How I Got Hired: Foreign Affairs Specialist, National Nuclear Security Administration

My name is Kyle Pilutti, and I graduated with an MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies (NPTS) from the Middlebury Institute in 2017. My language of study was Arabic. I interned with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in Washington, D.C., as a Graduate Fellow and am now a foreign affairs specialist at NNSA in the Office of International Nuclear Safeguards.

The NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP) is a program that was well known when I was a student in the NPTS program at MIIS, and I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in it. When I moved to Washington, D.C., I was very glad to realize that there are Institute graduates in almost every field in the nuclear policy space; the MIIS network was a great resource to have in my early career here.

Be Proactive and Take Advantage of Opportunities

The main piece of advice I would offer current students is that, in order to get the full value of your degree, you need to be proactive and take advantage of every resource and opportunity. Go to the extra lectures, join the clubs, apply to the internships, form study groups, and do anything else you can do to stand out.