Cleared Hot: Career Advice and Veteran Transition News
Despite all the talk of federal budget cuts in the national capitol region, the state of Maryland is now prime hunting ground for security cleared veterans.
This news comes from two fronts. Last week, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley offered up several initiatives to boost the state’s job market, one of which calls for a greater push to promote jobs in the region’s cyber security businesses. The need for qualified personnel is at an all time high, and O’Malley is looking to make sure Marylanders fill those openings.
A recently released report on the nation’s cyber jobs reveals that Maryland is among the top places for cyber security jobs, just behind Palo Alto and San Francisco. The Cyber Jobs Report, funded by Abell Foundation, looked at approximately 340,000 cyber security jobs within more than 18,000 companies nationwide. Maryland boasted more than 19,000 cyber jobs, 13,000 of which were located in Baltimore. The report summarized the area’s cyber sector as one currently in need of qqualified personnel, with an expected growth it termed “dramatic.”
Thanks to BRAC, Maryland is now home to more than 70 federal agencies and major military installations, and receives more federal funding per capita for research than any state in the nation.That’s one of the reasons for the wealth of cyber jobs. Funding for cyber-related research is at the top of the food chain, followed by biotechnology, aerospace, defense and other high growth technical sectors. All indications are that the state will continue to work to fill these positions and employment opportunities will only keeping growing.
Transitioning service members interested in cyber jobs should note that having a security clearance is the first qualification hiring managers seek. So which Maryland-based companies boast the highest number of job openings? Man Tech International tops the list, followed by SAIC, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Cybercoders, Northrop Grumman, CSC, Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton and L-3 Communications. Other Fortune 500 companies include Constellation Energy, Marriott International, Coventry Health Care and Catalyst Health Solutions.
Tranette Ledford is a writer and owner of Ledford, LLC, which provides writing, editorial and public relations consulting for defense, military and private sector businesses. You can contact her at: Tranette@Ledfordllc.com.
