Information Technology (IT)

BeezyGotSole said:

You really just have to tell the truth, secrets are extremely easy to get (once you have a sponsor).
Overall a clearance pretty much is a background check to make sure that you can't be bribed/blackmailed into giving out
sensitive information. Nothing to hide/lie about you can't be blackmailed or bought out financially.

To get clearances :

-Don't do drugs (they prefer 7yrs but really 3 year min don't lie about it)
-Clean record
-Never sold/trafficked drugs
-No serious credit issues (if you do have bad credit don't lie about it)
-No terrorist ties
-Foreign contacts must not have terrorist ties

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From that list I'm good then, I just need a sponsor. I suppose that's what I was most confused about, the sponsor part.

willypete said:

From that list I'm good then, I just need a sponsor. I suppose that's what I was most confused about, the sponsor part.

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The sponsor is the employer, you must apply to jobs that require a clearance. Hard part could be finding a job that will sponsor you.

I see your in the dmv area, so when you look for jobs you want to look for :

"Able to obtain (Secret / TS / TS/SCI with poly) clearance"

Jobs that say, " Must already have ACTIVE (Secret / TS / TS/SCI with poly) clearance" you aren't qualified for.

Just got tapped to be PM for another website redesign project. It aint nothin glamorous but it's all experience that I can add to my resume. I went to a recruiting event a few weeks ago and everybody I talked to said their clients generally want 3yrs exp minimum for just about everything except helpdesk which is a year plus an A+ cert. I think I'll throw my hat in the ring w/ positions but at this point, it's just to do it and if I get a bite, coo, if not, whatever; I'm just gon chalk up trying to get a gig as a BA, PM, etc.

BeezyGotSole said:

The sponsor is the employer, you must apply to jobs that require a clearance. Hard part could be finding a job that will sponsor you.

I see your in the dmv area, so when you look for jobs you want to look for :

"Able to obtain (Secret / TS / TS/SCI with poly) clearance"

Jobs that say, " Must already have ACTIVE (Secret / TS / TS/SCI with poly) clearance" you aren't qualified for.

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Repped!

Thanks for clearing that up. I usually stayed away from jobs that had clearance in it because I knew I wouldn't get them.

DatZNasty said:

Shoutout to whichever NT it was who sent me that offer in DC for 90k.

Getting a clearance is easy, I know one of our guys lost his though because of a bankruptcy, not that he went bankrupt but he either didn't report it or lied about it. So your credit is a factor. We have Secret. If you ever get interviewed for someone else's clearance, they ask the dumbest questions. Like I'm wasting 30 minutes of my day telling her whether or not I have ever known so and so to harbor illegals from outside of the US in his home while looking at her like really

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Yeah I had to do one for my old roommate that works at the Pentagon now. They asked about his out of country residency (military kid), habits with regards to money, drugs and alcohol, etc.

I filled out that big *** form for a Secret and I'm more mad I didn't get any feedback on why I didn't get that position after that long *** form.

If you can get one of those gigs where they sponsor the clearance, I'd definitely hop on it.

My training got approved for me to do a 5 day "bootcamp" for the Security+ cert. Should be taking the class the last week of April and talking the exam first week of May.

I need this cert to go overseas, praying I leave by the end of this year.

Is there a specific cert in IT I could take right now that would allow me switch to switch up my career 100%? Wouldn't mind something in cybersecurity.

Osek206 said:

Is there a specific cert in IT I could take right now that would allow me switch to switch up my career 100%? Wouldn't mind something in cybersecurity.

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Plenty.

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH or EH)
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Citrix Certified Professional - Virtualization (CCP-V)
VMware Certified Professional (VCP, often VCPx-DCV where DCV is Data Center Virtualization)
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

The list goes on. The catch? Many of the certs you're after require X amount of years and/or prereq Certs for you to be able to register.

If you want a role in security, focus on Security+ first. After you get that, explore options for specialization.

BeezyGotSole said:

My training got approved for me to do a 5 day "bootcamp" for the Security+ cert. Should be taking the class the last week of April and talking the exam first week of May.

I need this cert to go overseas, praying I leave by the end of this year.

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Is it one of the ones where they proctor the exam for you too at the end of class? If so, they won't let you fail. Such a scam. Dude was walking around the class looking over people's shoulder during the exam like, "nuh uh, B," since as a business it behooves them to have a high pass rate. I didn't get or need any help though since he was over there flirting the whole time.

But yea like dude said, get that Sec + and start at help desk to get in then move around from there. I can get you on down here pretty easily. Pay has been slashed significantly but still $45k entry level in Fort Sill, Oklahoma goes far. Get that Sec+ and a Windows 70-685 or 680 and you can get $70. Work and get more certs on the job, in a year or two move to Ft Gordon in Augusta, where they're also building that huge NSA building out there somewhere too. It's the Army's, maybe DOD wide, Cyber headquarters.

@DatZNasty lol no they don't proctor the exam that actually sounds pretty crazy . I'm doing it though Global Knowledge or Security NInja which ever one my manager prefers me to take.

Yea this was damn near 10 years ago. I doubt they even let companies do that anymore since the conflict of interest is so apparent.

What's the best resource to learn SCCM? Trying to get some more rights here at my current job so I don't always have to ask the 1 person with rights to put things into recovery, advertise software to this machine, etc. Our team lead said if we can learn it then pick up a ticket and execute it, demonstrating our knowledge to do so, he'll come up off the rights

DatZNasty said:

Shoutout to whichever NT it was who sent me that offer in DC for 90k.

Getting a clearance is easy, I know one of our guys lost his though because of a bankruptcy, not that he went bankrupt but he either didn't report it or lied about it. So your credit is a factor. We have Secret. If you ever get interviewed for someone else's clearance, they ask the dumbest questions. Like I'm wasting 30 minutes of my day telling her whether or not I have ever known so and so to harbor illegals from outside of the US in his home while looking at her like really

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No problem on the job opportunity. One of my other referrals landed the position. I really wish they opened up more spots, but my bad if you guys went out of your way, or if it was something you weren't expecting. I wasn't sure of your actual names either, so when my managers was going through a list of interviews, I wasn't exactly sure who was who .

Going to assume my herb usage disqualifies me from ever getting a secret clearance?

Jay Patt said:

Going to assume my herb usage disqualifies me from ever getting a secret clearance?

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Nope. My co-worker has a TS and has multiple violations of possession, but this was years ago.

They are more worried about if you have any relations to outside countries and that matter.

I forgot your name in the interview for a bit, didn't think they would bring up the referral. Good looks on the oop though. Was a step back as i'm a lead/supervisor for a group like that, but I would've shut my mouth and been up in there killing it for 90k.

Jay Patt said:

Going to assume my herb usage disqualifies me from ever getting a secret clearance?

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No you're fine, just stop right now if a clearance is what you're after. 3 months is usually enough time to get a secret. TS on the other hand they want at least 1-2 years (prefer 3 years) of no drug use.

@DatZNasty lol so I found out today that the company does proctor the exam as well, or I can get a voucher to take the exam through

Comptia.

To brehs who do the Contract stuff, when do you all tend to start applying for work to move to the next contract and do companies tend to give you enough time before hand to let you know if they will be renewing you?

For any guys in or not in my field (web development) looking to startup

https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/...art-a-wordpress-web-design-business-read-this

I took away some good points in the article.

@DatZNasty lol so I found out today that the company does proctor the exam as well, or I can get a voucher to take the exam through

Comptia.

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at them still allowing that to go on but they're snatching certs from people who they find out used VCEs. Take it through them. Trust, it behooves them that you pass.

No problem on the job opportunity. One of my other referrals landed the position. I really wish they opened up more spots, but my bad if you guys went out of your way, or if it was something you weren't expecting. I wasn't sure of your actual names either, so when my managers was going through a list of interviews, I wasn't exactly sure who was who

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Man, I know nothing about the N.E or even if 90k Is a lot of money but am just down for a change if certain life circumstances weren't keeping me here.

To brehs who do the Contract stuff, when do you all tend to start applying for work to move to the next contract and do companies tend to give you enough time before hand to let you know if they will be renewing you?

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Army/DOD you know when your contract is up because it's in the offer plus on your ID card. Even if they have a 5 yr contract, they may be all option years which means every Jan 31 or whatever the time period is, the Government can still put it up for rebid. When this happens, you just see your job listed on a bunch of different company's sistes, they're trying to mie resumes so when they bid for the contract they can say they have X number of qualified applicants already committed and in place to include 5 already working in the position or whatever. You can sign a letter of contingency with them ahead of time which just means you are agreeing to work for them if they do get it, if not then never mind. They'll all be calling you anyways. Or you can just ignore It because in most cases IT work for the Government falls under a class of contracts called SCA, which means your wage and benefits are Government mandated has to be at least this number, can be higher but no lower, and in that case incumbents have first rights of refusal so the spot continues to be yours if you want it.

Now what just happened to me and our contract here, which was not only such a **** boy move but literally illegal and we were going to all contact DOL but most just found different jobs, they let this company SNAP out of Virginia underbid the contract (for example say we have 20 employees at 50k, that's obviously $1,000,000 so anything they bid above that is there profit, well they come in and bid like $850,000) as if they were going to do the contract at a loss (which some companies do do just to get their feet wet in a new sector and location) then act like they didn't know it was SCA and they had to pay us X, so they got the contract changed to remove the SCA status, required MORE certs, made us salaried and not annually/hourly (only when it worked in their favor) AND then cut our pay over 20% instantly after calling all of us lying telling us their offer was right on par. #@*& it's over $15k less! IDK what the exact number they bid is but using the 1,000,000 example let's just say they bid the contract even or 1% profit because they know the Government just takes lowest bidder, if you do that then instead of 50 pay everyone 40, and then when they get mad and leave pay the new people 35, you got like 30% of contract value unaccounted for. Plus they work money for sending us to training, supplies, and OT into the contract and then don't extend it to us. Again, goes in someone's pockets.

In the case of Government contracting, it's more lucrative to be the project manager. Trust, that's where a lot of the swindled moneys are going. And you don't even have to be a subject matter expect. I have been on the same contract 9 yrs through like 6 different companies, never once was our PM an IT guy. It's usually just some bloke who knew someone and sole responsibility is pretty much approving timesheets. Easy money. The one for the SNAP job I just left was such a douche, in our first meeting he was like, "well it's still a lot of money.... not a lot of good jobs or other options here in Lawton... You can drive to OKC... I got a line of other people who'd be happy to take it," not even 2 months later all but like 3 of us out of 18 are gone and he's having to hire underqualified applicants which puts him in direct violation of the contract (COR is super chill and not busing them on it though because he could actually end the contract but he's just not going to let them win it again). Plus the customers, in this case the Army base, are upset because nobody knows anything and they don't have admin rights card because they aren't qualified so everything has to be submitted up as a ticket and thus takes forever.

I'm tired of it, had a few plugs to jump over to GS but not going to do it for anything less than a GS12, can't take that big of a cut. Want to get into this informatics grad degree and ride this 2 yrs out then jump into that

@DatZNasty bruh I'm not jumping for anything less than a 14, MAYBE a high 13 .

I've met quite a few people that jumped over into intel at 14.

So you think I should just take the voucher and do the exam through Comptia?

WOW they did some wild shady ish to you man, you found a different position right?

Yea the previous company who held the contract has someone leave, who was literally tasked or designated to working only with/for us, so I got back to the same pay and do generally the same work with the same people

I think you should let them give you the exam

Tryna study for this CAPM but I'm losing the motivation for it, though I know I need it. Got picked up for another small non-profit project which is coo for the experience.

Seeing all this talk about DOD contracts got me wanting to move to D.C., but nah

DatZNasty said:

Yea the previous company who held the contract has someone leave, who was literally tasked or designated to working only with/for us, so I got back to the same pay and do generally the same work with the same people

I think you should let them give you the exam

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That's good you were able to pick up the other position quickly.

dathbgboy govt contract are all over the world DC just has the highest amount of contracts, but you can find jobs all over. I think the best area to move to is TX for govt contracts. High pay low cost of living.

@DatZNasty  same -ish happened to me last year at my job. I was with a DoD contractor and we had the contract for 5 years. We were on our 3rd bridge because the contracting office for Navy was taking forever would never get it done on time. Our gov't customer kept assuring us and even assumed that we were going to win it. It still makes no sense that an office that never even comes to your building basically just picks the lowest number without researching anything. They beat us out by like 300k or something like that I believe. 

The new company that won, SRA, lowballed the entire contract. Helpdesk making 50k was being offered 35k, Tier 2/3 Sys. Admins in the 75-90k range were being thrown 50-60k....in Quantico at that . HR and the transition manager had the nerve to say that it was the going rate for this area. I told them to their face, their research and information was not correct and they would never hire anyone worth keeping that has a degree, certifications, and fully cleared for these prices. I wished them good luck keeping their contract after the 1st year was up and was up for the 1st option renewal.

Every Friday for a month they called me around like 4pm to tell me that they had a meeting and were "approved" to increase my position's pay rate . Started at 56k, then 65k with 5k bonus, then 70s with a 8k bonus. The last day of the contract (drop dead date with no transition period at that), they called me pitching 80k with a 15k bonus. They tried to play the "that is more than your current salary" ploy. Initially it sounded good but I told them, unless they giving me a significant raise after the 1st year, or that bonus is yearly they can forget it and it is not more than my salary. Told them good luck and out-processed. They tried to convince me that it would be hard to find a job again, and I told them they can save the pitch because I already had another job across the street, maintaining my clearance, and getting a pay bump. She said "oh, really?" I confirmed and hung up.

Luckily, I did have another job, and it was with the former company I was with. I was friends and did good work for the senior engineers before I left and they were the Directors and PMs now, so I sent a Google Hangout message asking if they had something, he called and talked to me about what I would be interested in doing and the spot he had..I was sent an offer sheet the next day. Told me they would love to have me, but even if I just used it for leverage with my current position I could do that too.

Went ahead and rolled out last August. Fast forward to now and another guy I used to work with (He was Help desk & I was a Sys. Admin. ironically) was now who I reported to . He took a new job out in Cali. where his family was from and lived. (that is a whole other story in itself), and since I was the Lead Admin on his team, they promoted me to the Team Lead/Manager I tier and gave me another ~9-10% raise on top of the little bump they gave me 7 months ago to come back over here . So I got a couple guys that report to me and I get to do the timecard approval and defining performance goals and all of that. 

I'm on an Army contract now too as well