[ SECRET POST #2242 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2242 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 022 secrets from Secret Submission Post #320.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Curious to know, are you in a connected field?

[visp]

Nah, I'm in legal. But I have friends and family who went military, then private contractor. It's good money if you don't mind a little sand and PTSD. Also you can't exactly take kids or pets along for most gigs.

[(Anonymous)]

Hm. What made you stay away from the business? Sounds like you have a solid basis of contacts.

I don't mind discomfort, it's just breaking into the field that's a challenge. Surplus of personnel + force drawdown = lack of need for recruitment? Not entirely sure, it's different depending on each field/branch/whatever else.

[visp]

Me? I really didn't want to be in the military, and didn't want to be professionally violent. Also, I sunburn easy. Although when I look at my student loans and current prospects and the no-loans-and-$300k-a-year, plus the lifestyle that buys, when a good portion of that is tax-free and room and board when they're working that one of my friends has - I'm not gonna lie, I have twinges. Still, "what shall profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his soul," (not a moral judgment, but the job is...stressful) plus I really do like being a lawyer and really hate the extra asskissing that you have to do in the military.

But as far as "breaking into the field" goes, you kinda either have the training or you don't. (I'm assuming you're USA, but this probably applies for Britain as well) The wars may be officially "over" but that doesn't mean anywhere's secure. It just means that the US military isn't officially doing it any more, so someone else has to. Someone else being the USA-affiliated contractors. Plus, Africa's hiring people, and apparently branching out from the old "Executive Outcomes" group. Piracy's still a problem as well.

The US has been at war for 10 years - but a very specific kind of war where your average soldier doesn't get combat experience so much as he just gets shot at and not allowed to engage. However, the special forces groups have been working overtime the past decade, murderating their way up and down the sandlands and getting really fucking good at it. So, combat-wise, if your job was "go there and kill them," and you've been doing it for a while, you just send your resume in to Triple Canopy, Academi (unless they changed their name again - Blackwater/Xe) and the other firms. Or, better yet, start calling up your old teammates and saying "Hey, so I'm looking for work in the private sector. Do you know someone?" If your job was "Get shot at but you're not allowed to engage," yeah, your skill set is probably less in demand. Still, I'd start looking - couldn't hurt.

The other area I know is intel. Now, intel is very up-to-the-moment - once you're out for a few years, you don't really get back in unless you've got some people vouching for you. That being said, if you have a good active security clearance, there's a lot of people that will hire you, because getting clearance is a monster of paperwork and background checks and there's lots of jobs that can only be handled by someone with clearance, even if it's only data entry. http://www.clearancejobs.com/

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, it's not for everyone. For me, maybe perversely, part of the job field's perks is all of that stressful crap.

As for the rest, I have training, just not the kind you're referring to. Would be more useful if I had. Essentially novice level analyst training, and a handful of language proficiencies.

[visp]

Then yes, you're going to have to start at the bottom and grunt-work your way up for a few years, doing a lot of asskissing and tactfully not pointing out when someone higher up (everybody) does something dumb, and you'll probably getting thrown under the bus a few times. On the bright side, your job doesn't get you shot at as much as the more combat-oriented sorts.

I would caution against being cavalier about the PTSD stuff, though. Actually being involved in harming your fellow humans, and being at risk of harm yourself, and seeing others harmed, really does a number on a person. Go into it prepared that it will be difficult, but that you can deal. And don't get gratuitous about what you see - a typical rookie mistake is when the people find all the pictures of the bombings and the execution videos and stuff and watch them, thinking that it will prove how tough they are, toughen them up, or just from perverse fascination. Don't. It's not like smallpox, where you can get an immunity - more like arsenic, in that it builds up.

Good luck.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Keeping my opinions to myself about fuckups will be a challenge that I'll have to overcome.

I promise that I'm not trying to be cavalier about the potential threat to myself or others involved. Personally, I've been in situations that have exposed me to extended physical harm, seen others badly hurt, had to defend myself and others from harm. I know what that shit looks like, and while I'm not happy with it, I know what I can handle, and what I can survive. Trying to build a resistance to a new strain of horror by consuming int isn't what I'm keen on doing; I'll either adapt to it or I won't through work.

Thank you. I'll need it.

[visp]

Ooh, and P.S.

If you're good at languages, NSA is always hiring translators - especially if you can manage the vernacular (movies help you learn that if you can't actually converse with native-speakers in real life). Tapping a phone does no good if you can't understand what they're saying, and translation software doesn't help that much.

[(Anonymous)]

Good bit of info, thanks. I wasn't aware.

Languages are my biggest strength, actually. I have a 2+ proficiency in a middle eastern language, and 3/3+ in a romance language. Picking up Mandarin as well. I'll be looking into this, definitely.