Age, AMU, and Federal Intelligence Agencies
SKIGUY (Ken) asks a number of questions regarding American Military University and employment in the intelligence world in general:
You have to understand that there is little out there with regard to degrees in intelligence studies in ANY venue. AMU's competition in intelligence studies comes from only a few other institutions: (1) Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA, which offers both bachelor's and master's degrees in intelligence studies but this is done in the traditional residence manner, (2) Tennessee State University, which is just now getting a program up and running, and (3) the Defense Intelligence Agency's National Defense Intelligence College, which offers a Bachelor's in Strategic Intelligence (BSI) and a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence (MSSI)...of course, you have to already be in the federal government and hold a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance and access to attend the latter.1) Do their UG degree programs have a good reputation among the intelligence community and the military? I'm looking at one of these three fields of study: Intelligence (IO), Int. Affairs, or Middle Eastern Studies
A number of the AMU faculty in intelligence studies have taught at NDIC at DIA--Jonathan Lockwood is perhaps the most prominent and he's currently doing intelligence education for the Department of Homeland Security.
So, for an entry-level intelligence analyst position that does not require specialized languages, regional expertise, or technical acumen with regard to communications, computers, and other networking/processing systems, an AMU degree is worth something to the federal intelligence agencies. Will it beat out an Ivy League or other prestigious school degree? No.
Regarding the language skills, I'll get to that in a minute.
Regarding age, the federal government prohibits discrimination in hiring based on age of the applicant. That said, you still have to compete with all the bright young lights out there. If your resume is the same as theirs, you'll be competing based on previous experience that you can leverage into the job which they won't have. I don't know what you've done, but you might want to figure out where you can fit it into the organization/business process.(now here's where I request brutal honesty )
2) By the time I get my degree, I will be 53 or 54 years old. Is my age going to be a hindrance for seeking employment in the Intelligence community? Since I have absolutely zero experience, I will be starting with an entry level position. Am I thinking realistically when I believe they won't be all that comcerned with age if I have a BA in one of the three area of studies I mentioned AND have the ability to speak/read/write, at an intermediate level, Arabic or another needed language?
Regarding language ability, this is absolutely key/critical...but you may find yourself forward "in-country" quite a bit. If you've got family, that may be a bit of an issue for you. If that's not an issue, you can then develop/advance your language skills and regional expertise and then be seen as a true expert, despite your age.
Understand what entry-level means, however. The salary ranges are very, very low...even for those who apply with master's degrees. The civilian workforce in many DoD intelligence organizations are transitioning into a different management system which is going to be separate from the beloved (and very traditional) civil service system that most of us grew up with. It will be based purely on performance and not reward seniority as much as the old system did. So, if you are hired by an organization in the new system, there's a chance you could rocket up the pay band if you are are truly a "front runner."
Hope this helps you in your decisionmaking.
--Eric
Originally Posted by ericmwalters
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