Worth of a TS/SCI clearance in this area???? (job market, contractors)

[Mike10]

Hello all, I am searching for a full-time job in the Northern Virginia/DC area in anything. I have a current TS/SCI, a bachelors degree, military experience from joining the National Guard in an intelligence field, and good work ethics.

Shouldn't it be easy to gain a job in this area considering my background and clearance? Please help me out with suggestions and feedback. Thank you for your time.

[TechRider]

Originally Posted by Mike10

Hello all, I am searching for a full-time job in the Northern Virginia/DC area in anything. I have a current TS/SCI, a bachelors degree, military experience from joining the National Guard in an intelligence field, and good work ethics.

Shouldn't it be easy to gain a job in this area considering my background and clearance? Please help me out with suggestions and feedback. Thank you for your time.

I am sure having TS/SCI makes a difference for Tech jobs..there are many govt contractors paying top buck for people with those clearances with tech skills.

It is hard to say without knowing your prior job experience or expertise apart from education. try USAJOBS - The Federal Government’s Official Jobs Site

[kiddhan625]

You should have no problem finding a job. As mentioned in a previous thread check out www.indeed.com Good search site for defense contractor work. It's worked twice for me.

Also check out the local job fairs in the area. Their holding 4 a week.

clearancejobs.com

techexpo.com

etc...

[HEATHER72]

You should look at doing contract intel analyst work. Hubby got his job by attending a job fair I found in the newspaper. He got a job offer on the spot.

[hilsmom]

My husband has similar experience. He gets job offers from people he's never even met just based on people asking around for recs. It is actually a comfort to know that he is still in demand in this economy.

Send your resume to the government AND to the big name contractors. My husband worked his first job in DC at BAE Systems - he was pretty happy there.

[GoHokiesGo]

Originally Posted by Mike10

Hello all, I am searching for a full-time job in the Northern Virginia/DC area in anything. I have a current TS/SCI, a bachelors degree, military experience from joining the National Guard in an intelligence field, and good work ethics.

Shouldn't it be easy to gain a job in this area considering my background and clearance? Please help me out with suggestions and feedback. Thank you for your time.

Just to play devil's advocate a little based on everyone else's comments - there are a lot of jobs in this area still, but there's a lot of competition as well.

• TS/SCI clearance - that's great that you already have one, but there are a large number of other people with the same clearances as well competing for jobs. Being a Defense and Gov't work hub, tons of jobs require it so it's common for people to have that.
• Bachelor's Degree - in what?? The DC area is the highest educated area in the country. The bachelors is a bare minimum of what you need to get your foot in the door, and graduate degrees are very common as well.
• Military Experience - again, it's a defense hub in the area, so there are all kinds of people with previous military experience.

Please don't take the comments as offensive or discouraging, but I'm just trying to look at it from another angle. The job market in this region is the most stable in the country, so you'll be competing against people from all over the US looking for stable jobs. Your qualifications sound like they are "on par" with the majority of others in this area, so you'll need to focus on your accomplishments that help you stand out. Don't search for a job "in anything", find one that fits your past experience in intelligence doing something that you have direct experience in.

As always - personal recommendations and networking go a long ways as well. You have the basic qualifications, but so do a lot of others, so sometimes a bit of networking with the right connections can get your foot in the door as well. Good luck!

[hilsmom]

My husband has actually found that because he has all three (the clearance, the BS in engineering and the military background) he does tend to have a better resume than most of the people he works with. Now, maybe that has changed and maybe it is specific to what he has been doing, but quite a few of the people in his network do NOT have all 3. The people he works for now are career military with no degree. A manager he worked for in the past couldn't leave the company because even with all his experience, he lacked a degree and couldn't even be considered for other positions because of it. My husband was working on his BS part-time at the time he started that job, and kept going because he didn't want to find himself in that spot. Now, he has 10 years of work experience in his field, his military service, his clearances AND a degree.

It sounds like jobs are still out there for people that don't have a ton of work experience based on what another poster said about the job fair. You always have to put your best foot forward, obviously. Good luck to you.

[Mike10]

Suffice to say my major in college was more along the liberal arts arena. I should of got a technical degree. And I have no relevant intelligence experience, just the training that was given to me courtesy of the Army.

[SallyField]

This is probably the best geographical area for you to be looking. The DC area probably has more jobs suited to you than anywhere else in the country. As GoHokiesGo said, you should be aware that there are a ton of people here with an SCI clearance and military / intelligence background, so it does not make you unique, but it will open doors that otherwise would be closed. Best of luck!

[Mike10]

Just scooped up a job.