuring rail gage. "The FRA has used vehicles with lasers to measure rail track gage, but that doesn't work in snow," she explains. "I've been working on a magnetic sensor." Her team has built a prototype of the sensor and tested it on active rails, but it is still in the development phase.
Clemenzi is pursuing her MSEE via distance learning at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH), with tuition help from Ensco. "I get a lot of satisfaction from working here," she says. She recommends that college students find their passions early on, whether through internships or volunteer work as she did. "Determining what motivates and excites you is a great start toward a fulfilling career."
D/C
|
