DIA offers valuable work experience for college students at every education level. With a variety of programs, internships and entry-level career options, DIA seeks the best and brightest students and recent graduates to bring their knowledge and skills to our diverse workforce.
DIA's student internship programs provide high-achieving university and college students from accredited institutions throughout the U.S. with the opportunity to use their degrees in real world settings while continuing their education, thereby better preparing them for careers upon graduation.
DIA provides military intelligence to warfighters, defense policymakers, and force planners in the Department of Defense and intelligence community in support of U.S. military planning, operations, and acquisition. We plan, manage, and execute intelligence operations during peacetime, crisis, and war.
Below is a list of events the Defense Intelligence Agency Recruitment Team is scheduled to attend. For more information on each event, please reach out to the university or organization hosting the event.
Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (oSTEM) Career and Graduate School Expo Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center November 14-17, 2019 Detroit, MI
For more information, please contact the Recruitment Team.
The Summer Internship Program (SIP) provides promising undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to gain practical, on-the-job experience working side-by-side with intelligence, technology, human resources, and other professionals in their field of study while providing support to DIA’s mission. While at DIA, interns gain insight into a career in the Intelligence Community (IC), what it takes to support the warfighter, and how to become a permanent employee at DIA. Interns work for a 10-week period from June through August, as full-time, temporary employees. All interns must be granted a security clearance and successfully pass a drug screening test prior to receiving a final offer. The majority of summer intern positions will be in the Washington, D.C. area, although the Student Internship Branch does work with the Combatant Commands to identify interns to support their missions.
To be eligible for a summer internship at DIA, candidates must be:
The Academic Semester Internship (ASIP) provides promising undergraduate and graduate students enrolled as full-time degree-seeking students at U.S. accredited universities and colleges, located within commutable distances to DIA locations, the opportunity to gain practical work experience in intelligence analysis while enrolled in classes. The Agency offers a limited number of paid academic semester internships. Interns work for one semester with the possibility for extension into the following semester. ASIP interns work as part-time temporary employees (working between 16-20 hours per week).
To be eligible for an ASIP assignment, candidates must be:
The Cooperative Education (CO-OP) Program provides a select number of talented undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in combination with their academic studies. This is an excellent opportunity for students seeking to serve their country to participate in the critical work of the Agency through an extended work period.
Interns must be eligible to work a continuous, six-month period as a full-time, temporary employee during the six-month CO-OP.
The Louis Stokes Educational Scholarship (STOKES) Program is for a small number of high-achieving high school seniors and college freshman and sophomores interested in a career in public service. STOKES is a needs based program offering tuition assistance to students enrolled at accredited colleges or universities, while also providing challenging summer work, and guaranteed employment in their field of study upon graduation. Students attend classes full-time during the academic year, and work at DIA during the summer in positions related to their course of study. While in the program, students must maintain an overall cumulative grade point average (GPA) of and 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent).
To be eligible for a STOKES assignment, candidates must:
Be enrolled or seeking enrollment in a baccalaureate degree program. For high school applicants, possess a minimum GPA of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale AND a minimum score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative section and 500 on the writing portions of the SAT. In lieu of SAT scores, applicants may apply with a minimum composite score of 21 on the ACT. For college applicants, possess a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is required. Demonstrate a financial need: household income ceiling of $70,000 for a family of four and $80,000 for a family of five or more. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen. All DIA employees are subject to initial and periodic counterintelligence (CI)-scope polygraph tests and drug tests.
The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) is an internship program that connects federal sector employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities eager to apply their knowledge, skills and abilities in the workplace through summer internships.
The WRP is sponsored and managed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Office of Diversity Management & Equal Opportunity (ODMEO).
Once selected for the program, students connect with an employee mentor. Mentors assist disabled students selected for employment under the WRP with interviewing techniques, goal setting, the federal application process, and other workplace challenges. Students are eligible to work full-time for up to 14 weeks or part-time for up to 28 weeks.
To be eligible for a WRP assignment, candidates must be:
Click here for more information about the Workforce Recruitment Program.
The Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation Program (SMART) provides students, including current DoD employees seeking advanced degrees, with a full-time, paid summer internship. Participants must be pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields of study. Benefits include full tuition and fees, stipend, and guaranteed employment upon graduation.
To be eligible for a SMART assignment, candidates must be:
Click here for more information about the DoD SMART Program.
Congress established the National Security Education Program (NSEP) through the David L. Boren National Security Act of 1991 to provide a broader and more qualified pool of US citizens with foreign language and international exposure to work in national security positions.
NSEP is a scholarship program that promotes language skills, cultural awareness and understanding of national security issues.
In collaboration with the National Security Education Program Office, DIA has established a 1-year, full-time internship program designed to provide a small select number of recent college graduates the opportunity to apply their knowledge and gain practical work experience.
To be eligible for an NSEP assignment, candidates must be:
Click here for more information about the NSEP.
DIA offers internships in the following geographical locations:
Applications will only be accepted through the online application process here. Your resume, unofficial transcript, and cover letter should be attached to your online application. Finalists will be provided with instructions on submitting an official transcript. Applications will not be considered without all required documents. Please be sure to include your GPA on your submitted application. Letters of recommendation and writing samples are not required with the application.
DIA will ask you to complete pre-employment forms which include the SF-86 background questionnaire for a security clearance. When you return the pre-employment forms, we will request our vendor to schedule a drug screening test.
* You will not receive a final official offer letter until all required documentation has been received and a security clearance is approved *
It varies depending on your personal background and the volume of clearances being processed. In general, if you have significant foreign travel and/or foreign relatives or contacts, the clearance can be rather lengthy – up to 6 months or more to receive a full clearance. Individuals with limited or no overseas travel, who have not moved around much and who have no foreign relatives or contacts can usually receive a determination within 3 months. Students must be fully cleared before being able to begin work.
Individuals with dual citizenship can be granted clearances.
Yes. While the experience of living abroad is of value to DIA, it is impossible to complete the security background investigation and the necessary drug screening test when someone is overseas.
Intern assignments are based on entry-level professional job descriptions and will involve a great deal of independent work under the guidance of a senior level supervisor and mentor. For example, duties for intelligence analyst intern positions may involve research and drafting reports. Assignments are not clerical in nature. Particular occupational areas may include crisis management, counterintelligence, military economics, homeland security, imagery, information warfare, and arms control/proliferation.
Depending on your school's requirements, academinc credit may be earned. DIA will work with your institution to provide any necessary evaluation. Any written product provided to your institution must be cleared by your security officer.