Are defense jobs out of reach for mediocre students?

[CoolTech]

bah

 

[440sixpack]

Originally posted by: HokieESM
...Unfortunately, places like the USARL

Heh, my old employer, '91-'95, when it was in Watertown MA (Co-op job from Northeastern). I went down to APG to set up our lab when we moved, but I wasn't offered a place there (not that I would have gone anyway).

Originally posted by: SlowSS
Secret clearance usually cost a company upwards of 40k...

Wow, I had no idea my secret clearance was worth so much! Sounds cool to be able to tell people though. 😉

Originally posted by: CoolTech
how tough is the clearance. I mean like what is checked into, how deep?

Heh, I had one friend call me up screaming "What the hell are you trying to do to me? I came home to a letter from the Department of the Army and was like 'what the hell?'...!" 😀

 

[UltraQuiet]

Originally posted by: SlowSS

Originally posted by: CoolTech
how tough is the clearance. I mean like what is checked into, how deep?

Well that depends on what type of clearance it is.

Secret clearance goes into fairly in depth. However, Special Access Program (SAP) clearance requires much more. I think my SAP clearance took over 8 months to complete.
Top Secret require SBI and it is very thorough investigation, better diverge every detail of your life.

These investigations entails, checks into all aspect of your life including, drug/alcohol usuage, any criminal activities including traffic tickets, all the people you've met (SAP and SBI),
your relatives, your relatives activities, your financial infomation, any organization that you belong to, travels to foreign countries, other jobs you held, protests you were involved, school activities, etc,
there are more, but can't remember right now.

Basically what SlowSS is trying to say is that they crawl up your ass with a microscope. I have a TS/SCI clearance and I have had people in industry tell me it's worth about $100K.

 

[LiQiCE]

I work for Lockheed Martin in the Washington Metro area and I know that right now with the job market so tight, we have been very particular with who we're hiring.
I know people with high GPAs (3.5+) coming out of decent schools like Virginia Tech that were not offered positions (but did get interviews).

Based on your major, I'm assuming you'd want to work in an Information Technology type position (which is the area that I work). I would make sure to get some internships (even with Lockheed or another contractor), or at least try to get some job experience working for your school etc ... From what I've seen in Lockheed, they seem to like people with real world experience more than a good GPA. (Thats probably true of almost any job you're interviewing for). So if you can rack up some good experience before you start interviewing, and you interview pretty well (I know the people we send to interview candidates always ask technical questions) then people may completely overlook your GPA. (After all, some of the most talented people didn't have great overall GPAs in college but did well in their major).

Being 'clearable' is also important. You don't have to be the perfect person, but the government definitely frowns upon illicit drug use (I don't just mean using it presently, I mean if you've ever used before too), any sortof criminal behavior (Even breaking copyrights aka downloading MP3s), debt to income ratio, and psychological problems. When they're making a decision all of these things weigh in, and above all else ... honesty is the most important. Telling them you did drugs once will weigh in much better than them finding it out later from someone else. (Lying will almost certainly get you denied). Basically, if you live more on the lawful side than the unlawful side you'll have a much better chance of working in the defense industry.

Good luck! Hope everything works out well for you.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Some of you know this - Since they've moved most of InfoCom to Orlando, there are a lot of Computer Tech jobs in O'Town.
Lockheed Martin would be a breeze there for nerdlings.

 

[heartsurgeon]

nope!

i'm sure the Army recruiter would sign you up in a heartbeat.

 

[CoolTech]

funny man