Alumni Alumni Profile: Austin Anderson, 2016

Austin Anderson is a 2016 graduate from the Patterson School and studied Security/Intelligence with a minor in Global Commerce. After graduating, he started his post-grad career as a software developer in the US Department of Defense working with the Secretary of Defense, Combatant Commanders, and the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He then worked in a consulting, at a tech start-up, and is now as a Principal Incident and Threat Intelligence Analyst for Discover Financial Services. At his current job, he enjoys staying up to date on topics he is interested in through reading news, blogs, and other sources. He credits his Patterson classes for his knowledge of intelligence methods and geopolitics as well as Ambassador Cavanaugh’s Nuclear Weapons class which helped with his work with USSTRATCOM.

When asked about advice he would give to current Patterson students, he said that Patterson is a great lever to get where you want to be. Even though the first job might be hard to get, once you have your foot in the door, you should take advantage of trainings your company offers that help grow your soft skills. He also advises to apply for jobs often and take many interviews to get better at them. Always think ahead.