Careers the focus of Tuesday’s Germanna Workforce Intelligence and Homeland Security Summit

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Scott Weber (right), a national security analyst for CNBC, Fox News, CNN and BBC Television and Dr. Cedric Sims. executive director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management Office within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Under Secretary for Management talk during a breakout session at Germanna's last Intelligence & Homeland Security Summit.

 The Germanna Community College Center for Workforce & Community Education will host an Intelligence & Homeland Security Summit from 8:45 a.m. to noon on May. 1 at GCC’s Daniel Center in Culpeper.   The Center for Workforce hosted a similar event in Fredericksburg in December that attracted 165 people looking into switching careers, students seeking information about careers in the growing field of national security and business leaders seeking to learn about opportunities related to homeland security and to network.

 Seats, at $20, are limited and those interested in attending should call 540/891-3012 for reservations and go towww.germanna.edu for more information. Germanna students and area high school students with student ID may attend free, but must make reservations.

 A panel discussion will  provide an insider’s perspective on the agencies and the career and business opportunities they offer. Breakout sessions on the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security  and information technology, including cyber security, will follow.

 Cyber attacks are now considered by some to be the most grave threat to national security. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has warned Congress that “the next Pearl Harbor” is likely to be a cyberattack.

 Because of threats like that, the Department of Homeland Security is hiring despite the slow economic recovery.

DHS has a $50 billion budget for 500 programs,  Rob Zitz said at December’s summit.

He said USAjobs.org, the official federal government jobs site, lists hundreds of pages of DHS job openings, many of those pages in Virginia, Washington and Maryland. “They are hiring, but it’s importantyou have the skills,” he said at the previoussummit. Often, career-switchers can make themselves more marketable to DHS by simply picking up a certification or taking a class. He said Germanna offers many courses that can quickly make an applicant attractive to agencies.

Germanna’s Center for Workforce & Community Education is broadening offerings that will help area people get DHS and intelligence community jobs.

GCC President David A. Sam said the college is continually pivoting to match curriculum with existing job openings

Dr. Wesley said Germanna’s Center for Workforce already offers many of the courses and certifications needed for an entry level job, career switch or career advancement in intelligence and homeland security. She mentioned cyber security, Cisco network certification, network security and information systems security. She noted that GCC also offers a Police Science degree and other IT degrees that could lead to homeland security jobs.

 “At DHS, there are so many job opportunities in so many fields,” Cedric J. Sims, a senior executive who has over seen $6.8 billion in IT investments across DHS and has also been a leader with the Secret Service, said at the previous summit.

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