Work at CACI While You Study
Applications open through April 28, 2023
Get immersed in real-world cybersecurity issues and gain mentored work experience while earning $20 to $25 an hour as part of the Friends of CCI Project-Based Learning Program.
This pilot program, providing experiential learning opportunities during the 2023-2024 academic year, is open to students enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for the program, you must:
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Be enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College.
- Have completed one year of school (or will have completed one year or earned 30 credits when the program starts in fall 2023).
- Be enrolled in cybersecurity, computer science, or related courses.
- Commit to the program for the full academic year.
- Have access to a computer or laptop.
- Demonstrate an interest in cybersecurity (for example, Hack the Box or other online capture-the-flag-style activities, belong to a cyber club, etc).
Program Requirements
If selected for the program, during the academic year, you will:
- Work in teams on a cybersecurity project.
- Work on the CACI program 2 to 4 hours per week.
- Meet once a month with CACI (either in person at CACI offices in Reston, Va., or virtually).
- Complete the CCI Clearance Preparedness Program.
How to apply
- Submit a cover letter and résumé. Be sure to include your major. If you need help crafting these documents, contact Sedrick Settle, NOVA's IET Career Advisor (ssettle@nvcc.edu), who can provide advice and resources.
- Send your documents to proposals@cyberinitiative.org. The subject line should say: CACI Project Based Learning 23-24_Last Name.
| Timeline | |
| Open through April 28, 2023 | Applications accepted. |
| May 1-5, 2023 | CCI reviews first-round candidates. |
| May 8-19, 2023 | After 30-minute Zoom interviews, second-round candidates chosen. |
| May 26, 2023 | CACI announces selected candidates. |
Position duties
CACI will have two projects available. The positions’ responsibilities include:
One student will be selected for this position. Tasks will include:
- Review and research cyber-related topics, which will be posted weekly to the Cybersecurity CoP. Topics could include such areas as: breaking cybersecurity news; technology developments; uncovered threats and vulnerabilities; research discoveries; and federal policy changes and updates.
- Provide a brief description (two or three sentences) of approximately 10 weekly news updates, with links to the originating articles. This news summary will be delivered via Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
- Contribute to research, which could be short-term or throughout the year, as directed by CACI’s Cybersecurity CoP lead.
Six students will be selected for this position, which will support CACI’s Cyber Mission Operations Team. CACI will provide account access, demonstrate the range, and create challenge categories. Tasks include:
Generate, document, and implement a project plan to create and run a CTF challenge.
Project plan requirements:
- Create Jeopardy-style challenges, and identify categories.
- Identify testing process workflow and acceptance criteria by testing flag, difficulty level, and repeatability.
- Implement testing process
- Build a repository of approximately 30 challenges.
- Determine roles of team members
- Determine technical requirements (access and system resources)
- Finish challenges by April 2024.
- Create CTF for CACI by June 2024.
Establish cadence for communication
Project plan requirements:
- Team tag up.
- Attend weekly status check-ins with CACI Cyber Missions Operations point of contact.
- Attend monthly demonstrations to report status and test results with CACI Cyber Missions Operations point of contact.
Expectations
Project plan requirements:
- Provide challenges for various CTF events through the year (for example, at George Mason's Patriot CTF).
- Run CTF in June 2024 for CACI employees.
Participate in the Friends of CCI Project-Based Learning Program
If you're interested in seeing this program at your school or sponsoring such a program at your company, please contact Sarah Hayes at sshayes@vt.edu.