For many of you, students are an important addition to your workforce. We have several fantastic programs and flexibilities that streamline the process for hiring students and recent graduates at all levels.

The Pathways Programs: The Intern Program, the Recent Graduates Program, and the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

Pathways Program

The Pathways program includes specific hiring incentives that could be useful for cyber hiring, such as the availability of the special pay rates for computing and information technology authorized for certain agencies and geographic areas and – for the Recent Graduates program — higher starting pay for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) occupations.

Internship Program

One of the government’s three “Pathways Programs” is the Internship Program for current students. It provides students in high schools, colleges, trade schools, and other qualifying educational institutions with paid opportunities to work in agencies and explore Federal careers while completing their education.

Recent Graduate Program

The second “Pathways Program” is the Recent Graduates Program. It promotes careers in the Federal Government to individuals who, within the previous two years, graduated from qualifying educational institutions with an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from qualifying educational institutions.

Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have as much as six years after degree completion to apply.

Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program

The third “Pathways Program” is the PMF Program, which for more than three decades has been the Federal Government’s premier leadership development program for advanced degree (e.g., masters or professional degree) candidates.

CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides scholarships to students to attend cybersecurity-related degree programs at selected two- and four-year colleges and universities in return for service in Federal, State, local, or tribal governments upon graduation.

The SFS program has 2,300 graduates since 2000 with a 93% placement rate. There are currently 63 institutions in 28 States and D.C. offering SFS scholarships.

As a hiring manager, you can access SFS student resumes and recruit new hires directly by visiting the SFS website and registering as an agency official. You can also recruit new hires by participating in the annual SFS job fairs.

National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE)

Did you know we have over 200 top colleges and universities that are recognized for their cybersecurity-related degree programs? This is a big talent pool you may want to look into! Here is what you need to know…

The National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) program is jointly sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Security Agency (NSA). This program designates specific two- and four-year colleges and universities as CAEs in Cyber Defense. Schools are designated based on their robust degree programs and close alignment to specific cybersecurity-related knowledge units, validated by top subject matter experts in the field.

Over 200 top colleges and universities across 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are designated CAEs for cyber-related degree programs. CAE graduates help protect national security information systems, commercial networks, and critical information infrastructure in the private and public sectors.

Why not include these institutions in your recruitment outreach?