I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jenny and I am the Language Outreach Lead at the National Security Agency (NSA). I want to inform you of an ongoing effort to increase awareness of Language Analysis (LA) as a career path at NSA. As part of this, I hope to engage with universities to discover highly proficient world language students that can apply their skills at NSA to aid in national defense, as well as open the door to further collaboration. As a native of Wisconsin, sharing these opportunities with students in the Midwest is a high priority for me. Please let me know if we can arrange a time to discuss NSA’s language opportunities with you and your faculty.
In addition, I’ve attached our NSA Language Careers brochure and wanted to highlight some opportunities below for your students to consider:
- Summer Language Program Internship: Spend 12 weeks this summer working as a language analyst at NSA. The summer 2023 program is hiring students with proficiency in Chinese, Russian, and Farsi, but other languages will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The application is open September 1st through October 31st. Note: This job ad is shared with the Intelligence Analysis Summer Program.
- Cooperative Education Program (Co-Op) for Language: Students in this program will alternate semesters between college and working at NSA as a language analyst. Students can apply for the Co-Op Program starting their second semester Freshman year or during their Sophomore year. Application period is open from September 1st to October 31st and from February 1st to March 31st and is for Chinese and Russian students.
- Language Analysis Development Program (LADP): The LADP is a full-time development program for new-hires and involves rotational tours in a variety of offices, coursework to build foundational knowledge, and quality mentoring. Applicants should be proficient (reading and listening) in one or more critical foreign languages, including Chinese, Persian Farsi, Sudanese Arabic, Russian, Ukrainian, and other languages as missions and needs evolve, and/or the lower-density languages Somali (with Maay Maay), Amharic (with Tigrinya or Oromo), Swahili (with Luo or Kinyarwanda), French (with Lingala or Bambara), Hausa (with Fulani, Kanuri, or Tamashek), Urdu, Punjabi, and Pashto.
There is also the potential to be hired to enhance current language proficiency or cross-train into a new language. The LADP application is posted every other month on intelligencecareers.gov/nsa. It is recommended that students apply 9-12 months prior to graduation.
- Intelligence Analysis Development Program (IADP): The IADP is designed to provide an intensive, accelerated opportunity to acquire the unique technical skills and experience needed to successfully apply knowledge and analytic ability to the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) mission and help analysts achieve core analytic. The application is open September 29th through October 13th.
- NSA Codebreaker Challenge: The NSA Codebreaker Challenge provides students with a hands-on opportunity to develop their reverse-engineering / low-level code analysis skills while working on a realistic problem set centered around the NSA's mission. The challenge opened early August and runs until December 9th.
**Note that all students must be U.S. citizens and able to obtain a Top Secret security clearance. Students are able to apply to any/all programs that interest them.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to talking with you soon.
Sincerely,
Jenny
NSA Language Outreach Lead