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Subject:RE: So many jobs want CURRENT security clearances From:"Gilger.John" <JGilger -at- acresgaming -dot- com> To:"Guy McDonald" <gmcdonald -at- mcdts -dot- com>, "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 13 Aug 2003 09:17:16 -0700
Guy, you're blowin' smoke again. ;)
I've held a 'Q' clearance and did tech writing for EG&G, a government M&O contractor. The pay was substantially better than the private sector and I lived in a nice suburb of Denver, Colorado. Of course, that was before the Clinton years.
Yes, you have to have a "need to know" so a government agency or one of their contractors has to request your clearance and justify the need. It took about 18 months in my case to upgrade my clearance from DOD SECRET to DOE 'Q'. It requires a more extensive FBI investigation than that required for a TOPSECRET SBI.
People like Bonnie are not excluded from the pool. We are just second-tier candidates since we could not be fully productive for the first 1-2 years of our employment. Believe me, working in a job that requires a clearance while you are uncleared is a huge PITA. I'm sure it is even worse now with the national case of paranoia.
Most of the jobs I have seen on dice.com requiring clearances are for defense contractors in the greater DC area that require SECRET or TOPSECRET clearances. I haven't seen much of anything available in the nuclear weapons complex that requires a 'Q'. If anyone knows of such a position, I'd be very interested in hearing about it.
BTW -- since when is Los Alamos, New Mexico, worse than Texas Hell? :)
John Gilger
Senior Technical Writer
Acres Gaming, Inc.
Las Vegas, Nevada
-----Original Message-----
From: Guy McDonald [mailto:gmcdonald -at- mcdts -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 05:47 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: So many jobs want CURRENT security clearances
>the exclusion of people like me from the pool of
>people who can be hired surely is negatively affecting the already high unemployment
rate.
I suppose so Bonnie ... but most Government tech writing jobs are not worth
applying for unless you are desperate for work.
In my former life as a nuclear power dude on US submarines ... I held a Secret
clearance. Like you, I see an extraordinary number of jobs posted on job boards
like Dice that require a Q level security clearance. Even with my past high
security clearance, it is my understanding that I cannot obtain a Q clearance
on my own. I have to be sponsored by a government agency or contractor just
like you would. Does this make sense? After all, I was entrusted with national
security assets for years. Of course it does not make sense ... it is the government
and another example of our tax dollars in motion.
Unfortunately most of the Q-clearance jobs I have seen offer salaries below
market rates. These jobs are often constrained to some God forsaken location
like Los Alamos, New Mexico where you write about subject matter that makes
a Metamucil breakfast look exciting.
Guy (who awaits the CIA to contact him for his next gig)
Guy McDonald
gmcdonald -at- mcdts -dot- com
281-728-5454
