The aerospace and defense industry is full of incredible achievements, and a career in this area will put you at the forefront of future advances in engineering and technology for aircraft, spacecraft, watercraft and more. If you’re considering working in aerospace and defense, below are three things you might not have known about industry leader Lockheed Martin and the industry as a whole. These facts might prove helpful when you’re interviewing for a job in this field and want to prove you’ve done your research.

1. Lockheed Martin’s U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft can ascend to 70,000 feet.

This aircraft nearly doubles a commercial airplane’s cruising altitude, and it reaches most of that height in roughly the same amount of time it takes a passenger plane to get to 35,000 feet. The U-2 Dragon Lady is a spy plane that took its first flight all the way back in 1955, and has an average mission success rate of 97 percent. When it’s not completing spy missions and flying beyond the reach of radar, it’s used to help with disaster relief efforts during and after earthquakes, floods or forest fires. At its highest altitude, it connects to satellites, making worldwide communication possible. And Lockheed Martin had the first U-2 up in the air just nine months after they started the program to build it.

2. Landing on Mars might not be so far away.

Lockheed Martin is the contractor behind the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, a NASA spacecraft engineered to bring humans into deep space for long-term missions. Currently, Lockheed Martin is studying what it will take for humans to travel farther into space than ever before, and be able to return home safely. Their goal is to bring humans to Mars by the year 2028. It’s all part of a NASA initiative called “Journey to Mars”.

3. The space industry has been using solar power since the 1950s.

The popularity of solar power may seem relatively new to most of us, but for the aerospace industry, it’s been used for over six decades to keep the power running on spacecraft. A satellite called Vanguard 1 was launched in 1958, with power from solar cells keeping it in orbit. It claims the title of “oldest man-made satellite in orbit”.

Working in the space and defense industry means you’ll be contributing to a legacy of record-breaking achievements and impressive feats of science, math and technology. Want to learn how to get a job in space and defense? Check out our guide to the industry.

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Being an intelligence analyst is an exciting career path that requires critical thinking and an analytical mindset. You’ll play a key role in decreasing both physical and digital threats at home and abroad. If you’re thinking of becoming an intelligence analyst, you might be wondering what a day on the job looks like. Depending on your specific role and the company where you work, a day on the job might include one or more of these assignments.

Gathering Critical Information

Intelligence analysts are some of the most thorough researchers out there. In this role, you will be tasked with finding out as much as possible about the subject assigned to you. Collecting this information can take many forms: fieldwork and interviewing, location searches and computer research to compliment your work in the field. Once you have completed your research you will then compile it into a report to share with your company so they can take the necessary next steps.

Data Analysis and Threat Assessment

An intelligence analyst’s job relies heavily on data collection and analysis to pinpoint potential threats in their home country and in countries across the world. You’ll be looking at details related to geography, historical events and statistics, and putting all the puzzle pieces together. With this information, you’ll build a more complete understanding of risks to determine what details are beneficial, and what information is misleading or not considered a threat. Your data analysis and threat assessment work could be used to improve intelligence, reconnaissance or surveillance efforts, monitor for foreign computer network operations or deploy technologies for countering cyber attacks.

Crisis Management

When it comes to intelligence analysis, ensuring everyone at your company knows how to respond properly to threats is a critical part of the job. In this function of your role, you might build, maintain and update crisis management plans and protocol. You might also organize exercises to train others at your organization on the importance of crisis management to make sure the threats you can’t anticipate are handled before they get out of control. You will also gather data about the state of your company’s crisis management solutions and present your findings to your team.

Being an intelligence analyst comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility, but it is also an incredibly rewarding career path with the potential to make a positive impact not just on your own country but around the world. By having a clear idea of what to expect from the role, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success and land the job you want.

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A career in the aerospace and defense industry is an exciting opportunity for your work to have a lasting impact—not just on your company but on the lives of the people your work will protect. If you’re considering a job in this area, you might be wondering what to expect from the interview and how to set yourself up for success. There are a range of aerospace and defense career paths you can take, from working in engineering to quality assurance to maintaining and repairing aircraft electrical systems, and each of these will come with its own unique set of interview questions. That said, the following questions will likely come up in some form during your interview.

Why do you want to work at this company?

Whether you’re interviewing for a job in quality assurance, mechanical engineering, or any other job within the aerospace and defense industry, your interviewer will want to know that you’re serious about the position and passionate about contributing to the next generation of air and space innovation. To prepare for this question, make sure to research the company, including its past achievements. Highlighting specific details about the company’s work and tying that work into your own interests and experience is a great way to demonstrate that you will thrive in the role.

Tell me about a time you were in a stressful work situation. How did you handle it?

This question is designed to test your problem-solving skills under pressure. Any job within the aerospace and defense industry requires a lot of responsibility, and your interviewer will want to make sure you’re up for the challenge and can keep cool even when the stakes are high. When answering this question, it’s important to be as specific as possible. Describe the stressful situation and talk through the steps you took to get your work done quickly and effectively. How did you decide what to do? What was the outcome of the project?

Tell me about a project that didn’t work out. What did you learn?

In the aerospace and defense industry, you’ll likely encounter your fair share of challenges as you and your team test out new tools, technologies and processes. Your interviewer won’t just want to hear about your past successes—they will also want to know how you respond to failure. No one likes talking about this, but being able to show your interviewer what you’ve learned from a project that didn’t go according to plan is extremely important. In a fast-paced, ever-changing field like this, you’ll need to be adaptable. Often, you’ll be working on brand-new projects, which means there will be a lot of testing and learning along the way. When answering this question, focus on a project that didn’t go smoothly but still had a big impact on your work.

Tell me about a time you challenged popular opinion.

The most important advances in any field often happen when someone doesn’t accept that “we’ve always done it that way”. This question is used to understand how you react when the opinion of your peers conflicts with how you think things should be done. It isn’t easy to stand up and state your opposing opinion—especially when you’re the only one in the room that has it. However, your interviewer is likely looking for someone who is confident enough in their research and understanding of technical topics to speak up in these situations. To answer this question, clearly explain why you challenged popular opinion, how you communicated your perspective, and how you were ultimately able to show others the benefits of your suggestions.

What are your biggest career goals?

Lockheed Martin believes that even entry-level employees are an essential part of building game-changing aerospace and defense technologies. This question is designed to test how motivated you are to pursue a long-lasting career in this field versus working in this industry for a short time. This is important, since jobs in the aerospace and defense industry often come with high stakes and a lot of pressure. Those who are most successful have a clear sense of where they want to take their career.

Interviewing for a job in the aerospace and defense industry might seem a bit intimidating at first, but by knowing what to expect and how to prepare your answers, you’ll be sure to impress whomever you speak with and get one step closer to landing the job.

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There are a range of job opportunities within the aerospace and defense industry, many of them targeted toward those with a strong aptitude in science and math. If you have a passion for aerospace and defense, odds are there’s a way to channel it into an exciting, fulfilling career. The challenge is deciding what path is right for you. To test out different careers within this industry, consider taking a paid or unpaid internship during college to get first-hand experience, build up your skillset and get you closer to figuring out the best aerospace and defense entry-level jobs to apply for.

Here are some of the most common jobs within the aerospace and defense industry.

Aerospace engineer

In this role, you’ll be working on military-grade vehicles and systems that can hold up during battle on land, at sea and in the air. Aerospace engineers typically have a background in areas like mechanical and systems engineering, design, structural analysis, and propulsion. Within the field of aerospace engineering, you could specialize in assignments like flight tests, mission systems or airframe structural analysis and design.

Systems engineer 

As a systems engineer, you’ll be responsible for building technology with a wide range of uses, from collecting threat information to protecting infrastructure to monitoring the climate. Data will be at the center of your job, and you’ll often work with software development teams to build software that helps improve aircraft function. You’ll also find ways to better analyze and interpret recorded data.

Electrical engineer

As an electrical engineer, your team will be be responsible for designing and building electronics for spacecraft, aircraft or helicopters. In this role, you could work on improving systems for airspace management, surveillance, satellite communication and navigation. You might also focus on the use of alternative energy sources within the aerospace and defense industry.

Flight inspector

In this role, you’ll be responsible for keeping your company’s essential aerospace and defense systems running smoothly. Your job will be part maintenance and part anticipating and solving potential risks before they become problems. In short, your work will provide critical support for all of the game-changing technologies being built at your company.

Mechanical engineer
As a mechanical engineer your work will improve a range of technologies, including robots, engines, heat transfer systems and controls for aircraft and spacecraft. You’ll research, plan, design, develop and test new systems that span a wide range of aerospace and defense applications. At Lockheed Martin, mechanical engineers have been behind both the Hubble Telescope and the Phoenix Mars Lander. That means, your work will have far-reaching applications and contribute directly to the future of the aerospace and defense industry.

Quality assurance engineer
In this role, you’ll be responsible for ensuring every piece of technology and every process created by your company is as best as it can possibly be. You’ll work to meet and exceed quality requirements and come up with even better ways to improve the performance of everything your company builds and does. Your focus might be on software, systems, service, manufacturing, hardware or program management quality.

If you’re interested in working in the aerospace and defense industry, you have a wide range of career paths to choose from. To ensure that you pick a position that’s right for you, it’s important to figure out where your interests lie and to pursue a role that you’re passionate about. Whether that ends up being a flight inspector or a mechanical engineer, the skills you’ve developed in school and during any internships will definitely help you shine.

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Professionals in the aerospace and defense industry might build aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft or weapons, or focus specifically on manufacturing the parts needed for each. They might also build information systems for processing and interpreting complex data. Typically, companies in this field manufacture their products for military, federal government or space programs. If you’re interested in pursuing a career path in the aerospace and defense industry, here’s what you need to know.

What roles exist within the aerospace and defense industry?

There are a range of positions within the aerospace and defense industry, many of them highly technical. If you’re interested in working in this field, you can look into positions including:

• engineer
  • aerospace, electrical, mechanical, systems, quality assurance
• flight inspector
• aircraft electrician
• … and more

What does someone in the aerospace and defense industry do?

Aerospace and defense industry professionals are responsible for a wide range of jobs, and your work will be critical, both for your own company and for the protection and defense of the people who use the vehicles and technology you help to build and maintain. For example, an electrical engineer might be responsible for designing and building electronics equipment for spacecraft, aircraft or helicopters. Meanwhile, aerospace engineers might work on military-grade vehicles and systems that can hold up during battle, whether by land, air or sea.

What is a typical salary for someone in the aerospace and defense industry?

Salaries in the aerospace and defense industry vary significantly, depending on your specific career path. Aerospace engineers and flight inspectors earn an average of $82,000, while quality assurance engineers and electrical engineers earn an average of $72,200 and $72,600 respectively. Meanwhile, aircraft electricians earn an average of $61,100, while physicists earn an average of $105,000.

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