246: What It’s Like Heading Policy at an Intel & National Security Trade Association w/ Larry Hanauer, INSA [Main T4C episode]

Larry Hanauer is the vice president for policy at the Intelligence and National Security Association, a nonpartisan and nonprofit association that works to identify and develop solutions to national security issues. Prior to his hiring at INSA in 2016, Larry was a senior international policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where his research focused on foreign policy and national security, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. Larry has also spent time as a senior staff member on the U.S. House of Representatives’ House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is one of two congressional committees that assists in foreign policy and the national security of the United States. In this episode, Larry lays out how being proactive can have its advantages in any industry and why one should explore working on Capitol Hill. He also explains how somebody with a B.A. in English from the  University of Pennsylvania ended up in national security and the steps you can take to make an impact on national security and policy.  WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: What exactly INSA does and who they represent Why understanding how Congress appropriates money is a big advantage if you want to break into this industry What are the unexpected places to find interesting national security analysts jobs besides the U.S. government How to handle a challenging supervisor in a creative way Why taking a step back and resetting isn’t necessarily a bad thing Why you should take more risks and disperse your interests