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Does anyone know what happens to the DC Metro during a government shutdown? Do they just switch to a modified Saturday schedule like they do on federal holidays?
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Feb 21, 2011 22:39
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What happens if I get called for an interview while I'm on orders (Reservist) and can't make it? Will I be SOL? In other words, would it be a bad idea to start applying to jobs now when I know I will be gone for ~1 year in about 6 months?
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Feb 22, 2011 06:40
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TCD posted:Edit: Also I can't stand the Tea Partiers in the State Dept. I asked one why he didn't resign out of principal. That didn't go over to well. I am always surprised by the number of small government republicans I have met in my Federal job. Nutella posted:I survived the last government shut down. Yes, we all got paid and I don't recall there was much of a lapse either. We were off a full week. The media played up the "GS-2 single mom of 4 with no baby daddy" angle and guilted congress into retroactive pay. As an "essential" employee, I'm going to be loving pissed if the non-essential employees get a paid vacation and I still have to show up.
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Feb 22, 2011 11:56
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psydude posted:Didn't even realize this. If my stipend stops, it looks like I'll be fasting. The VA benefits being taken away could be a big deal. A lot of people obviously are going to school unemployed on the GI Bill (esp with the new GI Bill), not to mention disabled vets, etc. WMATA is DC/MD/VA-funded, so I would think it wouldn't be affected, though it's worth noting that the Republican spending bill guts its funding in the DC portion of its budget (who needs to waste pocket change on commie pinko euro-rail anyway? there's a deficit to be saving!). It's inextricably linked with the Federal government because of various grants and its DC funding, but it's not a federal entity. The Smithsonian museums would presumably close though. Also, I would keep applying to jobs. If the shutdown happens, it'll be Mar 4. No one knows what the resolution would be but any shutdown probably won't be that long anyway, though knock on wood... Zoo fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Feb 22, 2011 |
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Feb 22, 2011 17:57
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How long is the suspected shutdown suppose to last? Just out of curiosity if anyone's heard any more rumors. edit: vets should be fine. I crafted that policy very very carefully.  edit2: so should contractors. There's gonna be blood, for sure, if there's more than a 14 day shutdown. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Feb 22, 2011 |
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Feb 22, 2011 20:05
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Skandiaavity posted:How long is the suspected shutdown suppose to last? Just out of curiosity if anyone's heard any more rumors. Well, the politicians (e.g. Sen. Murray) are saying veterans would have problems with their benefits, which does make sense actually, because the VA being closed would cause delays. I think that's pretty likely since they already have that problem at "full" capacity. As for contractors, they just do lay-offs. It happened in 1995 and would happen this time. If you're a contractor, then you already know whether or not you're safe based on dialogue with your company. Nobody at my workplace has anything to worry about, but if you do, then you know who you are. I haven't heard any rumors about how long it'd last, 'cause I don't think anyone knows. It's however long they want to play chicken. A few hours or days, I guess (obviously a few hours would be less detrimental). An article the other day said it could be "more than just a few hours or days," verbatim, but I chalked it up to hyperbole. I'm betting that if it happens at all, which I'm starting to doubt, it's over quickly. I'm sure I don't know any better than anyone else, though, apart from the human scum at the top playing games for political gain.
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Feb 22, 2011 21:49
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Yeah, I was working with Murray on it earlier - I was talking coverage - but likely agreeing with the 'scheduling' being miffed. IMO it doesn't make sense for a company to lay off a contractor if it's only a few days hiatus, even if that. If they outright ditch/lose the contracts, then I could probably see your argument. But yeah, you'd know before it happened.
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Feb 22, 2011 23:39
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Zoo posted:WMATA is DC/MD/VA-funded, so I would think it wouldn't be affected, though it's worth noting that the Republican spending bill guts its funding in the DC portion of its budget (who needs to waste pocket change on commie pinko euro-rail anyway? there's a deficit to be saving!). It's inextricably linked with the Federal government because of various grants and its DC funding, but it's not a federal entity. The funding being gutted is only for capital improvements and Metro sure doesn't need those! I realize it's not a federal entity, but it does cater a lot to federal employees, like how they run alternate schedules on federal holidays. It would seem excessive to run rush hour frequency trains when the feds are shut down as nearly half of the rush hour riders are federal employees (according to the 2010 Metro Facts sheet).
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Feb 22, 2011 23:51
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Well, it looks like I'm not done freaking out. Again this government craziness is making me worried that my job won't come through after all...or at least not for a looong time. My friend who works for another three-letter says I should worry because "they wouldn't have paid for my clearance if they didn't really want me." I think I may call my HR person today instead of tomorrow to check on my placement status. I'm thinking, at this point, that if I'm not going to be able to start training until the summer that I'm just going to go back to Minnesota for the interim. Maybe then I can at least get some relocation funds.
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Feb 24, 2011 14:28
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CherryCola posted:Well, it looks like I'm not done freaking out. Again this government craziness is making me worried that my job won't come through after all...or at least not for a looong time. My friend who works for another three-letter says I should worry because "they wouldn't have paid for my clearance if they didn't really want me." I think the best way to deal with the wait for the hiring call is to give up completely. That way, it's a nice surprise if it actually does come through or you're already prepared for the disappointment of not getting a call. (Even us current Feds who are trying to lateral around are eagerly awaiting the FY 2011 budget so FTE hiring can begin again.)
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Feb 25, 2011 06:19
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Evil SpongeBob posted:I think the best way to deal with the wait for the hiring call is to give up completely. That way, it's a nice surprise if it actually does come through or you're already prepared for the disappointment of not getting a call. Yeah, you're probably right. I called HR today and they have no updates. My left eyelid has started twitching from all this stress.
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Feb 25, 2011 17:37
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I pity whoever has to do my background check. Apparently I've lived in 12 different places since 2005 and have 18+ references (job supervisors, people to verify periods of unemployment, people to verify everywhere I've lived, and people who know me well). Oh, and I've lived abroad for 2 years and am married to a foreigner. Here's to hoping I don't fail!
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Feb 25, 2011 17:57
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amethystbliss posted:I pity whoever has to do my background check. Apparently I've lived in 12 different places since 2005 and have 18+ references (job supervisors, people to verify periods of unemployment, people to verify everywhere I've lived, and people who know me well). Oh, and I've lived abroad for 2 years and am married to a foreigner. Here's to hoping I don't fail! grover fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Feb 25, 2011 |
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Feb 25, 2011 18:31
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CherryCola posted:Yeah, you're probably right. I called HR today and they have no updates. My left eyelid has started twitching from all this stress. Have you been assigned a 'mentor' for purposes of acclimating yourself to the agency? These would be the people (hopefully younger) that can answer your questions about where to live, how to get there, etc. Typically they will assign someone in the divison you will be assigned to work in. If so they can probably ensure with your eventual branch manager that your billet is secured. Apologies if you haven't made it that far yet, the HR will be a nebulous black hole at this point.
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Feb 25, 2011 19:31
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amethystbliss posted:I pity whoever has to do my background check. Apparently I've lived in 12 different places since 2005 and have 18+ references (job supervisors, people to verify periods of unemployment, people to verify everywhere I've lived, and people who know me well). Oh, and I've lived abroad for 2 years and am married to a foreigner. Here's to hoping I don't fail! Eh, they're surprisingly really used to this. I know of a guy done in 5 mos. who had 3 marriages (not at the same time, hah) and lived in 5 countries. If you get in you might even consider how tame yours is compared to some.
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Feb 25, 2011 19:33
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Hed posted:Eh, they're surprisingly really used to this. I know of a guy done in 5 mos. who had 3 marriages (not at the same time, hah) and lived in 5 countries. If you get in you might even consider how tame yours is compared to some. Yeah I kinda wonder how they're going to verify I was tooling around in rural Vietnam/Laos for two months on a Russian dirtbike in the summer of 08.
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Feb 25, 2011 19:47
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Hed posted:Have you been assigned a 'mentor' for purposes of acclimating yourself to the agency? These would be the people (hopefully younger) that can answer your questions about where to live, how to get there, etc. Typically they will assign someone in the divison you will be assigned to work in. If so they can probably ensure with your eventual branch manager that your billet is secured. Apologies if you haven't made it that far yet, the HR will be a nebulous black hole at this point. Yeah, I'm way past that phase. The last person I talked to was actually the same recruiter who gave me my conditional offer back in September. She said that the placement people would be in touch with me either last week or this week, and if not that I should call her specifically. Guess who isn't answering her phone....argh!
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Feb 25, 2011 19:51
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amethystbliss posted:I pity whoever has to do my background check. Apparently I've lived in 12 different places since 2005 and have 18+ references (job supervisors, people to verify periods of unemployment, people to verify everywhere I've lived, and people who know me well). Oh, and I've lived abroad for 2 years and am married to a foreigner. Here's to hoping I don't fail! If it helps, I'm way worse off than you by a mile, and mine still went through. My case file is literally two binders. It just took 3 1/2 years of investigation and an eight-hour federal court appearance  As long as you are completely honest - and more importantly, like grover said, up front, you just have to show that it's in the government's best interest to give you the clearance. say you had a rough time when you were young, if you can show you learned from your mistakes and no longer participate in that kind of behavior, you should be fine. Moving around a lot doesn't necessarily make you a sketchy person, you can even offer to explain why. But if you try to weasel around, they'll know. It's okay to forget then bring it up in the follow up interview, though. In forum terms, think of it less than a "follow up" and more of a "call out" meeting, if that analogy helps. they (likely) already know, but are just quizzing you on your honesty.
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Feb 25, 2011 20:00
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Glad to hear it's not as big a deal as I first thought. Nothing questionable in my background, just moving around for undergrad and grad school. My husband is a U.S. permanent resident, so that's all on the up and up. I'm working on the SF-85 form which doesn't seem to be too bad compared to others. Start date is in September, so I'm hopeful it will be done by then. I haven't talked to some of my past employers for 3-5 years- am I allowed to ring them and let them know they might be expected to complete a questionnaire or interview? Edit: Holy poo poo, Skandiaavity. That must have taken so much patience!
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Feb 25, 2011 20:49
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Skandiaavity posted:If it helps, I'm way worse off than you by a mile, and mine still went through. My case file is literally two binders. It just took 3 1/2 years of investigation and an eight-hour federal court appearance Huh. That must be some story there.
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Feb 25, 2011 21:06
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amethystbliss posted:am I allowed to ring them and let them know they might be expected to complete a questionnaire or interview? Feel free.
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Feb 25, 2011 21:20
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CherryCola posted:Yeah, I'm way past that phase. The last person I talked to was actually the same recruiter who gave me my conditional offer back in September. She said that the placement people would be in touch with me either last week or this week, and if not that I should call her specifically. Guess who isn't answering her phone....argh! I may be misunderstanding, but I'm talking about a likely twentysomething who works for a living, like not a recruiter/manager/someone in position to hire. The person not answering their phone makes me feel like they are somehow involved with HR. If you haven't been placed then I doubt we're talking about the same people. I don't know what to tell you at this point, other than I wouldn't stress too much.
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Feb 25, 2011 22:01
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Hed posted:I may be misunderstanding, but I'm talking about a likely twentysomething who works for a living, like not a recruiter/manager/someone in position to hire. The person not answering their phone makes me feel like they are somehow involved with HR. If you haven't been placed then I doubt we're talking about the same people. I don't know what to tell you at this point, other than I wouldn't stress too much. I haven't been placed. I mean, I know I'm working in DC...but I just don't know when I'm starting. I do have a mentor who I've been communicating with while waiting for my clearance, but he doesn't really seem to know much about my actual status...just someone who can tell me how great it is to work at NGA. Yeah, the person not answering their phone is more in the hr/recruiting area, but it the person who can actually tell me what my status is. But I know, I'm trying really hard not to stress. Definitely need to do something engaging this weekend...
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Feb 25, 2011 22:26
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CherryCola posted:I haven't been placed. I mean, I know I'm working in DC...but I just don't know when I'm starting. I do have a mentor who I've been communicating with while waiting for my clearance, but he doesn't really seem to know much about my actual status...just someone who can tell me how great it is to work at NGA. Wait... You're working in DC, but I thought you said you needed to get to Franconia? That really would affect your apartment choices. Getting to West Navy Yard, if that's where you're actually going to be, is much easier if you can hop on 495 to 295-N (like in Alexandria).
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Feb 25, 2011 22:38
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Hoping there isn't a shutdown - I'm DoD, but our command has announced that the entire base will be closed (except for the cops) if another CR isn't passed. People are getting nervous!
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Feb 25, 2011 23:04
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The short version: 1) Have moved over 20 places since Middle School (they checked) 2) 19 pages of foreign nationals that I keep in contact with regularly (they checked. I checked. List still grows.) 3) travelling to a few high risk-countries (they really didn't like this, ended up just taking a poly & LS for the easy route than try to debate it) 4) unexplainable exit/entry stamps on travelling (i couldn't recall. they had to follow up in one way or another on every trip which took a majority of the time. For example, this one time I flew domestically - from Vegas to New Orleans with no recollection of how I got there, I was so drunk that I have no memory recollection for four days prior and can only tell you what other people have told me. Had witnesses and everything!  )5) married to a foreign national (they completely ignored this. She has her green card, but this was prior) 6) confusing as hell transcripts from 3 universities, 2 domestic and 1 abroad (img-timeline contradiction) 7) also confusing employment timeline (went to school full time and worked full time and traveled full time: investigator had a very difficult time following up) 8) semi-conflicting quasi-arrest account post SF-85 submitting (i was the wrong person! ) w/ ICE (they brought this up with raised eyebrows but were unable to find additional information other than what i filled in, thanks ICE)9) things i did when i was a dumb kid in high school, up to and including hacking into a foreign system (part of what i went to court over, apparently no statue of limitations on this) 10) tax poo poo ...other mitigating factors, list went on, but yeah, that's the summary of what made it take so long. You'll be fine. FWIW, if they offer you to appeal in court, just go for it and present your case. I do not think you'll honestly need a lawyer unless you have a really special situation (I didn't use a lawyer), but it is initially very stressful and well, it is federal court. Just get your stuff in order, the Defense Prosecutor in my case actually worked with me on what he planned to present. Most people seem to fail because they offer the reason behind the circumstance. The judge is likely not looking for excuses why you found yourself in a predicament, but on what you've done since the incident occurred. CherryCola: a lot of bars are open on the weekend, it's DC! So yeah, you can do.. something. On U St. Right? :P If there is a shutdown I don't expect to to last that long.
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Feb 25, 2011 23:56
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Anyone work for the FDIC here?
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Feb 26, 2011 00:03
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Zoo posted:Wait... You're working in DC, but I thought you said you needed to get to Franconia? That really would affect your apartment choices. Getting to West Navy Yard, if that's where you're actually going to be, is much easier if you can hop on 495 to 295-N (like in Alexandria). Crap, I meant DC metro area. Sorry for the confusion, I'm assuming I'll be going to FT Belvoir, but I don't know for sure yet because still no one has called me. grr
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Feb 26, 2011 00:46
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amethystbliss posted:Glad to hear it's not as big a deal as I first thought. Nothing questionable in my background, just moving around for undergrad and grad school. My husband is a U.S. permanent resident, so that's all on the up and up. Some people have been in clearances for 2 years before finally passing. It can be hit or miss, but by September should be fine. Mine was squeaky clean and cleared in less than 2 months, with only one little hiccup that once his report was finished he had to go back and add something which added a week or two.
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Feb 26, 2011 04:36
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Feb 26, 2011 04:47
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CherryCola posted:Crap, I meant DC metro area. Sorry for the confusion, I'm assuming I'll be going to FT Belvoir, but I don't know for sure yet because still no one has called me. grr Even if you started at the Navy Yard on Monday, within 6 months you'd move permanently to the new campus near Ft. Belvoir. Also you'd have 2-4 months of training (actually on Ft. Belvoir) at the beginning. You can be virtually certain you're going to want blue/yellow line access to get to Franconia for the long term.
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Feb 26, 2011 06:07
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Xandu fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Jun 10, 2011 |
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Feb 26, 2011 06:19
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My understanding is it honestly depends on clearance level. If you are going for a public trust or a secret, then agencies tend to be more flexible on the question. like if you have an email from someone within the past 3 months, then the investigator would like to know, but it is not necessary. Of course, If they can put any significant amount of leverage over you, then they'd need to know. But if you're going for a TS/SSBI or FS/LS, then it is always best to err on the side of caution and just list every foreigner you keep in touch with, regardless of possible sway over you and let the investigator determine if you cannot be blackmailed or coerced. They can be privvy to information different than what you know (and will bring this up in the follow-up interview, it's an odd position to be in), and at those kind of levels its better to have it there prior than after-the-fact, which is when they'll revoke your clearance to be safe, before you sort it out. For LS, the agency will going to check it out anyway - there's no 'fibbing' on those levels, right down to your purchases. Of course, I'd rather not, but if they're going to ask about it anyway (and what with the unique case already) I figure to save everyone the time. It's similar with a few questions - they don't have a 'need to know' (less is best) but if they find out, they're going to be pissed. Say you fib about smoking pot with a friend or something, then you get called in for a drug test randomly a few weeks later and it shows otherwise.. the investigator is not going to be pleased with you and will likely put you between a rock and federal prison for perjury. If its at the point where you're adjudicating yourself in court, then you're pretty far up the creek, everyone knows it, so you don't want to be borrowing more time. In my case, I just outright admitted that I hacked some computers, foreign and domestically, did the denial of service, script kiddie, cracked passwords/wifi, etc years ago. They didn't uncover it on the initial investigation, but I offered it since I knew they would have eventually found out through some associates. Next thing I know, I was just about to argue the technics of it with a judge before I realized that .. "well I cracked the password but I didn't snoop the network!" is a pretty lame excuse. So I just owned up to it, but added I didn't browse networks since I was just interested in improving my own IT skill at the time, not looking at other people's documents or pictures. The judge decided that I have at least basic respect for privacy and confidentiality of information, so it (and moore's law w/ cryptography) were mitigating factors on that end, so I won. I could have sat there and plead the 5th all day on the variety of issues they chose to adjudicate, but I think that would just make one look more skeptical. The judge's role is a mediator, so you don't want to take up their time to say nothing. Job's OK, the clearance was worth it, I guess. Since well, I have a job, which is the important thing these days. Extremely long hours. My Security Officer knows me on a first name basis and we do bi-weekly status updates 
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Feb 26, 2011 08:25
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The form is clear though, you don't need to list everyone, just those that have bonds of affection (I think that's the term). You're going to have to do addendums when you renew it anyway, so while yes you should err on the side of caution, you should also not go overboard. -e- I'd also suggest caution on what you say too -- a friend admitted to torrenting Photoshop and a couple other apps when he was in high school, and was denied. Leif. fucked around with this message at 10:57 on Feb 26, 2011 |
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Feb 26, 2011 10:54
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SWATJester posted:The form is clear though, you don't need to list everyone, just those that have bonds of affection (I think that's the term). You're going to have to do addendums when you renew it anyway, so while yes you should err on the side of caution, you should also not go overboard. They're vague on what those terms (I think it's "loyalty, obligation, or affection") mean though. Whattt? Was that FBI or something?
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Feb 26, 2011 15:24
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SWATJester posted:-e- I'd also suggest caution on what you say too -- a friend admitted to torrenting Photoshop and a couple other apps when he was in high school, and was denied. Is this sort of thing asked directly? Because everyone in my generation has file shared something or other.
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Feb 26, 2011 16:12
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Yeah, that falls under the federal IT misuse policy. He'd have to show mitigating circumstances from then till now... which is pretty hard short of proving you buy all the programs these days. The form is vague for that reason. Of course, less is always best. edit: SWatjester, for clarification: I wasn't saying to list every foreign national you've come into contact with (e.g. schoolmates, whatnot) - just those that you had/have a close relationship with. If you're going for a LS, they're going to want to know about past girlfriends, etc. You will just have to answer the same questions for every person you list. Again, for most people, this is a short list. If you lived abroad for a few years, then ti'll be a pain in the rear end to list everyone, so in that case I would just list those that I've stayed with, had a relationship with, or possibly had a close working relationship with (e.g. supervisor). Everyone else they would have no interest in. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Feb 26, 2011 |
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Feb 26, 2011 16:13
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LactoseO.D.'d posted:Is this sort of thing asked directly? Because everyone in my generation has file shared something or other. Also, don't ever download anything from government computers.
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Feb 26, 2011 16:22
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grover posted:Also, don't ever download anything from government computers. Diplomatic cables, for examples 
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Feb 26, 2011 16:54
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If you had to list everyone, you'd have to list your foreign Warcraft buddies and explain that they were from Rivendell or what-ever nonsense. That would suck.
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Feb 26, 2011 18:32
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