UnicornOfHate

THIS TIME IT'S EVEN MORE PERSONAL

THAN BEFORE

IT'S PRETTY CRAZY HOW PERSONAL THIS SHIT IS RIGHT NOW

What sort of music do you listen to that people wouldn't expect?

I imagine you driving down the street blasting death metal and screaming the lyrics.

What is personal interaction with a hawk like? My uncle keeps a cockatoo, which is very interactive, but I imagine a hawk behaves very differently. I'm curious how a friendly hawk acts.

I'm a graduate co-op at a different center.

NASA is a great middle point between industry and academia. You get more freedom to work on what you want than you would have in industry, and you don't have to deal with tenure or teaching. You'll probably still work on proposals, but it won't be the life-or-death pressure you have for grants in academia. In addition, the working environment consistently comes out rated very highly, usually the #1 government job. Being at NASA allows you to work on the big-budget projects and equipment in a way that wouldn't be possible in academia or industry, as well (though of course there are lots of people working on smaller-scale things, too).

You don't make as much as you would in industry, and you don't get as much freedom as you'd have in academia, but it's a pretty good mix. You still have to deal with all the government BS. Buying the equipment you want can be a nightmare, and funding is a perennial problem (though that's true no matter where you go). But, generally it's pretty good.

As far as working there: there are internship programs, as well as the co-op program. The co-op program is the best (and, practically speaking, almost the only) way to get a job as a civil servant (that is, working for NASA directly, not through a contractor). CS jobs are generally viewed as being better than contractor jobs, but day-to-day there's usually little or no difference between the two. EDIT: The main difference is job security. It's very hard to get fired as a civil servant, but if you're a contractor, you may be gone in the next budget squeeze.

For the internships, apply early and apply often. Do your best in terms of grades and try to get good work experience. Intern at other engineering/science related places. Do undergraduate research.

For getting a permanent job: it's best if you've already worked with someone there. It's not supposed to work that way, but it's so difficult for individual branches to hire people that they often only go through the effort when they have someone in mind that they know they want to hire. So, the internships and co-op opportunities are pretty important.

Go to graduate school. Most researchers at NASA have at least a Master's degree. Do relevant research. Apply for fellowships (NASA offers a few itself, but any fellowship is good). (This advice wouldn't apply for getting a job as a technician, but those seem to be even harder to come by. Although, a lot of the techs are getting close to retirement.)