I began working with the DoD in 2014, and have had a variety of government roles and positions since then.

Below is a piece I wrote during my time with the Recruitment Office at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as their Recruitment Communications Program Manager.

The article was first posted to my LinkedIn on October 30, 2020, and the original piece can be found on here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-nga-provides-employees-tools-success-brittany-l-reid/

How NGA Provides Employees the Tools for Success

Written by Brittany L. Reid, Recruitment Communications Program Manager
NGA Talent Acquisition Center

     The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency prides itself on not only providing job opportunities for those who are seeking to advance their careers in a DoD or IC related field, but also for providing the training and resources necessary to help employees amplify the breadth and depth of their workplace experiences.

     Members of NGA’s cadre are allotted a variety of options for advancing and cultivating their career—from taking mission-related courses offered by the agency’s internal college, to pursuing mission-essential degrees with support from the agency’s Tuition Assistance Program, and more. Employees can also seek to attain GEOINT Professional Certification which, according to the NGA Career Development page on IntelligenceCareers.gov, promotes “interoperability across the GEOINT community and enables GEOINT practitioners to demonstrate proficiency in the competencies that are common to their specific geospatial intelligence discipline.” One can learn more about these and other development opportunities that NGA offers its employees by exploring the linked resources embedded in the drop-down tabs on NGA Career Development page

     However, the focus on ensuring those who are part of NGA’s workforce pipeline are prepared with the best means and measures to execute their respective duties is not just limited to those who are already employed with the agency.

     As mentioned in my July article, “Mapping the Way from School to NGA,” the agency provides a Student Internship program that allows college students to obtain the hands-on, real-world experiences needed to effectively navigate the career paths they decide to pursue—whether internal to NGA or across the broader expanse of the DoD and the IC. Under this program, student interns don’t fetch coffee or do secretarial work, they take part in crucial projects that are dedicated to solving real-world problems. They are also presented with opportunities to provide and implement innovative solutions to help move the agency forward.

     The agency proactively works to ‘plant the seed’ of the future by providing resources for students beyond the collegiate level—from informational videos on the agency’s YouTube channel, to hands-on activities via NGA’s Kids page on the official website.

     With this in mind, if one is curious about how to introduce younger kids to the kinds of jobs they can do at NGA (and across the DOD and IC), look no further than the #YouCanBeABCs video below. In it, little Sam, a six-year-old boy, goes through the alphabet and highlights several high-level jobs that kids pursue once they are all grown up. A number of these work roles happen to align with NGA’s Career options, such as Computer Software Developer, Engineer, Intelligence Officer, and more!

(Note: Please click 'Watch this video on Youtube.' You will be re-directed to watch the video from within the primary Youtube channel, as set by the video's owner).

     There are actually several occupations referenced in Sam’s rap that you can apply to on NGA’s Intelligence Careers page, such as the [Data] Engineer work role.

     To view this and other available NGA work roles, or to learn more about the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and how it works to elevate the employees of its workforce, please visit https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/NGA/index.html.

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*To learn more about NGA’s resources, products, and services, visit https://www.nga.mil/resources/1595966558609_Resources.html.