Dept. of Homeland Security To Build Better Cyber Workforce 57
coondoggie writes "Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today said the agency will form a cybersecurity workforce task group that will consider strategies such as expanding DHS involvement in cyber competitions and university programs, enhancing public-private security partnerships and working with other government agencies to develop a more agile cyber workforce across the federal government. The new task force will be co-chaired by hacking expert Jeff Moss who now works for the Homeland Security Advisory Council and Alan Paller is director of research at the SANS Institute."
Re:first step (Score:3, Informative)
Whenever someone says 'cyber' unironically, just think of it as shorthand for "I'm a blithering nitwit and you should ignore anything I say from here on."
Rules for new hires .... (Score:5, Informative)
Rules for new hires ....
I used to work on government contracts where clearance was required and have applied for contract jobs recently. The old guard boss is still there and he is more clueless than ever.
During the interview, it was clear: ....
* Nobody interviewing me was qualified to do that from a technical perspective. They were smart, just not smart about anything related to computers, networking,
* My skill set addressed 3 of their open positions. I'm serious.
* My rate was pretty low, yet the 3 guys kept talking about how expensive I was.
* The clearance from my prior job was 5.1 yrs old - WITH THE SAME COMPANY, just at a different place. The interviewer/manager couldn't be bothered to look up the name of the security officer at the other location.
* After I was deemed to be a perfect fit - aircraft, networking, languages, sys admin - the boss decided to list all the mandatory aspects of the job.
** be on time. Start time for my job was 7am at the latest. I'm serious. 7am **everyday**, regardless of what was happening that day. I understand that 4am was commonly needed - that was the nature of this specific job. Testing new aircraft is an early morning thing.
** Never talk back. He actually said that.
** Lunch was 30 minutes. Ok, this was getting funny.
** No leaving work early - PERIOD. Not even for Dr appointments. If I needed to pick up a sick kid early from school, I could be fired.
This boss seemed to have been from the 50s. I think he worked on an aircraft assembly line, not with "professionals" and he definitely didn't have a clue about IT people.
A week later, I followed up with the interviewer (mainly to be polite) to see where I stood. He hadn't done anything. I'd already decided to take a different position, for a 30% higher rate, which I know now is still cheap. 3 weeks later, he called me back and seemed shocked that I was working somewhere else.
Government hiring managers are clueless. They don't understand the competitive nature of the world and that people have other opportunities - some much more interesting for much more pay without all the hassles from old-style bosses.
I don't want to say that all government bosses are like this, I've worked on other contracts where I was treated with respect, paid fairly, had a great boss - we worked long and hard doing great things for the government - it was good.
I remember going to a recruitment meeting at my college for some 3-letter agencies. After all the hype in the first 10 minutes, they said that if you'd ever used any drugs, including pot, you would not be hired. 50% of the room got up and walked out. I think the other 50% were 80% liars. Personally, I don't want people who have never inhaled making decisions about my life and definitely don't want someone so straight to represent the USA abroad.
Anyway, to be happier at a new job, you'll want to
* get the pay scale early in the process
* get any "work rules" understood
* find out if your actual boss is a prick
Re:first step (Score:4, Informative)