Security Studies International Student

[IR LeLaH]

Hi everyone! I really need help and here is my situation.

 

I am an international applicant trying to get into a security studies program. I want to gain some work experience in think tanks here in United States after graduation. (Not that I don't want to work in my home country but the fact is there are much fewer think tanks back home.) However, my friend who is now in grad school focusing on security studies told me that it is extremely difficult for an international student to get a job in this field. I am pretty frustrated after hearing this. What do I do now? Maybe apply to other IR programs? Or apply to security studies programs anyway and bet that I'll get lucky two years later? 

 

Thanks for reading this patiently. Advice or more information on situation like this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[MPPgal]

Facts: there are no real differences in job placement between those degrees as an international student, the reality is that we have a hard job getting a job especially in the think tank or non profit world because as an international you are only allowed to stay for a year (vs science degrees where you are allowed to stay for 3), thus it becomes extremely difficult to do this as any firm has to spend a lot money in training you to lose you in a year and then if they want to keep you they have to spend a lot on visa sponsorship, many think tanks do not have that money or are not willing to do it when there are plenty of good domestic students availiable so you need to show you are amazing, to do this apply to a place close to where you would like to work DC schools,or others with good security studies think tanks, Austin has stratfor for example, Boston has a couple too, NYC, Chicago, etc so you can intern with them legally while in school and show them how amazing you are and already be trained and thus be able to at least stay a year. It is a hard path no matter what and you will have an easier time to get a job as an economic analyst or in the for profit world.

[IR LeLaH]

Thanks a lot, MPPgal! I have a clearer picture of my future now because of what you said. I guess I have a lot to work on to be amazing, but I should not stop trying.

[TimB]

I imagine a big hurdle would be clearances. Non-US Citizens are not allowed to have security clearances and security clearances are a huge deal in doing security work. You need a top secret clearance to work in the foreign service in any capacity for example. 

 

Foreign nationals can be granted Limited Access Authorizations if they have unique skills the government requires, but these are harder to get and will not be as comprehensive as a Top Secret clearance. 

 

Obviously not all jobs in a think tank will require clearances, but the kind of entry level hands on work that I would expect most security folks do early in their careers does seem to require clearances. It should be noted that these clearances are important even for third party employers who contract with the government. 

 

You can find out more here:

 

http://www.dss.mil/isp/international/laa.html

 

In the wake of the Snowden/Manning era I imagine that clearances will be harder to get as well. I think there is also a degree to which it's better to hold conservative political views as opposed to liberal ones if you want to avoid scrutiny, although that's just from reading a lot about the DOS and DOD, not personal experience. 

Edited November 11, 2013 by TimB

[MPPgal]

I am international and have never had issues getting clearance, but that is for think tanks not for foreign service where they obviously will not hire international students.