Cryptographic Technicians

High School

If you are interested in becoming a cryptographic technician, take courses in mathematics and English while in high school. You should be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide with ease and be able to compute ratios and percentages. The ability to read equipment and instruction manuals and to write reports with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation is important in the job. You should also take courses that will train you in typing and in the operation of computers and business machines. Computer science, data analytics, and programming courses; business classes; and even shop classes dealing with electronics will be helpful. Knowledge of foreign languages is especially helpful in government and military positions, as well as in the increasingly globalized world economy.