Part 2 -- The Intelligence Job Market From 20,000 Feet
Part 3 -- The Good News!
Part 4 -- Even Better News!
Part 5 -- Beyond The Big Three
Part 6 -- Beyond Borders
Part 7 -- Beyond Borders: India, Europe And South Africa
Part 8 -- Going It On Your Own
Part 9 -- The 5 Things You Must Have
Part 10 -- Advice From The Trenches
Special Report: Where The Jobs Are, 2009
Part 11 -- Advice From Intelligence Veterans
Part 12 -- Intelligence Job Links
I thought I was done with this series...until I received a very interesting email from the Federal Citizen Information Center pointing me to an article on Bankrate.com about "Fallback careers" -- careers that you can fall back on if something goes wrong in your main profession.
All of the careers on the list had evidence of growing demand and required less than a year of schooling to get certified according to the Bankrate article.
As I looked at the list, I immediately thought of a use beyond the one intended by the authors. These careers could also be a useful way of filling in the time between graduation and getting a clearance.
Many entry-level analysts get stuck waiting to start work because of a clearance. Predicting when a clearance will be complete is one of the hardest things to do (we had one student whose clearance took three years -- by which time she had married, moved, had a child and changed jobs!). Having a useful Plan B in this situation might allow one to avoid a "challenging career in the food service industry".
Obviously, in order to pursue one of these fallback careers, the job seeker would have to have the certification before graduation (which would likely necessitate summer or night school) and might, therefore, not be an option for everyone. If this is the case, then maybe seeking such a certification makes sense while waiting for a clearance (time and financing permitting). Likewise, if job offers are not as forthcoming as one would hope and grad school isn't an option, then pursuing certification in one of these fields might also turn out to be a good option.
What are the eleven "Plan B" careers?
- Emergency medical technician
- Police officer
- Phlebotomist
- HVAC technician
- Drafter/CADD operator
- Medical assistant
- Truck driver
- Dental assistant
- Massage therapist
- Medical records and health information technician
- Nuclear medicine technologist
I also have some concerns about this list, though. Police officer seems overly optimistic, for example. While the facts in the article may be true, the number of people already seeking jobs in this field make it seem overly competitive for a fallback career. Maybe if you included all security professionals (including bank guards and mall cops for example), it might make some sense. Otherwise, I would not advise anyone to go this route strictly as a fallback career.
I was also surprised that more information technology positions weren't on the list. Certified computer repair guys and website administrators always seem to be in demand. Getting some sort of technical certification in these fields will benefit an analyst in the lean times and when they are working as an analyst as well.
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3 comments:
No disrespect intended, Kris, but the list offers very little that would make a realistic "plan B" career for an intelligence analyst awaiting a clearance. Massage therapist? Truck driver? Medical assistant? I doubt many new Mercyhurst intel grads would want to work in those jobs.
And in terms of becoming a police officer, that would only make sense if the person was interested in doing law enforcement intelligence at some point (Many law enforcement analyst jobs are still filled from the ranks of current and former cops.)
I have another way to examine this situation: Wouldn't it make more sense for Mercyhurst intel students to use their minors for the "plan B" career option?
I've heard that Mercyhurst intel students often earn minors in subjects like Russian Studies. But in today's job market, it's probably better for these students if they minored in subjects like Finance, Accounting, or some type of computer option. That way, they'd have a more marketable fallback career in the event it takes them a long time to gain a clearance.
Intelligence students at Mercyhurst already possess a very valuable skill set that many businesses could take advantage of. The choice of a minor could certainly enhance the attractiveness of these students to the business world while providing a more realistic fallback option.
No disrespect taken. I understand your position very well. I don't think of some of these jobs as very desirable either. That said, they do represent true diversity and in the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" line of thinking, may still be worth considering.
The reason they made Bankrate.com's list is because they required some form of certification but that this process took less than a year.
Because of the certification process and the projected economic trends, Bankrate estimates that there will pretty much always be a demand for these kinds of professionals.
The other aspect implied here is that the turnover in these industries is pretty high so no one takes it too personally if you leave after 6-9 months, ie you don't burn any bridges when you leave.
In other words, these are true fallback careers -- something else you can do while you are waiting for your real career to get on track (or back on track, as the case may be). They are not intended to supplement your intelligence career (though I thought that things like EMT might make a good supplement -- particularly if you were deployed a lot); just tide you over.
While I wouldn't want to be doing some of these jobs, I could see others minding them less than I would. I can also see them minding them a LOT less than a sales job at the Gap or a counter worker at Tim Horton's.
Your idea for leveraging your minor to get a job in or related to your career field is a good one. The jobs you mentioned, however, are less likely to be so forgiving when you leave as soon as you get your clearance.
In addition, a minor, without job experience, may not be enough for many jobs. Still it is a good idea. I agree with you (as I mentioned in the post) that computer jobs seem particularly good and I was surprised they did not make Bankrate's list.
Kris writes:
"While I wouldn't want to be doing some of these jobs, I could see others minding them less than I would. I can also see them minding them a LOT less than a sales job at the Gap or a counter worker at Tim Horton's."
I'll agree with that. It would surely be a terrible waste of potential if a Mercyhurst intel grad was working at the Gap or a Tim Horton's.
Kris also writes:
"Your idea for leveraging your minor to get a job in or related to your career field is a good one. The jobs you mentioned, however, are less likely to be so forgiving when you leave as soon as you get your clearance. In addition, a minor, without job experience, may not be enough for many jobs. Still it is a good idea. I agree with you (as I mentioned in the post) that computer jobs seem particularly good and I was surprised they did not make Bankrate's list."
Some jobs would certainly be less forgiving of a short-term hire; however, other jobs would not have as much of a problem with it.
Take the accounting field, for instance. Most new hires in a public accounting firm only stay a couple of years anyway. Some new hires only stay for tax season; the firms often expect this to begin with. An intel graduate with 6 or 7 accounting classes (basically a minor) would have enough accounting course work to land some short-term position in public accounting. That is, of course, if the graduate can stand it. : )
Although accounting knowledge is useful to possess, the field can be incredibly boring if one works as a strict accountant. But with that being said, an intel degree combined with a minor in accounting could be a great combo. Don't agencies like the FBI also hire a lot of people with accounting backgrounds since investigations often involve financial crimes? I think an intel/accounting academic background would make great sense for someone wanting to work for a government agency that–in addition to other things--deals with financial crimes.
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