MA Programs in CA

[lelick1234]

Hello Folks, 

Where in California is the best place to go to graduate school in order to bolster my chances at finding jobs with the Fed.  I am looking for positions in International Relations/Terrorism etc. field.  I am thinking about joining the National Guard to pay back my loans so money will hopefully not be too much of a concern.  I have a 3.9 GPA from a University of California in history and four years of first-hand experience living in the Middle East.  I am willing to learn as many languages as possible.  I already have a good foundation in written and spoken Arabic. 

--LE

[cool_uncle]

From the sounds of it, the Middlebury Institite of International Studies at Monterey might be a good fit. They have an MA in Terrorism and Nonproliferation Studies which is pretty well-known, and I've been told second-hand that the NSA and CIA recruit from MIIS. I'd give them a call and feel it out. 

 

[CptHolt]

Those intelligence agencies are aware of programs/schools that focus on language and cultural training.  Honestly, the Middlebury program as a whole is well known for the ability to quickly teach these complicated languages.  The Defensive Language Institute is damn close to the school too so the military is also very aware of that school.  

[went_away]

Forget joining 'the fed' without veterans' preference. 

[CptHolt]

That's not true in my experience.  I have worked with former "fed" individuals and they are no solely selected from the military.  Those groups conduct their own military training for recruits like firearms/tactics/what have you.  The most common thing I have encounter with these individuals is a level expertise in a field or subject matter.  I can only describe them as specialists with unorthodox backgrounds or abilities.  The only way to be sure one can be a "fed" is to apply and see how the cards may fall. Obviously advanced degrees and trainings are required because of the high level of training/experience/education these groups contain.  

[went_away]

18 hours ago, CptHolt said:

That's not true in my experience.  I have worked with former "fed" individuals and they are no solely selected from the military.  Those groups conduct their own military training for recruits like firearms/tactics/what have you.  The most common thing I have encounter with these individuals is a level expertise in a field or subject matter.  I can only describe them as specialists with unorthodox backgrounds or abilities.  The only way to be sure one can be a "fed" is to apply and see how the cards may fall. Obviously advanced degrees and trainings are required because of the high level of training/experience/education these groups contain.  

I was being a little tongue in cheek. I work within the federal government in the DC area and have a good feel for at least my agency's hiring practices. What's clear is that since the expanded veteran's preference that occurred under the Obama administration it has become dramatically more difficult for government agencies to hire anybody who is not a veteran. In most cases, nearly impossible. Hence we see increasing use of backdoor hiring methods in an effort to skirt that requirement. 

My basic point to the poster above was that setting out with a vague idea that you want to join the federal government - without doing your homework and being aware of all the 'bonus points' out there that others have - is most likely to result in extreme disappointment and at best an unstable contractor position.