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4500	9420	And welcome back to the Career Hacking Village. One of the things that is always of interest to
9420	15360	many people are the various different career paths that are available in government agencies
15360	21460	and various different agencies that are part of national service. It is our honor and pleasure
21460	26860	to have a group of people here to share with us the various different opportunities where
26860	32660	talented professionals can work to support our country. I would like to turn this over now to
32660	38820	Joe Billingsley, the founder of the Military Cyber Professionals Association. Joe?
43190	48950	Hi Kathleen and everybody. I really appreciate the opportunity to lead the very first
48950	56090	national security panel at the Career Village. It's really inspiring the intent behind this
56090	61990	village and also Jeff Moss's words about connecting people with knowledge about different
61990	68270	career opportunities for folks across the community here. So really excited to be part of
68270	74590	that and to introduce you to a number of friends and partners from different parts of the U.S.
74590	79110	government who can tell you about different organizations and programs. And it's just
79110	83790	really exciting all the different stuff that's happening across the government and different
83790	90930	opportunities to serve. First, a quick introduction of myself. Joe Billingsley, founder of the Military
90930	99410	Cyber Professionals Association, a 501c3 charity that supports STEM education for K-12 and also
99410	106870	active duty military and veterans. I founded that with the motivation of us doing a better job as a
107710	114270	community for those who are in the service today and who might want to serve in military capacities
114270	121490	in the future. In addition to that, my day job, I'm a government civilian employee over at a school
121490	127870	called the College of Information and Cyberspace. It's a really exciting place to work. It has a
127870	134170	really long history going back to the 1960s when it was the DoD Computer Institute or the Department
134170	140090	of Defense Computer Institute and had faculty like the legendary Grace Hopper working there.
140090	144510	A really fun and exciting place to work that's also part of the U.S. government.
145090	150730	Now I'd like to quickly go down the list of panelists that we have here today. We have
150730	157130	John Felker, who's the Assistant Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,
157130	163410	CISA, over at the Department of Homeland Security. We have Diane Janicek, the Commandant of the NSA's
163410	168990	National Cryptologic School and also President of the Women in Cybersecurity Mid-Atlantic Affiliate.
168990	177970	We have Chris Pimla, an engineer over at the U.S. Digital Service. We also have Roman Vitkovitsky,
177970	184390	who's from the U.S. Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. And finally, we have Liz Popiak,
184390	189830	the recently retired Lieutenant Colonel who helped create the U.S. Army Cyber Specialty
189830	196750	Direct Commissioning Program. So with that, I'd like to start off and give each of you an
196750	202650	opportunity to introduce yourselves and tell us about your organization or program that you're
202650	210370	here to talk about today. And we'll get started with John. Go ahead. Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the
210370	216810	opportunity to be here today and to be with some really great people that are interested in this
217610	224770	this effort, particularly the effort surrounding workforce. So a little bit about CISA. CISA is a
224770	232710	relatively new organization. It's been in a transition from a DHS headquarters element to
233210	241370	an operating component since legislation was signed in late 2018 that created CISA as an agency.
241830	248930	Our major role is we serve as the nation's risk advisor and risk in terms of both cyber,
248930	255870	physical, and emergency communications aspects of critical infrastructure and the federal
255870	260750	government. So a lot of people don't know what we do. That's it in a nutshell.
261030	267750	We have basically five priorities that are the focus of what we do,
268530	275710	all related around the federal.gov space and the critical infrastructure of the United States.
275710	281590	If you keep in mind, probably 80% of the critical infrastructure in our country is
281590	289490	privately held. And so almost everything we do is voluntary. And in that five-level
289490	297530	priority list, election security, maintaining supply chain risk awareness, and countering,
297530	305690	particularly from China. And that's most apropos now because of the rollout of 5G technologies.
305710	315370	Protecting federal networks, securing soft targets, so stadiums, churches, those kinds of things.
315630	322830	And then recently evolving but always been important is critical infrastructure protection
322830	328050	for industrial control systems. So all those systems that operate the electric grid and water
328830	334350	stations and wastewater facilities and all those kinds of things. So it's a big mission.
334350	338890	We are a nationwide organization. We obviously have a headquarters element
340190	347830	in the Washington DC area, but we have folks out in the real world too, all over the nation
347830	355470	in 10 different regions, supporting those basic mission areas of security for cyber,
355470	359970	critical infrastructure, and communications. That it?
361950	364670	Great. Thanks a lot, John. How about you, Diane?
370920	377520	Well, hello, everyone. So I work for the National Security Agency, and it is an honor to be on
377520	383700	this career village focusing on national security because, as we all know, cyber security is
383700	389320	definitely a huge factor in our nation's national security and our economic security, right? Rests
389320	395060	upon a secure digital foundation. So really a pleasure to be here. So the National Security
395060	399680	Agency is a fabulous federal agency where I currently work. I also worked at a number of
399680	405520	other federal agencies, and they've all been equally rewarding and professionally satisfying.
405520	410220	I've had experience at the White House twice, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice. I've
410220	415840	worked on Capitol Hill. I worked for the Judiciary Branch and then in multiple elements in the
415840	422800	Department of Defense. So fabulous, fabulous place to really spend your career or just spend a few
422800	428300	years working on the federal service side. It's extremely rewarding. The National Security Agency
428300	434620	has an incredible mission. As we know, it really is there to protect our nation. So we have both a
434620	439960	cyber... we have a cyber security mission, and we also have a signals intelligence mission.
439960	444560	And so I think a little bit further, we're going to hear from Joe. He's going to ask us what jobs
444560	450700	are available, and we have phenomenal opportunities to learn. And they really are very professionally
450700	455140	rewarding, and the people that you work with love what they do. You know, you want to work in an
455140	459940	environment where people enjoy coming to work, enjoy working with you, and enjoying keep learning.
459940	465580	So I have the tremendous opportunity to lead one of a premier learning institution for the
465580	471260	national security cryptologic enterprise, a global enterprise around the world with tens of thousands
471260	476040	of students across multiple disciplines, including cryptology, cyber language, and leadership and
476040	482060	business. So I've enjoyed every step of the way along my federal career, and just really
482060	488540	appreciate the opportunity to be on the panel. Thanks so much, Diane. How about you, Chris?
497900	509070	You want to unmute, Chris? Got to focus right thing. All right. Hey, I'm Chris. I'm an engineer
509070	513710	from the U.S. Digital Service. We are a group of technologists. We work across the government
513710	518970	on a tour-de-duty model, so anywhere from like six months to four years, and we bring together
518970	524190	engineers, designers, product managers, and direct-to-see hackers to improve government
524190	529870	services for the American people. What's really great about U.S. Digital Service is we have an
529870	535450	opportunity to work all across government with lots of different agencies. So we have worked
535450	540730	on a lot of great public-facing services, making sure that we are trying to do the greatest good
540730	546950	for the greatest number of people and the greatest need. So projects like VA.gov, creating
547090	551790	a new portal that is user-focused for veterans to be able to get the services and benefits that
551790	556850	they have earned through their service. Working with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
556850	563810	to help people get green cards and their naturalization status is faster. Small Business
563810	569210	Administration, helping to help people get investments and start businesses and grow their
569210	575290	community. All sorts of things across the board. It's a really great group of opportunities.
578350	582910	No, thanks a lot, Chris, and especially thank you as a veteran. I really appreciate the work
582910	588830	that the U.S. Digital Service has done in that department. Now on to you, Roman.
590010	594070	Sure. Thanks, Joe, and thank you, Chris, for your help. As a recent veteran of the Marine Corps
594070	598910	myself, after serving about 30 years, I was about nine years enlisted and spent the remaining time
598910	604670	as an officer working in cyber and communications. Since then, I've now come in to join the Marine
604670	609190	Corps Cyber Auxiliary. And with the Cyber Auxiliary, we permit, we facilitate public-private
609190	613870	partnerships with the Marine Corps so that we can advance our national interests while keeping in
613870	618490	mind the fact that people would provide national service in a context which is safe for all of us.
618870	624480	Thanks, Joe. Wonderful. And how about you, Liz?
626820	632340	Well, as you mentioned earlier, I recently retired from the Army, a 20-year Army officer
632340	638540	as a cyber warfare professional, and most recently was the chief of the branch at the Office of the
638540	644280	Chief of Cyber at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The purpose of being on the panel today is to talk about the
644280	649300	program that I helped create in my last few years of service called the Army Cyber Specialty
649300	654460	Direct Commissioning Program. And this program was kind of the genesis of which was the Army
655000	661440	the recognition that there are concerned and talented civilians throughout our nation that
661440	667660	want to serve in a capacity of which they can't do in their private sector. For example, maybe
667660	673340	they want to exercise and project power in and through the networks and through cyberspace. And
673340	678860	as a civilian, that can be something that maybe is not necessarily illegal. So the cyber program
678860	682980	here was created to find a way for them to come and do that on behalf of their nation,
682980	686720	on behalf of their fellow citizens, also to defend our networks. As you mentioned, Joe,
686720	691580	most of the infrastructure belongs to private sector. So leveraging those public-private
691580	696560	partnerships, especially in some of the Title 32 National Guard organizations, they can do some of
696560	702020	those things. So for people who maybe have made their fortune, but maybe they want to come and
702020	707960	serve, they can participate in this program. There are many requirements. For example,
707960	712100	there's a background check they needed to pass to earn a top secret clearance. So that's something
712100	720440	people need to keep in mind. This is something that I'm very proud to help build. So I was able
720440	725260	to leverage my connections inside the National Security Agency, people in the Pentagon, Army
725260	734300	staff, and other services to help bring this program to fruition. Thanks. Awesome. Thank you
734300	741440	so much, Liz. Now, with the typical DEF CON attendee in mind, somebody with serious technical
741440	747680	skills, but somebody who also may not have ever worked for or with the government, can you please
747680	754800	talk about some of the opportunities provided by those organizations or programs that you're here
754800	760320	to discuss today? And if you want to talk about some of the benefits of serving through those
760320	770500	programs and some of the challenges, feel free to discuss those too. We'll get started with you,
770500	779460	same order, please. Okay, I didn't want to step on anything there, Joe. So, you know, you talked
779460	784980	about technical capability, and obviously, with a focus on cyber, that's something
784980	800480	that's inherent in what we do in CISA. We have, as I said earlier, a lot of the work,
800480	809900	how different things work, and being able to link those things together, create partnerships to
811560	817440	help critical infrastructure better defend themselves is essentially one of the core
817440	824920	things that we do. So, if you've got a lot of really high-priced talent, like we do,
824920	832720	everything from intelligence analysts to incident responders to threat hunters who go online,
832720	838320	both externally and internally, in the typical red team types, looking through
839160	845080	vulnerability management processes, and all the things you might expect from a technical
845080	851340	perspective. And by the way, we're hiring, and I'm going to say that probably six times today.
852160	861140	There are also less technical roles that we have in CISA that revolve around things like
862220	870200	governance, policy, practice, partnerships, and things like that. So, it's a combination of
870200	877700	technical and non-technical with a technical sort of a slant to help us do the mission that
877700	882700	we are charged with doing. And I think one of the things that's important to remember is,
883200	889920	with the stand-up of the agency, we've had an opportunity to sort of reset the culture.
890080	895060	And one of the big things that Director Krebs has been pushing has to do with
896580	902220	personnel development. How do we develop our folks from start to finish? What opportunities
902220	909540	do we provide them for training, for education, opportunities to actually practice their craft?
910000	916860	We have folks that get to do really cool stuff every single day. And that's one of the great
916860	922480	things about it. And if you want to encapsulate that all into one word, it's about mission.
922540	929320	We have a great mission. We have some great people to work on that mission. And our objective is to
929320	937100	train you, to develop you, and to help make you as professional and as solid as you can be
937600	943480	to do what you're charged to do. And then work you into our structure and get on with it.
943500	951060	The biggest thing, and this is a personal philosophy of mine, is train them, watch over
951060	957480	them so they become good, help them develop, and then turn them loose and let them do their job.
957480	962980	And I think that there's a lot of there's a lot of value in that. And by doing that, I think we
962980	970660	create a cycle of development. And one thing to point out too, and I think Liz might have said
970660	978340	this earlier, it relates to in government and out of government. I have no problem with people
978340	983600	leaving CISA. I like to keep them. But when they go out into the private sector, or they go into
983740	989440	a different federal agency, or a state and local agency for that matter, we always tell them you're
989440	994840	always welcome back. Because they bring another wealth of experience with them if we provide them
994840	1003000	the opportunities to do that and encourage them to grow and to build on their skills. So that's
1003000	1008920	sort of how we look at it from my perspective, particularly if we're going to point right at
1008920	1019330	some of the typical participants at DEFCON. Well, thank you, John. And so the National Security
1019330	1025950	Agency partners really closely with DHS and CISA. And so a lot of what John said definitely applies
1025950	1032130	to my mission space. So to answer Joe's question, kind of, you know, what opportunities are available,
1032130	1036770	I thought I might just mention a little bit more about what NSA does. And then I'll give you a
1036770	1041410	couple of examples of things that you can do. The nice thing about the National Security Agency and
1041410	1046010	the Department of Defense is that they are truly committed to lifelong learning. As we know, the
1046010	1051350	cyber arena is so incredibly complex, changes every single day, the threats are different,
1051350	1056230	the nation state adversaries keep using different techniques. So you have to stay, you know, very
1056230	1061270	active in your learning. And that's on the job learning, formal training, and informal training,
1061270	1065190	and just a lot of opportunities. That's the enterprise that I work run is the learning
1065190	1072990	enterprise for so many intelligent, brilliant people. You know, we have PhDs will continue to,
1072990	1076710	you know, you have to, no matter what your grade level is, in terms of your academics,
1076710	1081950	you keep going further. So the National Security Agency is a unique asset for our country. We save
1081950	1088670	lives, defends vital networks, and we advance U.S. goals and alliances. So we're a member of the
1088670	1092450	Department of Defense and the intelligence community. So it makes it pretty interesting
1092450	1097730	because your mission is so incredibly rewarding. And to mention what John said about going in and
1097730	1103350	out of the government sector and the private sector coming back. We love that and it's valued
1103350	1106950	and celebrated because the more talents and knowledge that you have, you're going to help us
1106950	1111450	be better and help our country be better and really, really grow. So the National Security
1111450	1116950	Agency is a world leader in cryptology, the art and science of making and breaking codes. And it's
1116950	1121690	an expertise that we get from people and technology, right? It's got, we really need that people
1121690	1127090	component. So if you find that, you know, the mission interesting, you know, definitely consider
1127090	1132690	it. And so the reason why it makes it a little bit different is because for us to do our jobs
1132690	1138250	well and really help our nation be strong, we need to understand what our adversaries are doing,
1138250	1143850	what the capabilities are, and we also need to be able to communicate and exchange some of our
1143850	1148610	information with our own allies and our senior leaders. So we need to understand what's going
1148610	1153930	on and then also provide for secure communications. So it's pretty exciting with SIGINT and
1153930	1161090	cybersecurity. So the opportunities are tremendous at NSA.gov. We have developmental programs.
1161090	1166230	You'll even get, you know, you'll be paid to get to continue your education while you're going
1166230	1171050	through it. We have tremendous opportunities for physicians. There's computer network defense
1171050	1177430	analysts, computer network operators, capabilities development specialists. So folks that understand
1177430	1183110	and provide real-time sensitive mission support by maintaining situational awareness of potential
1183110	1188250	cyber threats. They leverage technical methods to manage and monitor and execute large-scale
1188250	1194450	operations. So if you're, if that sounds remotely interesting to you, and as I said, we really just,
1194450	1198290	we just want the best talent. If that sounds remotely interesting to you, I recommend you,
1198290	1203730	you know, go to intelligencecareers.gov, take a look at that, and it might just be the time for
1203730	1208950	you to take a look at it and really jump in. And what you'll find is people have a profound
1208950	1215050	sense of contribution and service to the nation. We've had a number of incredibly brilliant people
1215050	1220090	leave, do startups, then actually want to come back to the agency, not for the money, but because
1220090	1224970	the mission and how incredibly rewarding it is to just be, you know, really putting Americans first.
1224970	1230690	So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about what we do, because it's really,
1230690	1242990	I hope you'd join us. Thank you. And yeah, so it's, USDS, I feel, is a pretty unique position.
1242990	1247610	So as an engineer at USDS, we touch on so many different projects. There's so many different
1247610	1253450	opportunities that we have to serve and make an impact. So I would say just to someone coming
1253450	1261450	to USDS, there's, you really have a wide range of opportunities to find ways to make a great
1261450	1268530	impact on the public. And some of that is very technical work. We develop and ship applications.
1268530	1277610	We get websites working that crash. We do security audits. We, you know, we do discovery sprints
1277610	1284650	and dig through systems and give recommendations to help an agency make improvements and make
1284650	1292250	investments in technology. But they all have in common is a big impact, a big real-world impact
1292250	1298470	on the public. Like the others have said, the mission is really something that is
1298470	1304330	just hard, hard to beat. And it's also something that really resonates with me, but
1304330	1309610	it's just everyone that we work with. We're all here because of that. We're here because we're
1309610	1315710	we want to, we are aligned in that mission to help people. I come from the private sector. A lot of
1315710	1321550	folks in the USDS do. And for a lot of folks, this is our first job in the private, in the public
1321550	1328170	sector. And so, you know, I've worked around places and I've enjoyed my opportunities, but
1328170	1332450	you know, I was looking for something more and I was looking for a way that I could use my skills
1332450	1339410	to really do the most that I could, that really was worth spending the time and the effort to do.
1339930	1345730	Pour my heart into all this work and to have it really be meaningful. But I would also say that,
1345730	1350430	you know, engineers, I'm an engineer. I love engineering. I love talking about tabs and spaces
1350430	1355150	and crypto and what language is better and which editor to use. But it's also not just about
1355150	1360110	engineers. It's also, technology is important, but it's also about solving the right problems and
1360110	1365290	solving in a way that actually works for people. So we're also looking for great designers. We're
1365290	1372770	looking for great product managers, people who understand the way that technology is not a tool
1372770	1379370	and a website is not just a tool, but it's a service that needs to be designed with the user
1379370	1386430	in mind and designed in a way that works for them and isn't just kind of made to tick off some
1386430	1392050	requirements or some boxes. It's got to be thought through from start to finish as an experience for
1392050	1399290	the user that really works for them. Thanks, Chris. You know, the Marine Corps Sub-Auxiliary
1399290	1404110	is a unique organization, right? Like some of us here, it's a volunteer organization. And what we're
1404110	1408990	trying to do then is enhance the Marine Corps' ability to operate in cyberspace. So we recently
1408990	1414630	came across a situation where we didn't have formally trained and designated Marines in
1414630	1419030	cyberspace. And it's only been within the last couple of years that we've had an occupational
1419030	1424110	field for cyberspace operations. And we've now had the first Marines cross the yellow footprints at
1424110	1430750	boot camp, graduate and enter the field to become cyberspace operators in the Marine Corps. We've
1430750	1435330	had people operating the Marine Corps in cyber for 30 years, of course, but we've always been
1435330	1440010	organized somewhat differently. Now we've come together formally on the 1700 MOS field,
1440010	1445750	and we are working together to move forward. What the Sub-Auxiliary does is it takes volunteers
1445750	1451350	from civil service, excuse me, volunteers from the private sector, and allows people who currently
1451350	1456230	might serve billets in civil service or augmented through contractors who perhaps previously served
1456230	1460690	and have been honorably discharged. And it permits those people who are U.S. citizens,
1460690	1465530	who have a minimum of three years experience in the cyber industry, who are highly regarded in
1465530	1471350	their field, and are enthusiastic volunteers. And it takes them, brings them forward to help shape,
1471350	1477670	to train, to educate, to advise, and to mentor the young Marines moving forward in cyber. And we'll
1477670	1481530	talk a little bit more about some of those opportunities that have come across and where
1481530	1486830	people have made a huge impact. Suffice it to say that the Cyber-Aux is part of that larger
1486830	1492050	Marine Corps effort to posture our forces to operate in the information environment
1492050	1499730	more effectively and were managed by highly qualified talent in uniform. And to wrap it
1499730	1505170	all up, frankly, like Liz can point out, if you are interested in wearing a uniform and popping
1505170	1509850	back in, you've got an opportunity through her program. However, if you do not need to wear a
1509850	1514730	uniform, and if you are not particularly interested in crossing those physical security, those physical
1514730	1519110	fitness standards of a Marine Corps, of the military, you'll still be welcome to join us
1519110	1527920	here at the Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. Go ahead, Liz. Thanks, Roman. So people who wish to wear a
1527920	1533320	uniform, the Cyber Specialty Direct Commissioning Program might be for you. If it's something you've
1533320	1540140	considered, at least consider applying. You never know when your particular skills may be in
1540140	1545420	high demand to help your nation accomplish their goals. And if you also have a leadership,
1545420	1550580	you know, streak, you say, yeah, I want to be a leader. I want to help coach, train, and mentor others
1550580	1556860	and put my skills to work. Some of the skills that are in demand as of when before I retired
1556860	1564060	are software engineers looking for data scientists, machine learning expertise, OpenStack engineers,
1564060	1570940	ICS data expertise. I know John knows that's in high demand. AI expertise as well. So there's,
1570940	1576320	for example, there's a whole center the DOD has built for artificial intelligence. And last I
1576320	1580600	checked, Army was working with them to build some requirements for uniformed Army Cyber
1580600	1586520	Warfare officers to come and work there with those folks at that joint artificial intelligence
1586520	1594680	center. A high-impact example of one of our direct commissionees was we had a civilian who felt like
1594680	1599060	he had made his fortune and was a prior service individual, applied for the program, and was
1599060	1605120	accepted. One of the first two people commissioned in the program helped build the virtual persistent
1605120	1611440	training environment for all of the Army's cyberspace operators to use. This was a program
1611440	1617500	that had been developing for many years but was really able to kick it into high gear and apply
1617500	1624180	their software engineering expertise and really get it built and out the door functional, fully
1624180	1628700	operationally capable for people to use. And I think people probably, Diane at the agency, may
1628700	1633460	also use this persistent training environment that was built. So you never know when you'll be
1633460	1639400	able to have an impact until you try. And so I highly encourage everyone to consider serving in a
1639400	1645920	uniform. You can find more information about the current requirements at goarmy.com forward slash
1645920	1650740	cyber. That's the website you can go. There's a link there for the direct commissioning program
1650740	1655300	and the current requirements should be listed there for you to review. There's also instructions
1655300	1661420	on how to apply. So benefits of serving in a uniform. So there are many benefits I think
1661420	1665760	for uniform service. The minimum number of years to achieve some of these benefits is
1666380	1671640	three years and I think 90 days. So given a tour, you don't need to sign up for any longer than your
1671640	1677840	first tour to achieve some of these. But if you're interested in say the post 9-11 GI Bill, for your
1677840	1683240	own professional education, master's degree, this can be transferred to your children or even to
1683240	1690860	your spouse. So that provides money for graduate level and undergraduate degree programs for them.
1690860	1696340	Also access to a VA loan program, home loan program. So we're able to afford a home with
1696540	1700840	a zero percent down zero down payment on the home. That's something that uniform members of
1700840	1705000	all services have access to. That might be attractive to somebody who's interested in
1705000	1711220	buying a home. You should also know for SARBRI Army Cyber Warfare Officers, most of our assignments
1711220	1716820	are at Fort Gordon, Georgia and Fort Meade, Maryland. So if you like Fort Meade and you
1716820	1722740	like Fort Gordon, please consider Cyber Warfare might be the branch for you. We don't have many
1722740	1726960	positions in places like say Fort Hood, Texas. That's not someplace you send people. You don't
1726960	1732720	have to be worried about going to Antarctica or Alaska or places that, I mean, we're far from
1732720	1738660	locations. And we also now have Army Cyber Headquarters is moving to Fort Gordon, I
1738660	1744360	anticipate in the next year. And also Cyber Command Headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.
1744360	1747400	That's another place we have a lot of assignments there. But that's part of the
1747400	1754760	requirements and there's developing locations where you can see future service. So some other
1754760	1763500	benefits are listed at militaryonesource.mil as a website. So in lieu of listing all of them,
1763500	1769120	I encourage you to go visit militaryonesource.mil or goarmy.com forward slash cyber to get that
1769120	1773980	information there. And one other place you can get information if you have your pencils handy
1773980	1780760	is to, on your phone, text the word cyberspace, one word, to 22828. And that will put you in
1780760	1784700	contact with a recruiter at the Office of the Chief of Cyber, and they'll get in contact with
1784700	1793280	you about opportunities to serve. Cool. That was a really great rundown, everybody. Thank you so
1793280	1800640	much. With us running out of time, unfortunately, for this panel, I just wanted to go down the list
1800640	1806440	one more time, see if you had any closing thoughts and words and any tangible advice
1806440	1817260	that you'd like to share with the audience. Well, sure. Obviously, coming into government
1817260	1826360	service has its challenges. There is a challenge, obviously, between pay in the federal government
1826360	1832380	and other government and the private sector. There's the challenge of navigating the hiring
1832380	1838220	process, which can be very difficult in government. There's the challenge of getting a security
1838220	1844320	clearance if you haven't gotten one already. And if you're considering coming to work with us in
1844320	1852920	CISA, you can help us to push the envelope on all those challenges with the idea in mind that this
1852920	1857880	is about the mission. And if you come in with a mission focus, you're going to have some great
1857880	1865740	success. The collateral to that, in my mind, is we are trying to take what was a headquarters
1865740	1874380	component element, now an operational agency, and make a huge cultural change. And some of the
1874380	1882600	things that we're pushing are innovation, speed, partnerships, and keeping it all within
1882600	1890460	that mission focus. So if you have the desire, we're looking, we're hiring. We've got plenty
1890460	1896640	of positions, both in the D.C. area and around the nation, where we're looking for quality
1896640	1902320	cyber talent and people who have a mission focus. So I'll leave it at that, Joe, and I'll give it
1902320	1909860	over to the next in line, Diane. Great, thank you, John. And I just wanted to say, you know,
1909860	1914860	consider this opportunity for federal service if you have the remotest interest in working with
1914860	1920440	people that are innovative and passionate, love what they do, continual learners, commitment to
1920440	1925400	just partnering and collaborating. It's a great environment. You know, and also I wanted to
1925400	1930220	mention for, it is a little more male-dominated, as you know, but there are professional communities
1930220	1935860	like women in cyber security that give you a sense of community outside the workplace to really
1935860	1939560	help you, give you the skills that you might need inside the workplace to navigate that.
1939660	1950740	So love to see you, and thank you so much. Yeah, I would just say definitely, I never really
1950740	1955660	thought that I would necessarily end up being a federal employee. You never really know what's
1955660	1961260	going to happen, but you know, we, as technologists, we have a really incredible amount of power with
1961260	1966980	the skills that we have, and government is a really great place to make a huge impact with
1966980	1974540	that power. So USDS, we have a unique model where we do terms of service. So it doesn't
1974540	1979500	have to be a lifelong commitment. We can do as short as like three to six months and up to four
1979500	1985860	years. So if you want to do that and then go back to private sector, then we are very happy to have
1985860	1993640	you and have your impact. usds.gov is our website. And if you want to see also more information
1993640	1996900	about some of the work we do, at the bottom of the page, we have our impact report we just listed
1996900	2003300	talking about some of the big projects that we've done in the last year, including some of the
2003300	2009660	things that I've been lucky enough to work on. But yeah, we really are trying to break down that
2009660	2014680	bridge, build bridges and break down those walls between private and public sector and bring the
2014680	2020040	best of private sector technology into government and improve everything for the American people.
2022580	2025780	Thanks, Chris. We've all heard that advice, you should bloom where you're planted. And there have been
2025780	2030380	many, many opportunities to do that here. If you'd like to be a Marine, there is a path in cyber if
2030380	2035160	you want to wear a uniform. If you find that you have other skills, and perhaps you've held a career
2035160	2040760	elsewhere in life, you can still affect Marines who serve by shaping Capture the Flag exercises
2040760	2045980	and developing other tools that might help Marines in uniform. You can also assist
2045980	2050280	with our summer programs, helping with the young Marines and helping with those who
2050280	2055600	provide STEM education for young people in our country who are then shaped to serve themselves
2055600	2060260	better through a cyber career path. As you move forward, one thing that I'd like to leave you with
2060260	2065900	is you could follow us on LinkedIn, and you can help to serve wherever you are in the nation today
2065900	2070540	without having to wear a uniform, but with having your heart in the right place. And that brings us
2070540	2083620	to Liz. Thanks, Roman. So the things to keep in mind with uniform service that may not be as
2083620	2090280	comfortable is the physical training requirements. So if you're not familiar with some of the
2090860	2096540	requirements for the different services, in particular my experience with the Army,
2096540	2101620	you can find that on GoArmy.com. So the physical fitness test, you'll need to take that twice a
2101620	2108000	year, and then you'll need to be able to pass those standards to pass your basic school. So that's
2108000	2115140	really very important to understand. And also keep in mind that you're a technologist, like as
2115140	2120620	Chris was describing, you know, a technologist focused, but you're also a leader. So and you'll
2120620	2129100	be a leader of soldiers in the Army, in the Air Force. I understand it started as a community
2129100	2142570	program as well. Great. Well, thank you very much, Liz, and everybody on the panel, and Kathleen,
2142570	2147370	and also Travis, and the other folks behind the scenes. The only things that I'm going to leave
2147370	2156090	you with is a reminder about USAjobs.gov, which is a huge database of a lot of opportunities for
2156090	2162950	employment across the U.S. government. And also because I didn't mention it earlier, as a disclaimer,
2162950	2169310	everybody's opinions expressed in this panel were their own and not necessarily those of any
2169310	2174270	government entity. And with that, I'm going to hand it back over to Kathleen. Thank you so much,
2174270	2181390	everybody. So great panel, everyone. Thank you so much. I know that you opened everyone's eyes to
2181390	2187750	new opportunities for their careers. I want the audience to know that also within the career
2187750	2194270	coaches, we do have at least 40 percent of the career coaches have had some kind of government
2194270	2198970	service or military service, so they are open to be able to provide you their perspectives
2199490	2205510	and their tips on how to fulfill your career within national service. We also do have resume
2205510	2211190	reviewers, recruiters who are familiar with recruiting for federal agencies and for government
2211190	2216330	contractors. Thank you so much, everyone, and thank you to all of our panelists. We'll see you for the
2216330	2217230	next session.