The jobs of the future in national security and intelligence.

• Author: Mercier, John
• Position: STEM News

SCIENCE * TECHNOLOGY * ENGINEERING * MATHEMATICS

The nation's civilian and military leaders have delivered a consistent message: A highly skilled technical work force is key to national security.

The development of tomorrow's work force must begin now. Even as we are engaged in current conflicts, we don't know what the future will hold and we have to be ready for it. If we do not address maintaining our lead in science and technology on a rigorous and continuous basis, then we will soon find ourselves in second place. Having second-place technology on the battlefield, in the air and on the sea means we risk losing a future war.

STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is in fact a national security issue.

Undergraduate and graduate students should know that careers in national security and intelligence are both challenging and rewarding. There is job satisfaction in serving the country, not just in the military, but in other federal agencies, the intelligence community and with government contractors that support the mission.

Another message for students is that there are many opportunities for careers in national security and intelligence, and that they can start early with an array of summer intern programs. In many industry and government internships, students can obtain security clearances and work on classified programs. This is a great motivator for students because they contribute to national security before graduating. They also learn that their cleared status will bump up their starting salaries upon graduation. Students should know that clearances aren't just about having a spotless criminal record. It's also about having clean financial records. Students should pay attention to their finances because having a bad credit score can be the basis for denying a security clearance.

In understanding the government's responsibility to protect our forces and our citizens, and in understanding high-consequence threats, the three topics that keep our leaders up at night are nuclear terrorism, bioterrorism and cyber-attacks. Career opportunities tied to these three areas will persist for many years. Looking across die national security and intelligence communities for current and future needs, there are 11 primary STEM areas that will generate growing demand for expertise and personnel with clearances for at least the next five to 10 years:

* Cyberscience

* Data Analytics and Predictive Analysis

* Virtual Reality...