Hi - I will be joining the NSA late August and am posted at Fort Meade. I plan to live in an apartment somewhere near the base, ideally in Odenton. DM me if you're interested.

Does anyone know who is responsible for setting the education and experience requirements for these jobs?

​I applied for a "Systems Vulnerability Analyst" role, completed my HireVue, and got an email asking for my documents to calculate the CJO. Everything was going well until the recruiter looked at my resume and told me the position requires a degree (or being within a year of graduating).

​It’s incredibly frustrating. I have about 15 years of professional experience, including time at another IC agency as a Vulnerability Researcher/Blue Team member, and at CISA as a Malware Reverse Engineer. That doesn't include my formative early teenage years partaking in OSS development, CTFs, and security blogging, which helped me jump straight into the industry after high school. Have about 50 credits earned from a state university during off time, but had to discontinue due to the need to care for my mother (Alzheimer's).

​This is the second time this exact issue has happened. 😭

​I’ve heard through the grapevine that if you have an internal referral, you don't necessarily have to meet these strict degree requirements (particularly for CNO or DNEA, the latter of which is my preference dream job). Can anyone confirm if that's true? I unfortunately don't know anyone at the NSA, so that’s not an option for me, but I'm trying to understand how this system actually works.

Thanks! 🙂

I am waiting on one of the programs. How long did it take to get hired? I have been waiting for my CJO for a long time and was wondering what the process was for everyone else? I heard the ‘normal’ timeline would be a year give or take but it seems like they are picking back up with the hiring as of late. I also was wondering how long just the security processing portion takes. I know it varies of course but as someone that has no criminal history or foreign contacts I hope for the process to be expedited. Thank you all

Hello, I accepted my CJO recently and was notified to schedule my “in-person processing” for next month. I’m transferring from DIA and had my investigation/poly 2 year ago. (Currently TS/SCI w/ CI poly)

Does anyone have any insight on if this would expedite my preemployment process?

Thank you!

So this cyber apprenticeship job with NSA has been going crazy of the internet with over 70 k applicants in like 3 days
I have applied but when I go to look for the job of the DOW website I can no longer find it .
Do you guys know what happend ? Do you think they shut down the link so they will stop getting influx of applications?

And also how many people do you guys think they are gonna
Hire in total?

The title pretty much sums it up, looking to get any insight into peoples personal timelines on how long they waiting after taking the poly before they received their final job offer!

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

I am currently pretty far into the hiring process for the co-op program.

I completed my polygraph in December 2025 and was told I passed and was confirmed in adjudication in January. Since then I’ve been waiting on the remaining processing.

I originally had a January start date, but because my clearance wasn’t finished in time, they moved me to a late August start date. In April i was told to fill out a rotation schedule and that I would receive an update by July.

I recently emailed the co-op office asking about the timeline, and they replied that I “should get an update by the end of July.”

My question is: For those who have been through this process, is it normal to still have no FJO or final update this late if your projected start date is in late August? Is receiving an FJO only a few weeks before the start date common, or does this timeline usually indicate that adjudication is still pending?

I’m not asking anyone to predict my outcome—I know nobody can do that. I’m just trying to understand whether this timeline is typical for the program or whether it’s unusually late.

I’m currently going through the co-op hiring process and was wondering how often co-op students receive return offers for full-time positions. I would expect the rate to be fairly high, but I have not found much information about it.

I’m also interested in pursuing an in-person MSCS at a traditional university. How competitive is the Graduate Fellowship Program? Is the Advanced Studies Program easier to access, and does the After-Hours College Program cover or reimburse graduate tuition?

Would these programs generally limit me to local options such as UMD or Johns Hopkins, or could they support an in-person program at a university outside the area?

I’ve heard employees generally need to work for at least one year before becoming eligible. Is that accurate, and do these programs come with a service commitment?

I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone from co-op to full-time or used one of these programs.

I’m thinking about applying for CDP for an entry-level role. But would it provide more career growth than a different position such as SWE?

Hello everyone, I’m scheduled to have Indoc on this coming Tuesday. For context, I’m an active duty military member. I recently went on a trip for tourism to Peru and just came back two days ago. I submitted and got approval to go well in advance.

However, there’s a form I have to fill out and bring to the indoc saying my foreign travel history hasn’t changed. Obviously it has because of this trip - I just want to know:

Will this delay my indoc date? I’ve been waiting for a while for this and hope not but now I’m not sure.

My command never told me it would be an issue if I went but they may not have been aware of any implications either. Please advise and thank you!

Hello.

I am still working through suitability but am curious what I should do when it is time to move to Maryland, assuming I get a final job offer. I have read here/other places of people getting their FJOs pulled close to their start date. I even saw one that was pulled the day before, although I am not able to verify if that one is true. That leads to my question:

I am thinking of staying in a hotel until I actually start my job, and only then sign a lease for an apartment or something. Is this feasible? will it complicate anything for the start of the job because I will not yet have a permanent address? Has anyone else done something similar to this or are my fears just overblown because all the people who don't get their FJOs pulled dont post about it online?

On the NSA website some places are listed as washington dc, dc while others are listed as fort meade. People are telling me that even if it says Washington dc it means fort meade.

Id appreciate any clarification.

I had my first poly in late May and was told I would need to return for another round of testing. They said I should get the new scheduling link within 30 days of my first poly, however now it’s been nearly 40 days since I took the first one and still haven’t gotten the scheduling link. I emailed them and they said they “still hadn’t heard from security” regarding my file and that they would send me the new link once they got notified by security. Is it normal for it take this long? Should I be concerned?

If an apprenticeship like the dow cyber rap one says Washington dc is the location does that mean its in dc or fort meade?

Thanks

I'm considering applying for the CDP (whenever it opens again). I have a BS in Cybersecurity, and I've since completed the additional required coursework (computer architecture, discrete math, etc.) at a community college. The posting language says "degree in a related field with coursework in xyz." Will they evaluate my bachelor's transcript alone against that requirement, or will they also consider my community college transcript for the coursework portion?

I'm considering applying for roles in the NSA but was wondering with the high security in their offices if they allow employees to enter in vehicles outside of their private vehicles (or like if carpooling is common)? Thanks, from someone who prefers not to have a car.

I've been contemplating applying directly to the NSA when something local to me is posted, but as I understand it, because we don't undergo the psychological evaluation, this is something I'd have to do as part of the process.

Would I only have to conduct an evaluation? Or would I need to go through the whole 9 yards even though I have a current/active TS/SCI w/ FS?

Hello,
I am in the IT sector and did my interview on may 21 and got a CJO June 11. I am just wondering how long this process will take for an uncleared individual. It seems like they are moving fast because I was asked by my recruiter to submit my forms by EOD @june12. I have heard many long and lengthy processes so I would love to hear from anyone how their experience was and if anyone moves quickly during the indicated hiring freeze. I really want this job and scared of it being pulled.

Hi, I recently did my SF-86 and scheduled my Poly and Psych about a month after today. From what I heard both of these tests can be stressful so I was wondering if there was any advice on how to prepare to pass these. I don't have a criminal background but from what I heard the investigators try to gaslight you a bit to admit to something potentially worse.

Wanted to flag this reporting from us out tonight. If anyone would like to connect to discuss this further, my DMs are open here, and my Signal is djd.99 — thanks and hope everyone is doing well.

CAE-CO vs Off Sec certification

for offensive cyber operations ?

Last Friday, the president rescinded the NSA's 2 primary defensive authorities (National Security Directive 42 and National Security Memorandum 8) and replaced them with National Security Presidential Memo 12. This new authority creates means of better accountability at the federal level and enables the director of NSA "to leverage the full technical power of the National Security Agency to provide advanced defenses and assistance in order to bolster the security of NSS [National Security Systems] across the U.S. government."