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DHS Turns To Unpaid Interns For Nation's Cyber Security

Posted by Soulskill on from the probably-still-an-upgrade dept.

theodp writes "A week after President Obama stressed the importance of computer science to America, the Department of Homeland Security put out a call for 100+ of the nations' best-and-brightest college students to work for nothing on the nation's cyber security. The unpaid internship program, DHS notes, is the realization of recommendations (PDF) from the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Task Force on CyberSkills, which included execs from Facebook, Lockheed Martin, and Sony, and was advised by representatives from Cisco, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Northrop Grumman, the NSF, and the NSA. 'Do you desire to protect American interests and secure our Nation while building a meaningful and rewarding career?' reads the job posting for Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteers (salary: $0.00-$0.00). 'If so, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling.' Student volunteers, DHS adds, will begin in spring 2014 and participate throughout the summer. Get your applications in by January 3, kids!"

6 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Stick with what works... by pubwvj · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ooo! Outsiders worked so well before! Snow-den! Snow-den! What fun.

  2. Well worth it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    $0 is a great price for being shunned by your peers for the rest of your life.

  3. Reminds Me Of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...during the Clinton years, but before the Monica Lewinski scandal where government would place ads in newspapers and certain periodicals asking for interns. The ads mentioned something along the lines of "gain experience under the nation's leaders". After the Monica scandal, this bit of wording was changed.

  4. The REAL job by Akratist · · Score: 4, Funny

    "hey...wait...this looks like the Obamacare website..."

  5. Don't worry about the government shutting down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They don't get paid! It's the biggest safety mechanism that the government has left.

  6. Re:Get your security clearance before graduation . by parkinglot777 · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you want to know about security clearance in the US, you can check it at http://www.state.gov/m/ds/clearances/c10978.htm

    For the cost of getting security clearance, you who is an employee would not be paying but your employer. I believe the cost is varied depended on case by case. http://news.clearancejobs.com/2011/08/07/how-much-does-it-really-cost-to-get-a-security-clearance/ gives some idea about how much but it is 2 years old...