Site visits to Northrop Grumman, FBI and American Red Cross

By Sarah Alspaw, Assistant Director of Career Services and Graduate Student Support

I was provided with the opportunity to visit and tour some fantastic organizations that would be of interest to our students. I visited General Dynamics Information Technology in late June, and visited Northrop Grumman, the FBI, and the American Red Cross in the middle of July.  Information about General Dynamics IT can be found in my June blogpost: https://www.captechu.edu/node/2038.

I see these as fact finding missions, so here is my report about what I learned:

Northrop Grumman

http://www.northropgrumman.com/Careers/JobSearch/Pages/default.aspx

Our tour of Northrup Grumman was a journey into a world of advanced technology, including 360-degree surround screens, tablets that could control a variety of features in the work environment, and sophisticated training programs that resembled action games like Call of Duty, complete with highly realistic special effects. Rooms were tinted blue to promote productivity and decrease fatigue. If you like the idea of working in a state-of-the-art technology environment, Northrop Grumman may be the place for you; let me tell you a bit about how to apply.

Northrop Grumman has recently been updating their recruiting policies and cycle, focusing less on ‘boots on the ground’ at career fairs or on campus, and focusing more on online applications. They encourage all individuals interested in positions at Northrop Grumman to apply online. They also mention that more competitive fields with fewer graduates will likely provide a greater number of opportunities. They mentioned that EE, CS, and SE majors, and closely related majors, would be competitive. In an ideal world, they would fill all of their entry level positions with interns who graduate, mentioning that students have a much better chance of being hired full time if they can secure an internship while still a student.

Northrop Grumman recruits interns in the fall, and some as late as February-June, stressing that most are filled in the fall. For the units they mentioned, they have roughly 22-24 business, 110-120 EE, and 100 information systems security interns. They did not mention numbers for CS, SE, or other programs but are strongly seeking those majors as well. They are also seeing a rise in co-ops, students working during the academic year for academic credit. High GPAs are very important for their intern search, stating that many positions have a 3.5 minimum, 3.7 preferred.

Northrop Grumman also offers some rotational programs. The three mentioned during our tour: for business, for students who have recently completed a master’s degree, and the Systems Engineering Associates (SEA) which is for individuals who are 3-6 years into their career. 

FBI

https://www.fbijobs.gov/home/

First of all I would like to thank all of the men and women who work for the FBI. Their work is so very important and makes such a huge impact on the American way of life. I was awestruck by the end of my visit. 

At the end of the day, we were given the chance to hear from individuals who work in various parts of the organization as security analysts, business analysts, recruiters, and agents. These current employees provided us with a view of what it is like to work at the FBI. They also told us of their experience with the security clearance process, most stating that 1 year was about an average time to wait for a clearance with the FBI. They came from a variety of backgrounds, and are working in a variety of areas of expertise, but are all working towards the same goal, to protect the American people and way of life.

Historically the FBI hired twice a year for most positions. In the last hiring cycle, they received 21,784 applications. Part of the reason was that, currently, the FBI career page reroutes you to USAJobs. However, in October, they will be launching a new internal website, much like the NSA and CIA HR websites. This change will make the application process easier and quicker. This will also allow them to hire all year long instead of twice a year.

To become an agent, you must have a 4 year degree and 3 years of work experience after college. The most competitive candidates have a masters and more related experience. The highly sought skills are language, computer, cyber, information systems, engineering, math, and computer engineering. There is a strict 3.0 minimum GPA requirement, and all applicants must display good judgment and maturity and pass a security clearance to be hired.

There are other positions in Intelligence and professional staff including cyber, behavioral analysis, dn processing, program analysts, and management.

They explained that the most effective way to find entry level employment with the FBI is to serve as an intern during your final summer. They are seeking interns for national security, cyber, the criminal investigative division, the counterterrorism division, and homeland security. Information about the internship opportunities can be found here: https://www.fbijobs.gov/for-students/internships.asp. Applications will be available in September and October, so be vigilant and apply early.

Currently, there are quite a few openings at the FBI: ~3000 vacancies, ~300 interns, ~11000 agents, ~2000 Professional staff. They are hoping the new website, to be launched in October, will help them recruit for these positions.  There are great benefits for working at the FBI, including, but not limited to, loan reimbursement, educational stipends, and sabbatical programs.

There is currently great attention being paid to diversity and inclusion in the search process. They are also attempting to become more active on college campuses through the student ambassador program.  I will provide more information regarding the student ambassador program as the FBI releases more information.

American Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org/about-us/careers

The American Red Cross is well known worldwide to be a service organization that assists in emergency planning, management, and disaster relief assistance for domestically and internationally. It is likely that if you have ever given blood, trained to be a lifeguard, or provided disaster relief donations, you have participated in the American Red Cross.

We were given a tour of the facility where we were able to see workspaces where they had access to information about disasters occurring worldwide.  They also utilize social media, keeping an eye on Twitter posts that mention keywords that may provide early information on disasters occurring. 

The recruiter mentioned that they are looking for a specific type of person. Specifically, they are looking for smart and nice people; because nice people can deliver the compassion that is necessary for the position.

Primarily, I attended this information session to gather information for our business and management majors. There are great opportunities in human resources, volunteer management, logistics, planning, and fundraising, which are fantastic opportunities for business and management majors who are seeking the opportunity to give back. They also have a new, fantastic opportunity for MBA majors, called Campus LEAD, where selected recent or soon to be MBA graduates are placed into rotational programs for 12-18 months, and are groomed to become an Executive Director or Chapter CEO. However, they are not only seeking business or management majors; they may also have app development and IT positions available. 

There are both internship (summer and year-round) opportunities and full-time positions available.  Again, they mentioned that many of the entry-level positions are filled by previous interns, so individuals who are looking to work at the American Red Cross should apply for internships while studying as an undergraduate. Also, having volunteer experience on your résumé is paramount to success in securing an opportunity at the American Red Cross.

At the end of the visit, we were able to hear from interns and full-time staff, who expressed the joy and passion that you would expect from an individual who’s effort provides such a valuable resource for so many individuals in need.

Thank you to the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers for organizing these site visits.