I have had a federal security clearance since I was a teenager and most of that time it’s been a top secret clearance. Yet, I never worked as a government contractor until my current employment. Huge mistake.
It’s so much better than the corporate world even as a software developer and even with all the draconian security restrictions. Actually, the restrictions are nearly identical to working at a major bank. The primary reason it’s so much better is the people. The people tend to skew much older with far more experience, they tend to be better educated, and they all must have clearances and IT certifications. That eliminates so much of the entitlement, insecurity, and general stupidity I saw in my peers as a 15 year corporate software developer.
I worked in defense contracting for most of my ~20 year career up until a few months ago. So I'm experiencing this culture shock the other way around. Being the oldest person on a team is... strange.
Still have my clearance for a couple years I suppose - perhaps all this anti-remote madness will be over before then.
How do you solve the catch-22 of security clearance? It seems that a lot of jobs require it but not so many people want to pay for me to get it. Is it possible to get clearance by myself on the side (assume I'm willing to deal with the fees and paperwork)?
No. You must have a sponsor that pays for the clearance. The government officially claims that a secret clearance costs around $3000 and a top secret costs around $15000. That does not include the actual investigation of sending people into the field to perform interviews. The actual costs can be well into 6 figures. You don't want to pay for that.
If you have critical skills then a large contractor like Raytheon or McDonnelL Douglas will gladly pay for it. The cost of the clearance is absolutely worth it to fill a position that drives a project forward.
It’s so much better than the corporate world even as a software developer and even with all the draconian security restrictions. Actually, the restrictions are nearly identical to working at a major bank. The primary reason it’s so much better is the people. The people tend to skew much older with far more experience, they tend to be better educated, and they all must have clearances and IT certifications. That eliminates so much of the entitlement, insecurity, and general stupidity I saw in my peers as a 15 year corporate software developer.