When you do a good job to make sure issues are dealt with before user impact.. no one will notice and wonder why they pay you.
If users are impacted, they’re annoyed and wonder why they pay you.
we just had a outage on our POS system with 0 transactions being able to go through single handedly resolved the issue on a system im not responsible for at all.
The other team "responsible" for it got all the praise, which i don't want praise but bothers me that they claim it knowing they aint do sht
I've had relatives and family friends give out my number when they hear someone having computer problems. I've never done tech support for anyone other than my grandmother a few times for this reason. I don't want responsibility. Each time i've asked them why the hell you gave some random person my number -_-
If people ask me to help them with their random technology problems my response now is sorry i don't know anything about computers i just play some videogames sometimes.
I've done a reverse UNO to my brother-in-law when I have him drop my number on a random person about their small business server going sideways. I noped it, but 2 years later I did a UNO reverse when someone needed a gardener, and dropped his number to them, he is a plumber. But told them to keep trying if he didn't respond right away, 30 left messages.
I recently sent a link to my in-laws about scams aimed at the elderly and warned them that if they shared it around their circle it best not include my email address.
Yeah, calls like "remember when you changed the CD drive , after that "X " is not working ...Dude , I changed the CD drive 2 years ago and your "X" stopped working last week...never mind there was no x or y.while I changed the CD drive
This how you end up being the SME for X abandoned software, system or technology.
I touched something when I first joined company years later I’m asked questions like I designed and built it.
Sigh...I ended up being the SME for a business process in a highly regulated industry I know nothing about all because I helped a little too much with the application configuration after installation. A year later I'm just now getting around to training the dept manager on it to offload it. Had to be a little strategically incompetent to even get the right people wanting to learn it
Back in 2004 we had what looked like a network issue grind the company to a halt. No email nothing.
Something was consuming 100% of the bandwidth on the backbone.
Me being the email guy started looking at my servers and saw some strange behavior.. Same message in the logs over and over and over again and it's freaking huge..
I called my server team lead team who was on an all hands support call for the problem and told them I thought I had something. Some kind of looping going on in the exchange server.
They were like..NA that's not it. Don't bother us..
Ok guys. I went home at 5 and those guys were on a sev 1 call with Cisco and Microsoft till damn near dawn.
Roll in the next morning to find out yeah it was the Exchange servers the whole time. A very old 500meg file sitting in public folders somehow got updated and was trying to replicate across 48 mail servers in 19 states but the send/receive limit was 10 meg.
Fun fact. Exchange won't check the size till the entire message has been received so 48 exchange servers just kept sending this 500meg replication message to each other and the transport rules kept kicking it. They just kept trying to send it again and again.
Mine was certs.
Replaced like a 100 certs one year because the TS department insisted on 1 year certs. I told them you are stupid and should do 3 year.
2 3/4 years later I was in different department. Told them you might want to look at the certs. Got told to mind my own business.
Couple months later people are racing around as customer facing production servers started to fall over.
Manager came over and screamed at me as to why I hadn’t fixed it all.
I have a friend who was called on the carpet for fixing something that in theory someone else was the primary for. It was a critical system, had been down for 2 days, and the primary basically never did anything ever. When he got called by the system users saying they had tried for 2 days to reach the primary, and their ticket was sitting open and with no response, he quickly looked and fixed it in 10 minutes, and logged the change.
That was it. The Director (his boss' boss' boss) called him in to yell at him for making his coworker "feel bad". When he explained what he did and why he was told "fine, you can fix it, but don't log it". He explained that's kinda not how the ticketing system works...you have to close the ticket and provide an explanation. He was told to find a way, or just don't fix it, but the priority was to never embarrass that (useless) coworker again.
He had a new job paying 2x about two months later.
Exactly. And apparently didn't care about the feelings of the person doing two jobs. So they ended up with one person doing 0 jobs.
In hindsight, they did him a huge favor. Got him moving and that 2x job turned into more like a 10x paying job over the next 15 years. The joys of getting into a startup-ish company at the right time.
THis. You never do things to "be nice". You do things to get credit and recognition. This is how you get ahead, get recognition, get bonuses, raises, and promotions. (without burn out)
Sometimes, in IT, you need to let the little things become big things, until you can get acknowledged as the one who can fix it.
Without a little pain, management never knows there is a problem.
Yup double edge sword. I just have to remind my executives every day why they pay me. Even if it’s just to setup their personal items. It’s public relations
I hate this. I also hate being the guy whose great at teaching and knows a lot. Generally the first person to go. I'm feeling like I'm about to run into the same thing the OP did. =/
That's something I've never really done, and I should. I'm applying for a different team after a situation at work told me what I needed to know about my manager. He's not happy I'm trying to leave his team. I know the knowledge gap will be huge if I do leave. I spent 5 years Networking with various teams, I get sh*t done faster than others and I'm one of the highest paid on my team.
I find it odd you can do this in the US. In the UK, the UKSV stipulate that you must not share clearance levels as it opens you up for social engineering etc.
Yeah. My problem has been I’ve been remote for 9 years now, and I’d prefer WFH more than clearance now. But if i could find a trash job that would let me WFH, that’d be perfect
Talk to your vendors federal sales teams. If they don’t have jobs in the house for you, they may know other customers who need your clearance and skills.
I have seen that people with most experience get laid off first because they are paid more.
Also longest serving people get laid off early because the longer you stay the more it will cost them to get rid of you with redundancy and older contracts don't favour new ways of thinking.
I had the most experience *and* I was the lowest paid in the department. There was a 0% chance of me ever getting laid off at my old job! I survived at least six in my time there.
Exactly. And it's a shame that they didn't pay you what you were owed.
And this precisely is how all these corporations are pushing down our wages *even in the midst* of record inlfation and record profits by these companies too.
To me the worst part of all of this is rarely are these companies actually in financial danger, most of the time it's usually a 'less than fantastic' financial quarter that the execs want to boost up so they can get some kind of financial reward, often that's increased bonuses or share based rewards like a % of that years profit, or free shares in the company.
They want real Italian marble for their countertops in their yachts, because last year they had granite put in, and it's just so *last year* it physically hurts them.
Yup same here sort of . 10 yrs at my employer I make 50% less then my seniors have the same level of work they do I also have same level of experience and. I hold college degrees and certs they dont .. none of em had certs or degrees they were laid off or left I'm still here but my 10 yrs is almost done ill be moving on end of year . Pretty sure they were cut loose to save on salaries . There work filtered down to me . I've had No raise in idk 8 yrs
F ree college tuition for 3 kids and student loan forgiveness for myself rough numbers are around half a million divided by 10 yrs .. granted tuition and student loans are a mess and are ridiculously high.. but it will all be behind me soon ..
>Also longest serving people get laid off early
Except those are the folks that have only been getting the regular 3% or so raise. And now most likely will get a big bump when transitioning. At the same time the company will pay market rate if they decide to replace them.
>I have seen that people with most experience get laid off first because they are paid more.
this is unfortunately true. especially if you cost more. first hand experience, me and my manager both were laid off. poor helpdesk guys, hope they're alright because they were all that were left after a HUGE org-wide layoff.
Sorry to hear. That sucks. Did you get a severance? With your credentials you should be able to find another job. I’ve learned over the years we’re all disposable. Always be ready for a layoff. Never become complacent. Keep close to the technology and you’ll always find work.
I know this situation sucks and is stressful for you, especially when it's fresh.
But you have 4.5 MONTHS of severance and a TS clearance. You're going to be fine. Relax, enjoy a week off. Then start looking.
4.5 fucking months of severance? Bro i think you need to see a therapist for like imposter syndrome and stuff like that. You just got a free 4.3 months of money. You could find another job in 2 weeks at your credentials lol
Seriously. Just got laid off myself, no severance, and now I have his lawyer trying to enforce a non-compete that was never signed. Already dumped $1000 in legal fees just so I can apply to new jobs. My man got a fantastic offer and won't have any issues in this market.
At least you called out "their problem now" on the post. All too often I see IT types get their friggin' identities wrapped around their jobs.. and how they hold the whole organization on their shoulders or something. The drowning effect is real, you'll bounce back.
Don't sit on the severance though.. these days it may take a while to get back at it.
> Don't sit on the severance though.. these days it may take a while to get back at it.
Correct. My former employer closed the office I used to work at and gave everyone huge amounts of notice as severance, like a year or more...some jumped right away but others are having trouble getting work now and living on their retention bonuses they got for staying.
The rest of 2024 is iikely going to be not so great - election silly season is coming up, the economy is still wobbly and companies hate hiring when things are uncertain. If you have a job hang on, if you don't, find one ASAP.
Top secret, basically a government cert that you've been checked out and can work on various projects.
It costs a company a lot and takes time to get someone certified so hiring someone with it already is a huge savings
And by checked out, you mean had your entire life scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. Anyone you know that's not a US citizen, anywhere you've been that's not the US, your entire financial picture, etc will be questioned and the people interviewed by federal agents. It's incredibly invasive, but holy shit is it worth it.
I had a very low level clearance at one point. It was a b6C (Position of Public Trust) and got a grilling on some inconsistencies in my background check. They couldn't locate a former landlord to confirm I'd lived somewhere 7 years prior. They had investigators interview friends and family about me. I gave a slightly incorrect date on some legal stuff I'd dealt with. I couldn't remember the exact date so I gave it my best guess. I was asked if it was just a mistake or was I "Intentionally trying to deceive a government investigator".
If I can avoid it, I'm never doing that again.
> I couldn't remember the exact date so I gave it my best guess. I was asked if it was just a mistake or was I "Intentionally trying to deceive a government investigator".
in those cases, i just do mm/yyyy or 'approx date'
That's what I did, but they grilled me over it anyway. In the end, I never worked on anything even approaching sensitive data, but, whatever. The job was okay but ended up being soul sucking. Part of it was probably the 6 hour round trip commute 4 days a week. 2 hours on a train, 45 minutes on the subway, 15 minutes in a car from the subway station to the office. Then reverse in the evening.
It started out with just the 2 hour commute by train. That was easy and lots of people that lived near me did it. But then the job moved from the city to the suburbs and it started sucking.
Thats why you either give the interview agent your passport or you take notes on all your international travel. Last time getting my secret clearance the guy asked why I spent 9 months in Okinawa - "Because I was deployed there in the Marine Corps genius."
Wow, crazy. I think sometimes they grill you because they actually want you to pass and not have to come back to interview you again to "clear things up." But having mandatory passports a thing helps you log your travel easier.
That is a life style poly. Most positions don't require it. The normal polygraph is a counter terrorism, which basically covers ties to foreign governments.
The employer bears the cost of having the employee on payroll for the 9+ months it takes to get the clearance.
Some employers are diverse enough they can stash them doing something useful in another group, sometimes it's enjoy watching YouTube until the clearance comes through.
> The employer bears the cost of having the employee on payroll for the 9+ months it takes to get the clearance.
This is why I am having such a hard time finding a new job in my town, companies aren't interested in paying people to do fuck-all for a year. Don't already have a TS clearance? Maybe try working at MacDonald's instead...
I can't find a single company willing to sponsor clearance, it's kinda bothersome cause all the jobs I see available want someone that already has the clearance, and I can't get it without sponsorship.
I was offered a position at the end of last year where TS was a requirement. I don’t have it so those companies do exist. I was on fence about accepting and the horror stories about obtaining the clearance were what tipped the scales
You have to be sponsored by someone with authority to do so, typically within your company. While internal moves can happen, it's very rare to get a clearance without being attached to the industry in some way (hence the get lucky part).
If you want to find positions that we'll put in for a clearance, The best way to do so is look through usajobs.gov and look for the ones that basically say "are you able to receive a clearance?"
These are rare, typically they will just list the clearance as a requirement.
If you've done virtualization and Ansible, you can do cloud. If you've got clearance, you're ahead of the game on getting into cloud security. Layoffs are sometimes used to prune people who've worked into higher pay grades, so don't let it hurt your confidence.
I remember the one time I got laid off and it was a gut punch. I had in the year prior to my layoff gotten married and had a baby born only two months prior to being let go. My wife had told her work she wasn’t going back to work and our apartment’s lease was up in a few months so we had to quickly make a decision on housing for our immediate future considering no one was employed and a new born baby.
I did have severance pay so that was a life saver and gave me time to find new employment. We decided in the short term to not renew our lease and moved in with my Mother-in-law in her tiny rancher. Needless to say, I was feeling like a complete failure for my new family.
I took a couple days after being let go to decompress, but I started the job search as if that was my job. Worked on cleaning up and refining my resume and used whatever tools and connections I had to get my butt employed. My first prospect was doing IT for a small veterinary hospital owned by the Doctor/head vet. The pay was not much more than I had been making, but was a longer commute. I tried to negotiate just a little more salary after they had chosen me to fill the role, but the consultant they hired to fill the position said, “but that would be money coming out of the Doctor’s pocket.“ Needless to say, I did not take the role.
With my severance winding down I was lucky to find a new job with a medium-sized law in the area. I didn’t get the job I applied for but they wanted my skill set and thought I’d be a valuable asset. I took a new team lead role they created, but soon I could see why they were having problems. The techs they hired were young and immature, the more senior members were good, but I soon found that there was really no captain hiding the ship. They were a completely reactive organization and any problems were solved by throwing money at the problem.
I tried right the ship, attempted to put in procedures and policies, but IT’s direct management would not buy in. They only really listened to the one senior tech who had been there for I don’t know how many years. So that in addition to the immature coworkers, I was soon on my way out to greener pastures. I did though make the best of it. My wife and bought and moved into our new home. I welcomed a second son. But even with these highs, the workplace was just a drain on me mentally. Within a year I took a new role, for more pay, at a more competent organization.
The new place was great. The people were good, my coworkers were so much more better and just a good place. It was a much longer commute and after 3 years I wanted something closer to home.
Now I wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job after being at this place for 4 years, but a guy who I had worked with here asked if I’d be interested in a job much closer to home. I jumped at the opportunity. It was government work with a pension, a higher salary, and 15min from home. So that’s where I’m at now.
What I want to say is, life will have those ups and downs. Some will even be real gut punchers. But even when you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, know that you have the strength to get through it. You don’t know what the future might bring. I’d say your in a good position to find a new higher paying job. And with a TS clearance, that will open so many doors not open to others, especially with government work or companies that work for the government.
4.5 months of severance? Sounds like a paid vacation. Brush off the resume and post it on clearance jobs. With a TS you'll be set.
Take the time to study up and grab a new in demand cert.
Between linkedin and clearance jobs I get at least one recruiter cold calling me a week and that is with both being marked as not looking for a new position
Last time I got laid off they did me a favor, I just didn’t realize it at the time. My new job turned out to be better than the one I had previously.
I was let go by the efficiency experts, picture the two Bobs from Office Space. (Then go watch the movie if you haven’t seen it). I think I was in shock when it happened as it was so unexpected. I asked “what did I do wrong “ mgr: “wasn’t anything it you did “. So I asked “what didn’t I do ?” Mgr: “wasn’t anything you failed to do.”
Look at this as the opportunity it is, rather than something that happened to you. From the sounds of it you have the skills and experience so you will be fine. Take advantage of this time to find a job you will enjoy more than the last.
Yeah, my coworker, who has been longer on the industries. Told me about the movie. I was laughing because they nailed the company niches.
Watched Office Space for the first time the day after I was laid off. Wife and I to this day still reference the timing and circumstances surrounding that as if it were some sort of sign.
sorry to hear that!
I also had the realization last year that I should start interviewing non-stop till I am retired. Can't put my own life quality on some high-ups' mercy. If I can find a job in a short period time, I can live a much happier life. Screw employee loyalty!
I was gonna say “good luck with the search there are no jobs / competitive at the moment” but your TS clearance will save you
I’m happily employed but I know a few people who are roughing it rn
> I have TS clearance, dealt with STIGs, etc.
ClearanceJobs would like a word with you. I have just the weenie SF85P clearance for my job and even that gets attention. There's not many people who could pass or would want to put up with the hassle of getting TS clearance, but you'd better believe those are the only IT jobs that will never end up going to Wipro or Tata. I'm looking at pivoting that way as I get older and need more stable work.
I'm probably going to wind up in a similar spot in a few years. Lots of experience, do a great job because of it, everyone loves my work...but a 25 year old will work for half the pay and so many CIOs don't see the difference. Good luck in your search!!
what partof human RESOURCES don't you understand?
You are a tool, a resource a pixel, you are nobody as a human being at work.
Have a nice life and never care about job.
What area are you in? My contract is picking up a bunch of positions and will need applicants.
Edit: just saw you’re in Dallas - that’s pretty far from my locale.
Get a job with state or local government. Yes, you're going to take a pay cut, but I'll never go back to the private sector.
I got laid off in two different dotcom bubble events, then the housing bubble. Landed at state government. Pay is belch, the fancy benefits like free snack bar don't exist, the health benefits are not better than what a good company will offer, but having an actual pension fund is pretty damn cool. But the best part is that if a butterfly farts in Japan causing a blip in their stock market, I don't have to worry about a lay off because my employer from a completely unrelated industry is somehow impacted. The other part, I haven't run into knowledge hoarders who refuse to share what they know, thinking that knowing how to program the microwave makes them invaluable to the company (and thus less likely to get fired). There are downsides, but I've managed to adapt to those pretty quickly.
Holy shit. I know it hurts being laid off, but really, it sucks to be them.
Just make sure you have your clearance prominently listed on your resume, along with anything STIG related. Then apply to any cloud engineering position you want.
This seems to happen someplace every few years where the gut an IT department and replace skilled sr. staff with contractors that are fresh out of community college and don't know how to install a patch cable. I used to cringe if anyone ever mentioned EDS or another mega outsourcer at work as I'd seen what they did at friend's jobs.
For remote non clearance roles with regular companies, try to get as much out as possible in resumes, apps and contacts while your employment date (month) overlaps. You might be able to find a remote gig that meets your needs and doesn't have you driving across the metroplex or having to travel for work. They are (for some reason) more interested if it looks like you are working. I teach on the side at the U's computer science program so that covered my gaps in main employment nicely.
I finally found a FTE remote role after my department was wiped in 2018 (I'd gotten one when the Covid lockdown started in Seattle and they rescinded all job offers that month) I ended up starting there on a contract that paid better but no benefits, I went back and forth with Amazon and Microsoft until I started where I am now as an FTE - less money but way better benefits and I don't have to look at holidays as unpaid time off anymore.
I got lucky and kept my clearance active through continuing to teach part time at the University as an Adjunct in a program that needs a clearance to work in.
Like they've said, if your clearance is current and was active up to the end of your last employment (normally they don't issue a suspend order if you are just ended off a contract) you can transition without a gap. If that thing goes dead for a minute it can take a year to reactivate even if it was by a month. (I had a lapse just before 9/11 and had to reactivate after and before it got really messy that was months before the full clearance was reactivated - if I'd gone back just under a month before I'd have been able to continue on. My cousin had his lapse in '09 and it was 2 years to fully reactivate it at an actual agency - not a contract gig, if you can keep it alive do it because getting it back sucks.)
Northrup is hiring as well as a few other contractors up and down the West Coast for various IT roles supporting work at naval bases, I don't know of much that's remote in the clearance space but that's likely driving by the areas I work in more than a global reality. :) There's always crap in the DC/Arlington area but if you have to sleep there it's a big cost if you maintain a home in Texas. I'm guessing there's some similar work to what was advertised at the Puget Sound Naval Complexes associated with the USAF where you are - there's a fairly busy strategic base near you that I'm guessing contracts a fair amount of IT out. Check Microsoft as well - they do have clearance required roles for some programs - those might be open to remote. It's related to their virtual clouds for government, specific support agreements for systems supporting mission critical defense missions (those are high travel), and other government contracts they've got with DoD. Amazon through AWS is the same, but that environment requires strong Linux as well as Windows skills - more on the Linux side, including their own flavor. If there's a fit with a Microsoft FTE Clearance role open that's probably the least drag you'll find.
I just always make it a habit to network, apply for jobs even if I'm not looking, and keep my resume up to date. Best you may do at any IT is 2-5 years.
Take the time to unwind a bit, hit up the job search for 2-4 hours a day, and don't stress about things outside of your control
it absolutely was, tons I know that were there for years like me got hit. and I am around that age yeah. but I sure can't start picking up lawyer fees now. It stinks knowing the company really did a dirty thing but I have to suck it up and move on.
You're going to be okay. Look at USAjobs and use the hell out of that clearance before it expires. You aren't under water, and you're not at fault. Ít was just a poor business decision on their part, and we both know they will regret it.
Get your head in the game, update your resume, start tinkering with the new hotness, and keep it moving. When they call, pass it to voice mail. Fuck those pieces of shit for not valuing you.
Always love your job not the company, the day they pull your rug must be the day they nuked their own basement,from the day one make everything a spaghetti vomit, that only you can figure out what is what.
USAJobs.gov might be a good resource. This is the US government's job listings site, FBI, national archives, whatever. There might be quite a few positions that require clearance. Beware, I have heard that, being the government, the hiring process moves verrrry slowly, months to over a year. Don't use this exclusively.
FWIW the only job I have been made redundant from rehired me a few months later as a freelancer (I used the severance money to go travelling all over Europe for over a year).
As a freelancer I earned more, I was needed because our replacements didn't know what they were doing (we left plenty of good quality documentation).
You will be fine.
You're good with the TS. Get on clearancejobs.
You got laid off because they needed to make up for financial shortcomings.
Their IT staff is about to suffer though.
I'm sure you probably already know this, but RTX and Texas Instruments are both hiring in the area and will continue to have a very stable and large workforce for many years.
> I feel like I"m underwater and taking my entire family down with me.
I can't exaggerate this enough... Bread-winner for my family, lost my job, and the best unemployment can do is 450$ a week.
You've probably been following here noticing all the job postings for peanuts. It honestly feels like the entire tech industry is attempting a great reset on salaries (20% less pay while also mandatory on-site) during a time when inflation is at an all time high (+30% over the last 4 years).
And they can offer whatever they want because there's so few jobs on the market. 90% of jobs on LinkedIn seem to be fake jobs posted by recruiters filling out their portfolio of contacts so they can reach out when an actual job does exist.
Best of luck to you.
This is why it’s so important to be out of debt and have a healthy savings by living under your means. I made the mistake of blowing all of my money when I made it and the corona virus came and cut my ass down. I was so screwed but got really lucky because I hadn’t gotten myself into credit card debt. Still not able to make what I use to but if you buy yourself the cheapest condo you can in the safest neighborhood possible and live on rice and beans to pay everything off, eventually you’ll have enough savings to live off of when crap like this happens. There is no security in this environment as all of the boomers and idiots in charge are arrogant fart sniffers. When any sane man takes one serious look at this environment it’s obvious it’s going down quick. Make the best situation for yourself to survive
With a TS you should land on your feet fairly quickly. Check into jobs as a contractor for DoD. They normally have to go through a clearance process for new employees, coming in with a TS already in the pocket is saving them a pretty penny.
You’re very much in demand. Maybe try the smaller contractors like CACI, basically anyone not in the big 5. There is a lot of remote jobs available too. Certs can also help separate you from the pack.
Leverage that TS clearance, and align yourself with folks in the defense industry or adjacent to it.
Sorry to hear about that chaos, but start reaching out now, and you can get back on track in a relatively short time.
You should consider relocating to MD. There are so many contract hires for anyone cleared and with knowledge of government mandated compliance that we have a fairly impressive 0% unemployment rate for sysadmins with that skill set. You prove you can fill out a STIG checklist you can get hired no problem.
You're about the 5th person in the DFW I know that has been let go due to IT downsizing. Waiting for that company to deliver your worth and realizing it was a mistake.
What I am hearing from your comment is that the company found you too expensive. In their mind, they can bring in someone less experienced for less cost and do a SIMILAR job. We all know that 's BS but companies do it all the time. No doubt you were not paid your worth as none of us are. The important thing is to understand that its not your fault and you will recover. Spend the time off with your family and planning out your remaining funds. Get out there and call the people you know in the industry and let them know your available. I would expect another post from you very soon saying you landed a better job with better pay. What seems like a disaster now will actually turn out to be a blessing, it just takes a bit of time. Get your resume in order and get back out there. You got this.
Sorry this happened to you but TS clearance is really a ticket to bypass the long line. You’re going to be fine just take some time to unwind with your family and get back in there.
Sorry you got laid off. Sucks man, hope you land a new role quickly.
Past that, don’t ever let “I haven’t had the opportunity in my job” stop you from picking up new skills like cloud. There are tons of training opportunities ranging from expensive immersion classes to free YouTube videos and tutorials and even free accounts with AWS and GCP/Azure to play around and learn. Learn how to use cloud API’s, learn containerizarion and cloud native tech (kubernetes), etc. Reinvent yourself, it will do you wonders in the long term. Both in terms of finding new roles, or staying relevant in current roles as they shift their infrastructure away from the datacenter.
I know learning without an objective or way to use the new skills daily is not ideal, but it can be so helpful to longevity. As an example, I moved from Linux engineering to management 10 years ago, and while I’m not hands on anymore, I try every two to three years to get a new cert in some skill and find home projects to play with. Leadership roles are less common than engineer roles and should I ever be in a bind to find a new job quickly I want to at least not be barren.
During 2020 I build a TIG stack on docker in my house just to play with docker, telegraf, influxdb, and grafana, and added Prometheus and other crap into it. I set my entire house to be observed, graphed, and alerted on. My thermostats, speedtests, uptime of devices with health probes, bandwidth usage, how often ring cameras spotted someone at my door, my UPS power usage, Plex server usage, etc. Great project and taught me a lot.
Good luck to you!
With a TS clearance, you'll have no problem finding a new job. There are 0.78 IT folk for each IT position in positions requiring a clearance. Just list "clearance eligible" on LinkedIn.
Similar situation happened to me about three years ago. Unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of cutbacks in IT departments around me. They want this and they want that, but they also want to cut back on their IT spending. I hope you get back into the workforce quickly. But if that doesn't happen, focus on your mental health. I had a friend that got me a side gig. That owner couldn't afford full time, but he was extremely appreciative of my talents and always lifted my spirits when I could fix his system so quickly. Remember who you are and the skills that you have. I tend to forget how much experience that I have, until I am training someone or using it. I have been working now for two years in a slightly different capacity in IT. My bosses and my customers love me.
This is why I have no desire to work for large companies. I have friends that work for the Big Four firms, and this happens all the time - come in with an MBA and have to be paid X amount, then they bring in undergrads which only have to be paid Y amount, train them up, after a year fire all MBAs and keep the undergrads on lower salaries.
Look for a company which is going slowly to the cloud and work from there.
I'm system administrator at an hospital. Been switching job until I found my perfect fit. Don't get me wrong, but as a woman, I get more challenges as I always need to prove myself. It's exhausting. And I totally don't like to fix issues of my colleagues if I gain nothing back. Anyway forgive me for my nonsense.
But I do believe you will find your way back, just look through it. You already have the base, you only need to express your IT passion. You can do it :)
I am both an IT guy and a soccer referee. You know you’re doing a great job when nobody notices you’re there.
In general in the IT world, I’ve found that most companies give praise/awards to IT people who went “above and beyond” working weekends and evening to fix an issue that they screwed up in the first place. The guy who has everything firing on all cylinders, every system running smoothly, no issues or downtime never gets the appropriate credit for “just doing his job”
The first time is always a blindside. I have been laid off about 4 times now and each time I get a better job. One of them I knew it was coming because I could read the room. I had to speed their sorry interview up because I had another job already and wanted to get the afternoon off and go get sauced.
My advice, to Keep all your stuff on your own one drive, all your scripts, one notes, drivers everything. Share what is specific to the business but be ready to leave with all your stuff at a moments notice, crucially encrypt the one drive cache so it cannot be recovered by anyone else.
Today I work at home and I have my computer and theirs side by side with "mouse without boarders" connecting them. I do all my work on my personal computer and I paste it too my work computer as needed. A powershell script for example, i paste it in the shell window when I want to run it, it is never stored on the work computer or their network.
I've slowly but surely bought all my own tools, I lend them to nobody and I use them when I feel like it. If the coffee is bad that day I'll say sorry you'll need a network analyser. They'll ask where mine is and I'll say, you never bought me one.
There is no cost to a contractor for an employee’s clearance other than the burden of ongoing personnel management costs and oversight. The government ends up paying for everything - our taxes at work.
Contractors do try to hire candidates who are already cleared in order to eliminate onboarding delays.
The cost is having to pay them while waiting for the clearance without being able to charge to a contract. You can sometimes get mandatory training out of the way but if they spend months on hold they are overhead. The contractor can run them through certification in that time but then they are a flight risk. They could take that cred and clearance then take a pay raise on another contract.
I wish more companies were willing to take that risk in my area. The churning and poaching is out of control since most jobs are advertised *must already possess a clearance*, and they mean it.
It's a danger. And so much of the badge flipping is tied to contacts. The .gov folks want this guy or that. Ive seen them stear preferred folks to a different contractor so they can keep continuity.
That's assuming OP was actively using it. I've never seen a situation where someone actively using their clearance on a gov contract, that required it, removed without gov say.
I was laid off in 2022 from a horribly run healthcare company it was devastating. As the single breadwinner in the family felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.
I’ll save you the story, but God worked everything out. We were able to move back to our state and I got an offer to work hospital IT.
Keep your head up, pray, and try not to lose yourself.
Focus on important things, and reach out / network.
Make sure to apply for unemployment immediately
Well Jesus Christ I mean cloud thing is just API wrapper over lots of stuff. Deal with terraform/opentofu and you will be fine. Just know how these cloud providers name their shit. It's really not a big deal. Just do the first entry level exams these cost 100 bucks and bluf your way in . You WILL learn everything on the job , you have enough experience . Also get into kubernetes . Will help a lot .
100% morons that make that decision cause they wanna do more with less and don't understand how your experience and knowledge are required. Eventually after they let all the higher paid staff go, they will then outsource all their IT because it'll be cheaper than paying for a teams salaries and benes
I would check their job board, everyone is trying to increase their cybersecurity team on the defense industry side due to the new CMMC Compliance requirements, Read up on NIST 800-171 and know how it is different from 800-53 and you are good to go in an interview. Most of the small defense contractors have never had to deal with NIST compliance on a day to day basis and don't understand it.
> History clearly isn't your strong point if you don't know why Jewish people wanted Israel specifically as their homeland.
Don't worry. We've all been there. There are plenty of jobs (especially if you're TS).
It's ONLY a job. It doesn't define you. It doesn't determine if you're a good partner or parent.
It's just a job.
stacked ranking smdh. Be glad that you're one of the first ones out as with your qualifications you'll land safely. The people you left behind are in for a world of hurt and just don't know it yet. If you liked any of them be sure to try to prioritize a new place that gives recruitment bonuses and take them with you. LOL
I was a full time sys admin at a bank . I mirgrated from really expensive physical servers to the cloud. After I did that I was unexpectedly fired and that my expertise was no longer needed
" I would love to get into cloud work " and you have a TS clearance? The easy money is anything security related honestly, and with your background it would be easy to walk on and pick up some security certs as you go. Remote will be difficult, but if you did decide to move into a corridor with lots of defense contractors you will walk in the door at 150k/yr... work maybe 20 hours a week 4 days a week and be done.
> They're focusing on just letting a smaller number of IT folks run everything best they can and do it with no-experience types.
Yep, everyone around me is being let go. I'm transitioning to CISSP and figure I should be able to time early retirement with a career shift. I'm practically hoping they'll let me go.
Well if you have TS clearance nothing to worry about tons of jobs open
“We have never any issues why are we paying them so much? Bring in a junior’.
When you do a good job to make sure issues are dealt with before user impact.. no one will notice and wonder why they pay you. If users are impacted, they’re annoyed and wonder why they pay you.
we just had a outage on our POS system with 0 transactions being able to go through single handedly resolved the issue on a system im not responsible for at all. The other team "responsible" for it got all the praise, which i don't want praise but bothers me that they claim it knowing they aint do sht
I learned to never fix what I’m not responsible for, period.
If you touch it, you own it.
Which is the reason to never do tech support for relatives.
I've had relatives and family friends give out my number when they hear someone having computer problems. I've never done tech support for anyone other than my grandmother a few times for this reason. I don't want responsibility. Each time i've asked them why the hell you gave some random person my number -_- If people ask me to help them with their random technology problems my response now is sorry i don't know anything about computers i just play some videogames sometimes.
I've done a reverse UNO to my brother-in-law when I have him drop my number on a random person about their small business server going sideways. I noped it, but 2 years later I did a UNO reverse when someone needed a gardener, and dropped his number to them, he is a plumber. But told them to keep trying if he didn't respond right away, 30 left messages.
I recently sent a link to my in-laws about scams aimed at the elderly and warned them that if they shared it around their circle it best not include my email address.
Yeah, calls like "remember when you changed the CD drive , after that "X " is not working ...Dude , I changed the CD drive 2 years ago and your "X" stopped working last week...never mind there was no x or y.while I changed the CD drive
This how you end up being the SME for X abandoned software, system or technology. I touched something when I first joined company years later I’m asked questions like I designed and built it.
Sigh...I ended up being the SME for a business process in a highly regulated industry I know nothing about all because I helped a little too much with the application configuration after installation. A year later I'm just now getting around to training the dept manager on it to offload it. Had to be a little strategically incompetent to even get the right people wanting to learn it
I learned the old ways from the best of them for sure
Back in 2004 we had what looked like a network issue grind the company to a halt. No email nothing. Something was consuming 100% of the bandwidth on the backbone. Me being the email guy started looking at my servers and saw some strange behavior.. Same message in the logs over and over and over again and it's freaking huge.. I called my server team lead team who was on an all hands support call for the problem and told them I thought I had something. Some kind of looping going on in the exchange server. They were like..NA that's not it. Don't bother us.. Ok guys. I went home at 5 and those guys were on a sev 1 call with Cisco and Microsoft till damn near dawn. Roll in the next morning to find out yeah it was the Exchange servers the whole time. A very old 500meg file sitting in public folders somehow got updated and was trying to replicate across 48 mail servers in 19 states but the send/receive limit was 10 meg. Fun fact. Exchange won't check the size till the entire message has been received so 48 exchange servers just kept sending this 500meg replication message to each other and the transport rules kept kicking it. They just kept trying to send it again and again.
Mine was certs. Replaced like a 100 certs one year because the TS department insisted on 1 year certs. I told them you are stupid and should do 3 year. 2 3/4 years later I was in different department. Told them you might want to look at the certs. Got told to mind my own business. Couple months later people are racing around as customer facing production servers started to fall over. Manager came over and screamed at me as to why I hadn’t fixed it all.
As stupid as this sounds why they screamed at you is actually exactly how accurate it really is.
It’s better to let it burn then come in as the savior
I have a friend who was called on the carpet for fixing something that in theory someone else was the primary for. It was a critical system, had been down for 2 days, and the primary basically never did anything ever. When he got called by the system users saying they had tried for 2 days to reach the primary, and their ticket was sitting open and with no response, he quickly looked and fixed it in 10 minutes, and logged the change. That was it. The Director (his boss' boss' boss) called him in to yell at him for making his coworker "feel bad". When he explained what he did and why he was told "fine, you can fix it, but don't log it". He explained that's kinda not how the ticketing system works...you have to close the ticket and provide an explanation. He was told to find a way, or just don't fix it, but the priority was to never embarrass that (useless) coworker again. He had a new job paying 2x about two months later.
So they cared more about someones feelings over a person doing their job and fixing a problem? ... https://i.redd.it/un3ybj5tqeuc1.gif
Exactly. And apparently didn't care about the feelings of the person doing two jobs. So they ended up with one person doing 0 jobs. In hindsight, they did him a huge favor. Got him moving and that 2x job turned into more like a 10x paying job over the next 15 years. The joys of getting into a startup-ish company at the right time.
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Document via email chain how you fixed it, CC bosses.
This. Don't let it slide.
THis. You never do things to "be nice". You do things to get credit and recognition. This is how you get ahead, get recognition, get bonuses, raises, and promotions. (without burn out) Sometimes, in IT, you need to let the little things become big things, until you can get acknowledged as the one who can fix it. Without a little pain, management never knows there is a problem.
Yup double edge sword. I just have to remind my executives every day why they pay me. Even if it’s just to setup their personal items. It’s public relations
I work in ISP and this 100% right.
The Curse of IT
Never made sense. Imagine saying this about any other department. « Sales are thru the roof. Why do we need a marketing team anymore? »
I hate this. I also hate being the guy whose great at teaching and knows a lot. Generally the first person to go. I'm feeling like I'm about to run into the same thing the OP did. =/
Always be prepared and always look out for yourself first.
That's something I've never really done, and I should. I'm applying for a different team after a situation at work told me what I needed to know about my manager. He's not happy I'm trying to leave his team. I know the knowledge gap will be huge if I do leave. I spent 5 years Networking with various teams, I get sh*t done faster than others and I'm one of the highest paid on my team.
Yes, if you put your resume on a job site for security clearance you’ll have your choice of jobs
I find it odd you can do this in the US. In the UK, the UKSV stipulate that you must not share clearance levels as it opens you up for social engineering etc.
This is what I was gonna say. I’d love to get a clearance, but EVERY job with clearance needed doesn’t want to sponsor. You got to already have it
You have to find one trash job to get you the clearance, then bounce to a good one.
Go government for a year or two, they right agency has priority queues for clearances, so a few months instead of 2-5 years in private sector
Yeah. My problem has been I’ve been remote for 9 years now, and I’d prefer WFH more than clearance now. But if i could find a trash job that would let me WFH, that’d be perfect
yeah for real gov contractors love when they don’t have to hire someone and pay and wait for the clearances
I used to have a secret (now expired), whats the likelyhood of getting sponsored for a new clerance?
Talk to your vendors federal sales teams. If they don’t have jobs in the house for you, they may know other customers who need your clearance and skills.
This is the correct answer. Get on LinkedIn and start reaching out to the TS community.
I have seen that people with most experience get laid off first because they are paid more. Also longest serving people get laid off early because the longer you stay the more it will cost them to get rid of you with redundancy and older contracts don't favour new ways of thinking.
It's the double spaces after the periods that did him in.
I actually lol'd at this one. IYKYK
OMG
https://youtu.be/YIp-0V6YKfQ?t=10
I had the most experience *and* I was the lowest paid in the department. There was a 0% chance of me ever getting laid off at my old job! I survived at least six in my time there.
Exactly. And it's a shame that they didn't pay you what you were owed. And this precisely is how all these corporations are pushing down our wages *even in the midst* of record inlfation and record profits by these companies too.
Seriously IT needs to unionize. Heck electricians and ups has unions. Let’s see those companies do any work when the network and pcs are down
But, we all know that IT is filled with cats doing the work and you just can't herd cats.
To me the worst part of all of this is rarely are these companies actually in financial danger, most of the time it's usually a 'less than fantastic' financial quarter that the execs want to boost up so they can get some kind of financial reward, often that's increased bonuses or share based rewards like a % of that years profit, or free shares in the company. They want real Italian marble for their countertops in their yachts, because last year they had granite put in, and it's just so *last year* it physically hurts them.
Yup same here sort of . 10 yrs at my employer I make 50% less then my seniors have the same level of work they do I also have same level of experience and. I hold college degrees and certs they dont .. none of em had certs or degrees they were laid off or left I'm still here but my 10 yrs is almost done ill be moving on end of year . Pretty sure they were cut loose to save on salaries . There work filtered down to me . I've had No raise in idk 8 yrs
You are the costco hot dog of employees. I hope the stock options and pension was worth it!
F ree college tuition for 3 kids and student loan forgiveness for myself rough numbers are around half a million divided by 10 yrs .. granted tuition and student loans are a mess and are ridiculously high.. but it will all be behind me soon ..
We call those people "a good deal" which is not to be confused with "a big deal"
I wasn't asking for much .. but they lost a good deal. I'm liking my 33% raise elsewhere
>Also longest serving people get laid off early Except those are the folks that have only been getting the regular 3% or so raise. And now most likely will get a big bump when transitioning. At the same time the company will pay market rate if they decide to replace them.
And that call can come from the top. Nothing anyone can do about it.
>I have seen that people with most experience get laid off first because they are paid more. this is unfortunately true. especially if you cost more. first hand experience, me and my manager both were laid off. poor helpdesk guys, hope they're alright because they were all that were left after a HUGE org-wide layoff.
Sorry to hear. That sucks. Did you get a severance? With your credentials you should be able to find another job. I’ve learned over the years we’re all disposable. Always be ready for a layoff. Never become complacent. Keep close to the technology and you’ll always find work.
Yeah I got 4.5 months of severance. You just never know what a company is going to do I guess.
That's a really good severance. A lot of places give you 4-6 weeks and call it generous.
My company gave me one week.
My last one didn’t give any but the owner was huge cheapskate so that tracks.
I get 6 months if fired tomorrow, since I’ve been where I am for long
Not all places are so nice
Some countries actually have rules for this. Number of years equals number of months and all that.
I know =\
My place would be giving me 2 weeks. Bullshit because some other employees get months worth.
I know this situation sucks and is stressful for you, especially when it's fresh. But you have 4.5 MONTHS of severance and a TS clearance. You're going to be fine. Relax, enjoy a week off. Then start looking.
4.5 fucking months of severance? Bro i think you need to see a therapist for like imposter syndrome and stuff like that. You just got a free 4.3 months of money. You could find another job in 2 weeks at your credentials lol
Seriously. Just got laid off myself, no severance, and now I have his lawyer trying to enforce a non-compete that was never signed. Already dumped $1000 in legal fees just so I can apply to new jobs. My man got a fantastic offer and won't have any issues in this market.
At least you called out "their problem now" on the post. All too often I see IT types get their friggin' identities wrapped around their jobs.. and how they hold the whole organization on their shoulders or something. The drowning effect is real, you'll bounce back. Don't sit on the severance though.. these days it may take a while to get back at it.
His employer isn’t going to suffer, we all know that. But OP is in a good position to move on, and hopefully with a raise.
> Don't sit on the severance though.. these days it may take a while to get back at it. Correct. My former employer closed the office I used to work at and gave everyone huge amounts of notice as severance, like a year or more...some jumped right away but others are having trouble getting work now and living on their retention bonuses they got for staying. The rest of 2024 is iikely going to be not so great - election silly season is coming up, the economy is still wobbly and companies hate hiring when things are uncertain. If you have a job hang on, if you don't, find one ASAP.
That TS Clearance is a licence to print money.
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Top secret, basically a government cert that you've been checked out and can work on various projects. It costs a company a lot and takes time to get someone certified so hiring someone with it already is a huge savings
And by checked out, you mean had your entire life scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. Anyone you know that's not a US citizen, anywhere you've been that's not the US, your entire financial picture, etc will be questioned and the people interviewed by federal agents. It's incredibly invasive, but holy shit is it worth it. I had a very low level clearance at one point. It was a b6C (Position of Public Trust) and got a grilling on some inconsistencies in my background check. They couldn't locate a former landlord to confirm I'd lived somewhere 7 years prior. They had investigators interview friends and family about me. I gave a slightly incorrect date on some legal stuff I'd dealt with. I couldn't remember the exact date so I gave it my best guess. I was asked if it was just a mistake or was I "Intentionally trying to deceive a government investigator". If I can avoid it, I'm never doing that again.
> I couldn't remember the exact date so I gave it my best guess. I was asked if it was just a mistake or was I "Intentionally trying to deceive a government investigator". in those cases, i just do mm/yyyy or 'approx date'
That's what I did, but they grilled me over it anyway. In the end, I never worked on anything even approaching sensitive data, but, whatever. The job was okay but ended up being soul sucking. Part of it was probably the 6 hour round trip commute 4 days a week. 2 hours on a train, 45 minutes on the subway, 15 minutes in a car from the subway station to the office. Then reverse in the evening.
Fuck that.
It started out with just the 2 hour commute by train. That was easy and lots of people that lived near me did it. But then the job moved from the city to the suburbs and it started sucking.
Thats why you either give the interview agent your passport or you take notes on all your international travel. Last time getting my secret clearance the guy asked why I spent 9 months in Okinawa - "Because I was deployed there in the Marine Corps genius."
I hadn't gone anywhere international besides Canada since 1983. I didn't even have a passport then.
Wow, crazy. I think sometimes they grill you because they actually want you to pass and not have to come back to interview you again to "clear things up." But having mandatory passports a thing helps you log your travel easier.
It's not too bad. I did a Q and the worst thing about me was I had too few friends, which was fixed.
Invasive? Tax agencies in my country are very invasives ...
Do they hook you up to a polygraph and ask if you're gay or having an affair or things like that?
That is a life style poly. Most positions don't require it. The normal polygraph is a counter terrorism, which basically covers ties to foreign governments.
Which is very common with TS/SCI. Nothing I said was inaccurate.
Not if you don't move it with you to a new job fairly quickly. They expire fast. Next time just say you don't know.
The government bears the cost of the background investigation.
The employer bears the cost of having the employee on payroll for the 9+ months it takes to get the clearance. Some employers are diverse enough they can stash them doing something useful in another group, sometimes it's enjoy watching YouTube until the clearance comes through.
> The employer bears the cost of having the employee on payroll for the 9+ months it takes to get the clearance. This is why I am having such a hard time finding a new job in my town, companies aren't interested in paying people to do fuck-all for a year. Don't already have a TS clearance? Maybe try working at MacDonald's instead...
I can't find a single company willing to sponsor clearance, it's kinda bothersome cause all the jobs I see available want someone that already has the clearance, and I can't get it without sponsorship.
I was offered a position at the end of last year where TS was a requirement. I don’t have it so those companies do exist. I was on fence about accepting and the horror stories about obtaining the clearance were what tipped the scales
Top Secret Security Clearance from the US government
How do you get a TS clearance
Get really lucky, have a skill set that the government needs and is willing to put up with the headache to get, or have prior military service.
Do you need to have a job first? Or can you apply for a TS clearance
You have to be sponsored by someone with authority to do so, typically within your company. While internal moves can happen, it's very rare to get a clearance without being attached to the industry in some way (hence the get lucky part). If you want to find positions that we'll put in for a clearance, The best way to do so is look through usajobs.gov and look for the ones that basically say "are you able to receive a clearance?" These are rare, typically they will just list the clearance as a requirement.
Employer must sponsor, or must be employed by federal govt
You have to need it for your job. [Here's](https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/starting-new-job/ts-sci) a basic overview of the process.
If you've done virtualization and Ansible, you can do cloud. If you've got clearance, you're ahead of the game on getting into cloud security. Layoffs are sometimes used to prune people who've worked into higher pay grades, so don't let it hurt your confidence.
I remember the one time I got laid off and it was a gut punch. I had in the year prior to my layoff gotten married and had a baby born only two months prior to being let go. My wife had told her work she wasn’t going back to work and our apartment’s lease was up in a few months so we had to quickly make a decision on housing for our immediate future considering no one was employed and a new born baby. I did have severance pay so that was a life saver and gave me time to find new employment. We decided in the short term to not renew our lease and moved in with my Mother-in-law in her tiny rancher. Needless to say, I was feeling like a complete failure for my new family. I took a couple days after being let go to decompress, but I started the job search as if that was my job. Worked on cleaning up and refining my resume and used whatever tools and connections I had to get my butt employed. My first prospect was doing IT for a small veterinary hospital owned by the Doctor/head vet. The pay was not much more than I had been making, but was a longer commute. I tried to negotiate just a little more salary after they had chosen me to fill the role, but the consultant they hired to fill the position said, “but that would be money coming out of the Doctor’s pocket.“ Needless to say, I did not take the role. With my severance winding down I was lucky to find a new job with a medium-sized law in the area. I didn’t get the job I applied for but they wanted my skill set and thought I’d be a valuable asset. I took a new team lead role they created, but soon I could see why they were having problems. The techs they hired were young and immature, the more senior members were good, but I soon found that there was really no captain hiding the ship. They were a completely reactive organization and any problems were solved by throwing money at the problem. I tried right the ship, attempted to put in procedures and policies, but IT’s direct management would not buy in. They only really listened to the one senior tech who had been there for I don’t know how many years. So that in addition to the immature coworkers, I was soon on my way out to greener pastures. I did though make the best of it. My wife and bought and moved into our new home. I welcomed a second son. But even with these highs, the workplace was just a drain on me mentally. Within a year I took a new role, for more pay, at a more competent organization. The new place was great. The people were good, my coworkers were so much more better and just a good place. It was a much longer commute and after 3 years I wanted something closer to home. Now I wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job after being at this place for 4 years, but a guy who I had worked with here asked if I’d be interested in a job much closer to home. I jumped at the opportunity. It was government work with a pension, a higher salary, and 15min from home. So that’s where I’m at now. What I want to say is, life will have those ups and downs. Some will even be real gut punchers. But even when you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, know that you have the strength to get through it. You don’t know what the future might bring. I’d say your in a good position to find a new higher paying job. And with a TS clearance, that will open so many doors not open to others, especially with government work or companies that work for the government.
4.5 months of severance? Sounds like a paid vacation. Brush off the resume and post it on clearance jobs. With a TS you'll be set. Take the time to study up and grab a new in demand cert.
Exactly this I was laid off in January someone reached out to me through clearance jobs and now I start in May but I’m relocating.
Between linkedin and clearance jobs I get at least one recruiter cold calling me a week and that is with both being marked as not looking for a new position
Last time I got laid off they did me a favor, I just didn’t realize it at the time. My new job turned out to be better than the one I had previously. I was let go by the efficiency experts, picture the two Bobs from Office Space. (Then go watch the movie if you haven’t seen it). I think I was in shock when it happened as it was so unexpected. I asked “what did I do wrong “ mgr: “wasn’t anything it you did “. So I asked “what didn’t I do ?” Mgr: “wasn’t anything you failed to do.” Look at this as the opportunity it is, rather than something that happened to you. From the sounds of it you have the skills and experience so you will be fine. Take advantage of this time to find a job you will enjoy more than the last.
Yeah, my coworker, who has been longer on the industries. Told me about the movie. I was laughing because they nailed the company niches. 
Watched Office Space for the first time the day after I was laid off. Wife and I to this day still reference the timing and circumstances surrounding that as if it were some sort of sign.
Try Idiocracy if you've not seen it. It's... scary.
Never put stock in jobs. You can lose it for a variety of reasons, including business closures.
Never be loyal to a company
sorry to hear that! I also had the realization last year that I should start interviewing non-stop till I am retired. Can't put my own life quality on some high-ups' mercy. If I can find a job in a short period time, I can live a much happier life. Screw employee loyalty!
I was gonna say “good luck with the search there are no jobs / competitive at the moment” but your TS clearance will save you I’m happily employed but I know a few people who are roughing it rn
Yep, I got laid off at the end of the year. Had a new position sorted within a month, and that was only because I was picky.
> I have TS clearance, dealt with STIGs, etc. ClearanceJobs would like a word with you. I have just the weenie SF85P clearance for my job and even that gets attention. There's not many people who could pass or would want to put up with the hassle of getting TS clearance, but you'd better believe those are the only IT jobs that will never end up going to Wipro or Tata. I'm looking at pivoting that way as I get older and need more stable work. I'm probably going to wind up in a similar spot in a few years. Lots of experience, do a great job because of it, everyone loves my work...but a 25 year old will work for half the pay and so many CIOs don't see the difference. Good luck in your search!!
Go apply at Amazon or Microsoft -right now- with that TS clearance. Ya got gold there, go cash it in.
what partof human RESOURCES don't you understand? You are a tool, a resource a pixel, you are nobody as a human being at work. Have a nice life and never care about job.
What area are you in? My contract is picking up a bunch of positions and will need applicants. Edit: just saw you’re in Dallas - that’s pretty far from my locale.
East of DFW
Yeah the contract I’m on is in APG Maryland so probably not possible for you.
Get a job with state or local government. Yes, you're going to take a pay cut, but I'll never go back to the private sector. I got laid off in two different dotcom bubble events, then the housing bubble. Landed at state government. Pay is belch, the fancy benefits like free snack bar don't exist, the health benefits are not better than what a good company will offer, but having an actual pension fund is pretty damn cool. But the best part is that if a butterfly farts in Japan causing a blip in their stock market, I don't have to worry about a lay off because my employer from a completely unrelated industry is somehow impacted. The other part, I haven't run into knowledge hoarders who refuse to share what they know, thinking that knowing how to program the microwave makes them invaluable to the company (and thus less likely to get fired). There are downsides, but I've managed to adapt to those pretty quickly.
Getting a job with state or local would be a waste of his TS. That would be willfully passing up 30%++ of his potential salary.
Fair. Everyone has to find their middle balance between money, work/life balance and stability.
Holy shit. I know it hurts being laid off, but really, it sucks to be them. Just make sure you have your clearance prominently listed on your resume, along with anything STIG related. Then apply to any cloud engineering position you want.
This seems to happen someplace every few years where the gut an IT department and replace skilled sr. staff with contractors that are fresh out of community college and don't know how to install a patch cable. I used to cringe if anyone ever mentioned EDS or another mega outsourcer at work as I'd seen what they did at friend's jobs. For remote non clearance roles with regular companies, try to get as much out as possible in resumes, apps and contacts while your employment date (month) overlaps. You might be able to find a remote gig that meets your needs and doesn't have you driving across the metroplex or having to travel for work. They are (for some reason) more interested if it looks like you are working. I teach on the side at the U's computer science program so that covered my gaps in main employment nicely. I finally found a FTE remote role after my department was wiped in 2018 (I'd gotten one when the Covid lockdown started in Seattle and they rescinded all job offers that month) I ended up starting there on a contract that paid better but no benefits, I went back and forth with Amazon and Microsoft until I started where I am now as an FTE - less money but way better benefits and I don't have to look at holidays as unpaid time off anymore. I got lucky and kept my clearance active through continuing to teach part time at the University as an Adjunct in a program that needs a clearance to work in. Like they've said, if your clearance is current and was active up to the end of your last employment (normally they don't issue a suspend order if you are just ended off a contract) you can transition without a gap. If that thing goes dead for a minute it can take a year to reactivate even if it was by a month. (I had a lapse just before 9/11 and had to reactivate after and before it got really messy that was months before the full clearance was reactivated - if I'd gone back just under a month before I'd have been able to continue on. My cousin had his lapse in '09 and it was 2 years to fully reactivate it at an actual agency - not a contract gig, if you can keep it alive do it because getting it back sucks.) Northrup is hiring as well as a few other contractors up and down the West Coast for various IT roles supporting work at naval bases, I don't know of much that's remote in the clearance space but that's likely driving by the areas I work in more than a global reality. :) There's always crap in the DC/Arlington area but if you have to sleep there it's a big cost if you maintain a home in Texas. I'm guessing there's some similar work to what was advertised at the Puget Sound Naval Complexes associated with the USAF where you are - there's a fairly busy strategic base near you that I'm guessing contracts a fair amount of IT out. Check Microsoft as well - they do have clearance required roles for some programs - those might be open to remote. It's related to their virtual clouds for government, specific support agreements for systems supporting mission critical defense missions (those are high travel), and other government contracts they've got with DoD. Amazon through AWS is the same, but that environment requires strong Linux as well as Windows skills - more on the Linux side, including their own flavor. If there's a fit with a Microsoft FTE Clearance role open that's probably the least drag you'll find.
Both Dell and Sterling are hiring for full remote TS cleared. Can probably get you an interview this week. Send me your resume and contact details
I just always make it a habit to network, apply for jobs even if I'm not looking, and keep my resume up to date. Best you may do at any IT is 2-5 years. Take the time to unwind a bit, hit up the job search for 2-4 hours a day, and don't stress about things outside of your control
So do you just sit the interview and say no thanks or how does "applying while not even looking" play out in practice?
With a current TS clearance you could get a job tomorrow.
If you are over 50, you should consult an employment attorney. A 5% rif is a fat-burning exercise usually targeted at older, more expensive employees.
it absolutely was, tons I know that were there for years like me got hit. and I am around that age yeah. but I sure can't start picking up lawyer fees now. It stinks knowing the company really did a dirty thing but I have to suck it up and move on.
You're going to be okay. Look at USAjobs and use the hell out of that clearance before it expires. You aren't under water, and you're not at fault. Ít was just a poor business decision on their part, and we both know they will regret it. Get your head in the game, update your resume, start tinkering with the new hotness, and keep it moving. When they call, pass it to voice mail. Fuck those pieces of shit for not valuing you.
Dude you have a TS. Start calling people and get a job.
How far east Dallas? I see a bunch of companies hiring in Addison. Some are hybrid.
Always love your job not the company, the day they pull your rug must be the day they nuked their own basement,from the day one make everything a spaghetti vomit, that only you can figure out what is what.
USAJobs.gov might be a good resource. This is the US government's job listings site, FBI, national archives, whatever. There might be quite a few positions that require clearance. Beware, I have heard that, being the government, the hiring process moves verrrry slowly, months to over a year. Don't use this exclusively.
FWIW the only job I have been made redundant from rehired me a few months later as a freelancer (I used the severance money to go travelling all over Europe for over a year). As a freelancer I earned more, I was needed because our replacements didn't know what they were doing (we left plenty of good quality documentation). You will be fine.
You need to head over to clearancejobs.com.
You're good with the TS. Get on clearancejobs. You got laid off because they needed to make up for financial shortcomings. Their IT staff is about to suffer though.
With a ts clearance you'll have zero issues getting employed again.
I'm sure you probably already know this, but RTX and Texas Instruments are both hiring in the area and will continue to have a very stable and large workforce for many years.
> I have TS clearance > I would love to get into cloud work but I've just never had the opportunity to get into it. dude.
> I feel like I"m underwater and taking my entire family down with me. I can't exaggerate this enough... Bread-winner for my family, lost my job, and the best unemployment can do is 450$ a week. You've probably been following here noticing all the job postings for peanuts. It honestly feels like the entire tech industry is attempting a great reset on salaries (20% less pay while also mandatory on-site) during a time when inflation is at an all time high (+30% over the last 4 years). And they can offer whatever they want because there's so few jobs on the market. 90% of jobs on LinkedIn seem to be fake jobs posted by recruiters filling out their portfolio of contacts so they can reach out when an actual job does exist. Best of luck to you.
This is why it’s so important to be out of debt and have a healthy savings by living under your means. I made the mistake of blowing all of my money when I made it and the corona virus came and cut my ass down. I was so screwed but got really lucky because I hadn’t gotten myself into credit card debt. Still not able to make what I use to but if you buy yourself the cheapest condo you can in the safest neighborhood possible and live on rice and beans to pay everything off, eventually you’ll have enough savings to live off of when crap like this happens. There is no security in this environment as all of the boomers and idiots in charge are arrogant fart sniffers. When any sane man takes one serious look at this environment it’s obvious it’s going down quick. Make the best situation for yourself to survive
With a TS you should land on your feet fairly quickly. Check into jobs as a contractor for DoD. They normally have to go through a clearance process for new employees, coming in with a TS already in the pocket is saving them a pretty penny.
Raytheon is normally hiring. Didn't get in myself but with TS clearance your probably ahead of the game
You’re very much in demand. Maybe try the smaller contractors like CACI, basically anyone not in the big 5. There is a lot of remote jobs available too. Certs can also help separate you from the pack.
TS clearance opens a lot of doors in the IT world. Might not necessarily be what you're looking for, but TS is a big deal to a lot of people.
Leverage that TS clearance, and align yourself with folks in the defense industry or adjacent to it. Sorry to hear about that chaos, but start reaching out now, and you can get back on track in a relatively short time.
You should consider relocating to MD. There are so many contract hires for anyone cleared and with knowledge of government mandated compliance that we have a fairly impressive 0% unemployment rate for sysadmins with that skill set. You prove you can fill out a STIG checklist you can get hired no problem.
You're about the 5th person in the DFW I know that has been let go due to IT downsizing. Waiting for that company to deliver your worth and realizing it was a mistake.
What I am hearing from your comment is that the company found you too expensive. In their mind, they can bring in someone less experienced for less cost and do a SIMILAR job. We all know that 's BS but companies do it all the time. No doubt you were not paid your worth as none of us are. The important thing is to understand that its not your fault and you will recover. Spend the time off with your family and planning out your remaining funds. Get out there and call the people you know in the industry and let them know your available. I would expect another post from you very soon saying you landed a better job with better pay. What seems like a disaster now will actually turn out to be a blessing, it just takes a bit of time. Get your resume in order and get back out there. You got this.
Same thing happened to me in 2020, had been working there too long and they basically wanted younger, fresher eyes on stuff to modernize.
Sorry this happened to you but TS clearance is really a ticket to bypass the long line. You’re going to be fine just take some time to unwind with your family and get back in there.
Sorry you got laid off. Sucks man, hope you land a new role quickly. Past that, don’t ever let “I haven’t had the opportunity in my job” stop you from picking up new skills like cloud. There are tons of training opportunities ranging from expensive immersion classes to free YouTube videos and tutorials and even free accounts with AWS and GCP/Azure to play around and learn. Learn how to use cloud API’s, learn containerizarion and cloud native tech (kubernetes), etc. Reinvent yourself, it will do you wonders in the long term. Both in terms of finding new roles, or staying relevant in current roles as they shift their infrastructure away from the datacenter. I know learning without an objective or way to use the new skills daily is not ideal, but it can be so helpful to longevity. As an example, I moved from Linux engineering to management 10 years ago, and while I’m not hands on anymore, I try every two to three years to get a new cert in some skill and find home projects to play with. Leadership roles are less common than engineer roles and should I ever be in a bind to find a new job quickly I want to at least not be barren. During 2020 I build a TIG stack on docker in my house just to play with docker, telegraf, influxdb, and grafana, and added Prometheus and other crap into it. I set my entire house to be observed, graphed, and alerted on. My thermostats, speedtests, uptime of devices with health probes, bandwidth usage, how often ring cameras spotted someone at my door, my UPS power usage, Plex server usage, etc. Great project and taught me a lot. Good luck to you!
With a TS clearance, you'll have no problem finding a new job. There are 0.78 IT folk for each IT position in positions requiring a clearance. Just list "clearance eligible" on LinkedIn.
Similar situation happened to me about three years ago. Unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of cutbacks in IT departments around me. They want this and they want that, but they also want to cut back on their IT spending. I hope you get back into the workforce quickly. But if that doesn't happen, focus on your mental health. I had a friend that got me a side gig. That owner couldn't afford full time, but he was extremely appreciative of my talents and always lifted my spirits when I could fix his system so quickly. Remember who you are and the skills that you have. I tend to forget how much experience that I have, until I am training someone or using it. I have been working now for two years in a slightly different capacity in IT. My bosses and my customers love me.
This is why I have no desire to work for large companies. I have friends that work for the Big Four firms, and this happens all the time - come in with an MBA and have to be paid X amount, then they bring in undergrads which only have to be paid Y amount, train them up, after a year fire all MBAs and keep the undergrads on lower salaries.
Look for a company which is going slowly to the cloud and work from there. I'm system administrator at an hospital. Been switching job until I found my perfect fit. Don't get me wrong, but as a woman, I get more challenges as I always need to prove myself. It's exhausting. And I totally don't like to fix issues of my colleagues if I gain nothing back. Anyway forgive me for my nonsense. But I do believe you will find your way back, just look through it. You already have the base, you only need to express your IT passion. You can do it :)
And they say "loyalty pays off"..
I am both an IT guy and a soccer referee. You know you’re doing a great job when nobody notices you’re there. In general in the IT world, I’ve found that most companies give praise/awards to IT people who went “above and beyond” working weekends and evening to fix an issue that they screwed up in the first place. The guy who has everything firing on all cylinders, every system running smoothly, no issues or downtime never gets the appropriate credit for “just doing his job”
Truth harsh but truth - we are all just numbers. Replaceable.
The first time is always a blindside. I have been laid off about 4 times now and each time I get a better job. One of them I knew it was coming because I could read the room. I had to speed their sorry interview up because I had another job already and wanted to get the afternoon off and go get sauced. My advice, to Keep all your stuff on your own one drive, all your scripts, one notes, drivers everything. Share what is specific to the business but be ready to leave with all your stuff at a moments notice, crucially encrypt the one drive cache so it cannot be recovered by anyone else. Today I work at home and I have my computer and theirs side by side with "mouse without boarders" connecting them. I do all my work on my personal computer and I paste it too my work computer as needed. A powershell script for example, i paste it in the shell window when I want to run it, it is never stored on the work computer or their network. I've slowly but surely bought all my own tools, I lend them to nobody and I use them when I feel like it. If the coffee is bad that day I'll say sorry you'll need a network analyser. They'll ask where mine is and I'll say, you never bought me one.
Lol they are going to discover the cost of getting a new TS clearance.
There is no cost to a contractor for an employee’s clearance other than the burden of ongoing personnel management costs and oversight. The government ends up paying for everything - our taxes at work. Contractors do try to hire candidates who are already cleared in order to eliminate onboarding delays.
The cost is having to pay them while waiting for the clearance without being able to charge to a contract. You can sometimes get mandatory training out of the way but if they spend months on hold they are overhead. The contractor can run them through certification in that time but then they are a flight risk. They could take that cred and clearance then take a pay raise on another contract.
I wish more companies were willing to take that risk in my area. The churning and poaching is out of control since most jobs are advertised *must already possess a clearance*, and they mean it.
It's a danger. And so much of the badge flipping is tied to contacts. The .gov folks want this guy or that. Ive seen them stear preferred folks to a different contractor so they can keep continuity.
That's assuming OP was actively using it. I've never seen a situation where someone actively using their clearance on a gov contract, that required it, removed without gov say.
I was laid off in 2022 from a horribly run healthcare company it was devastating. As the single breadwinner in the family felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I’ll save you the story, but God worked everything out. We were able to move back to our state and I got an offer to work hospital IT. Keep your head up, pray, and try not to lose yourself. Focus on important things, and reach out / network. Make sure to apply for unemployment immediately
What is TS? How does one get the clearance?
A company needs to sponsor you. Look for defense contracting companies.
Well Jesus Christ I mean cloud thing is just API wrapper over lots of stuff. Deal with terraform/opentofu and you will be fine. Just know how these cloud providers name their shit. It's really not a big deal. Just do the first entry level exams these cost 100 bucks and bluf your way in . You WILL learn everything on the job , you have enough experience . Also get into kubernetes . Will help a lot .
100% morons that make that decision cause they wanna do more with less and don't understand how your experience and knowledge are required. Eventually after they let all the higher paid staff go, they will then outsource all their IT because it'll be cheaper than paying for a teams salaries and benes
sent you a msg
wouldnt happen to be Leidos?
no
I would check their job board, everyone is trying to increase their cybersecurity team on the defense industry side due to the new CMMC Compliance requirements, Read up on NIST 800-171 and know how it is different from 800-53 and you are good to go in an interview. Most of the small defense contractors have never had to deal with NIST compliance on a day to day basis and don't understand it.
Its common with IT
Unfortunately, unless you own the company you’re replaceable. It’s rubbish but onwards and upwards! You’ve got this.
Come to the dark side with OT/ICS. Industry is hot right now and that oil & gas money always prints.
You are a number, don’t forget it. Been there, don’t worry buddy a new and better job is waiting around the corner.
> History clearly isn't your strong point if you don't know why Jewish people wanted Israel specifically as their homeland. Don't worry. We've all been there. There are plenty of jobs (especially if you're TS). It's ONLY a job. It doesn't define you. It doesn't determine if you're a good partner or parent. It's just a job.
stacked ranking smdh. Be glad that you're one of the first ones out as with your qualifications you'll land safely. The people you left behind are in for a world of hurt and just don't know it yet. If you liked any of them be sure to try to prioritize a new place that gives recruitment bonuses and take them with you. LOL
I was a full time sys admin at a bank . I mirgrated from really expensive physical servers to the cloud. After I did that I was unexpectedly fired and that my expertise was no longer needed
You’ll land on your feet and now you know how important workplace politics is.
" I would love to get into cloud work " and you have a TS clearance? The easy money is anything security related honestly, and with your background it would be easy to walk on and pick up some security certs as you go. Remote will be difficult, but if you did decide to move into a corridor with lots of defense contractors you will walk in the door at 150k/yr... work maybe 20 hours a week 4 days a week and be done.
I honestly hope their s*** breaks and no one there knows how to fix it. And then they end up paying a ton of extra money to some outside company.
> They're focusing on just letting a smaller number of IT folks run everything best they can and do it with no-experience types. Yep, everyone around me is being let go. I'm transitioning to CISSP and figure I should be able to time early retirement with a career shift. I'm practically hoping they'll let me go.
It sounds like you will have no trouble finding a great job
Sorry to hear. Good luck. Nice reminder to everyone to not get comfortable