Clearance and IT Jobs

Satcom

I currently hold a clearance just got out the army 2 weeks ago .. pursuing a job on the IT side.. im waiting to go overseas as a satcom guy if that doesnt work plan b is to CCNA by the end of the month and apply some more stateside

I hear that CCNA and A+ are very good intro certs to get your foot in the door if you have a minum of a secret clearance with companies like general dynamics

im working on my CCNA plan on having it by the end of the month

just wondering how many people on here are doing IT in government and if you can get me a job.. lolz

im guessing the best route is clearancejobs.com but a lot of the time its who you know if you know anybody hiriing LMK.

GAngel

I've got top secret clearance her in canada. Used it for a job 3 years ago in a NOC. Didn't have my CCNA at the time but it would have helped. Just got an offer no CCNA needed but MCSE was a req, secret clearance was a requirement. So i guess it really more depends on the job function itself.

Complete pain in the a$$ to get I barely remember what i did yesterday much less 15 years ago. Doubt I'd get it on my own again but its a very good mention in any interview..

Jason0352

I also hold a SECRET clearance from the Marine Corps, about to take ICND2 (CCNA), and would love to hear if my clearance is of any importance in the IT industry.

the_Grinch

I'd look toward some three letter agencies if you want to stay state side. If you want to be a contractor, Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrup are companies that are looking for clearances...

Lamini

Satcom wrote: »

I currently hold a clearance just got out the army 2 weeks ago .. pursuing a job on the IT side.. im waiting to go overseas as a satcom guy if that doesnt work plan b is to CCNA by the end of the month and apply some more stateside

I hear that CCNA and A+ are very good intro certs to get your foot in the door if you have a minum of a secret clearance with companies like general dynamics

im working on my CCNA plan on having it by the end of the month

just wondering how many people on here are doing IT in government and if you can get me a job.. lolz

im guessing the best route is clearancejobs.com but a lot of the time its who you know if you know anybody hiriing LMK.

... takes deep breath

greetings. you and i hold a similar path. you are in my shoes 5yrs ago. keep your resumes on several online engines (hotjobs/monster/ and more importantly on other popular military contractors, and make the phone calls yourself!). i remember trying to land a job with DISA (japan/europe) before i got out, but there was a yr waiting list). i got out the military in 2004 due to 6month annual deployments to the desert. i was same career field as you.

you may have already found out how tough it is to land a SATCOM job in the real world, but they pay well (see ft monmouth/aberdeen proving grounds); its not like anyone can buy a SATCOM for Dummies book and pass with some luck, or study for a SATCOM exam in 2 weeks and pass. our technical schools were lengthy (1.5yrs of military technical schools for me).

your clearance+telecommunications is your main edge, keep sharpening it, dont let it rust, while improving related fields, like networking. from what ive seen, the IT field is oversaturated and outsourcing is an issue, unlike our AFSC/MOSs; we had unique jobs in the military. there WAS a reason SRBs went up for related IT MOSs several yrs ago, it is no longer the case as it has died/dying off (i think-im not in anymore).

you already know RF, it sounds like youre already getting to know IP. i now do both and then some. just remember that since you got out, you will be starting lower than what you were when you were in the military; i always tell people to stay in and if you dont know why, you will very soon, of course this is case by case

whatever decision you make, make sure a degree is the main path and certs are secondary (i cant stress that enough - you know the officer vs nco game, get to know the degreed vs non-degreed game - hint* same rules, those butterbars are fresh college kids).

you as prior military will be probably taken by the top 20 or so DoD contractors affiliated w/ military (raytheon, baesytems, northrop grumman etc), ps checkout harris, hughes, telenor satellite. spend time filling in your resume, military experience didnt amount to anything for me, i literally walked back several years as far as career progression, ie from being supervisor/training manager of a dozen, then to being baby sat myself.

also get very familiar with what is "comfortable pay" as far as what state/city you live in before you sign the dotted line... i made the mistake of assuming $17/hr was ok where i am now, big mistake im still paying for. and before you complain about not getting the pay you want, make sure you have the ammo on your belt to justify it (degree/certs).

good luck

btowntech

Jason0352 wrote: »

I also hold a SECRET clearance from the Marine Corps, about to take ICND2 (CCNA), and would love to hear if my clearance is of any importance in the IT industry.

I have a SECRET clearance and am a network engineer at a Navy base. You might want to take a look at Harris IT Services (www.harris.com) which supports the Navy and Marines. NMCI is considered the largest intranet in the world.

networker050184

Military experience and a clearance are great things to have when looking for work. When I got out of the Army with a secret clearance and CCNA I didn't have any issue finding a job. I've never held a cleared position in the civilian world (wanted to stay as far from the military as possible) but I have gotten great feedback from employers on my clearance. I was also offered a couple positions to work with the big contractors when I first got out. I had enough of military communications by that point though and wanted a change which is why I got out in the first place.

Good lock on your search, and I'm sure you won't have too much of an issue finding some work.

bellhead

The big clearances are the NSA/TS/SBI type clearance, I have done a little research lately regarding this.

If you have one of these and a CCNP with experience then it is a name your salary type of situation. There is about a 5 to 1 ratio for applicants...

Too bad I don't have mine anymore.

The big one is if you have a NSA crypto clearance, this is the holy grail type as it allows you to work for the NSA or military contractor on crypto comm circuits.

carboncopy

Well since you have a clearance you should not have that much trouble finding a job. I always get calls from the head hunters in Tampa asking me if I know any cleared personnel for positions over there in Tampa. There are also positions over in Patrick AFB. If you are looking for a job stateside now then let me know. I'll see what I can do.

Satcom

Lamini wrote: »

... takes deep breath

greetings. you and i hold a similar path. you are in my shoes 5yrs ago. keep your resumes on several online engines (hotjobs/monster/ and more importantly on other popular military contractors, and make the phone calls yourself!). i remember trying to land a job with DISA (japan/europe) before i got out, but there was a yr waiting list). i got out the military in 2004 due to 6month annual deployments to the desert. i was same career field as you.

you may have already found out how tough it is to land a SATCOM job in the real world, but they pay well (see ft monmouth/aberdeen proving grounds); its not like anyone can buy a SATCOM for Dummies book and pass with some luck, or study for a SATCOM exam in 2 weeks and pass. our technical schools were lengthy (1.5yrs of military technical schools for me).

your clearance+telecommunications is your main edge, keep sharpening it, dont let it rust, while improving related fields, like networking. from what ive seen, the IT field is oversaturated and outsourcing is an issue, unlike our AFSC/MOSs; we had unique jobs in the military. there WAS a reason SRBs went up for related IT MOSs several yrs ago, it is no longer the case as it has died/dying off (i think-im not in anymore).

you already know RF, it sounds like youre already getting to know IP. i now do both and then some. just remember that since you got out, you will be starting lower than what you were when you were in the military; i always tell people to stay in and if you dont know why, you will very soon, of course this is case by case

whatever decision you make, make sure a degree is the main path and certs are secondary (i cant stress that enough - you know the officer vs nco game, get to know the degreed vs non-degreed game - hint* same rules, those butterbars are fresh college kids).

you as prior military will be probably taken by the top 20 or so DoD contractors affiliated w/ military (raytheon, baesytems, northrop grumman etc), ps checkout harris, hughes, telenor satellite. spend time filling in your resume, military experience didnt amount to anything for me, i literally walked back several years as far as career progression, ie from being supervisor/training manager of a dozen, then to being baby sat myself.

also get very familiar with what is "comfortable pay" as far as what state/city you live in before you sign the dotted line... i made the mistake of assuming $17/hr was ok where i am now, big mistake im still paying for. and before you complain about not getting the pay you want, make sure you have the ammo on your belt to justify it (degree/certs).

good luck

appreciate the input... sorry i didnt reply back with as much thought and my grammar is going to be horrible...

I was in your shoes 2004 except you had an advantage i didnt. You already attended a Satcom school. I got out as a 25U (jack of all trades com) i used to be an RTO in 75th RGR Rgt deployed... did a stint in an MP unit doing freq hop radios in iraq.. blah... i applied for a company called datapath when i got out in 2004 which i believe got bought out. These companies are so dynamic! The phone interview he said he thought my resume was solid but the fact i didnt do multichannel satellite and didnt know wtf signal flow was. He wanted me cuz i had the clearance but i didnt have the satcom school under my belt even tho idid single channel
I went back in for 3 years and reclassed as a satcom guy.. school was long they actually shortened the course for army. I have been deployed ever since I got my school
The thing now i dont know what kind of site you worked at but IP is everything VSAT was my thing and you can train a monkey to operate VSAT imho.

I like the idea of you calling companies and initiating the request. I just got offered a job 1 hour ago. I dont want to just jump into it without any thought but i think im going to take it here in minutes..

I wanted to finish up my CCNA at least but they want me on the next hop out the states

Are you still in SATCOM? Well thanks for the advice man really appreciated

You are so right about getting a degree. One of my decisions to get out was i joined a reserve unit but we do missions with active all the time. They promoted this guy just because he was a mason and our 1sg was a mason 2 n 2 together. This guy never went to iraq / afghanistan.. this guy used to be a freakin 88m (truck driver). Then i had guys in charge of me that didnt know **** technically and i would be there booster guy while they got promoted twice. A degree is the way to go mang well if you join the military I remember having some dumb NCO's in charge of me..but i had some competent good ones too.... i did have some airhead ass butterbars too that were as worthless as a snocone in hell.

Satcom

carboncopy wrote: »

Well since you have a clearance you should not have that much trouble finding a job. I always get calls from the head hunters in Tampa asking me if I know any cleared personnel for positions over there in Tampa. There are also positions over in Patrick AFB. If you are looking for a job stateside now then let me know. I'll see what I can do.

ill keep in touch with you ..