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CIA Labs

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Re: CIA Labs

#61

Post by content_sesh »

daniel-cussen wrote: post #47
balls187 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...with all the defense sector benefits, some very exclusive. Could you elaborate on that?

The federal government pays a comfortable six figures (if I were offered this kind of job without being told the salary, I would value that opportunity estimating the salary to be $150,000). Plus you retire really early (I'm not certain whether CIA lets you retire after 20 years, but many fed roles do, with full salary), plus you have access to really hard to find information (valuable from the point of view of sheer…

Getting your SF-86 leaked by OPM does not, in fact, make you feel cool, like part of the team, or a "made man".

Re: CIA Labs

#62

Post by thoughtstheseus »

AWildC182 wrote: post #32
thoughtstheseus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearance for one.

If you think that's a perk you don't belong doing that work. It's not the james bond life you think it is and the people who think of it that way are insufferable. Try living in a windowless box for 8 hours a day and having no resume.

I think you meant the inverse. If you value optionality to work on government projects that require clearance wouldn’t one view already having said clearance as a perk?

If you don’t want to do that work you would not view it as a perk.

Re: CIA Labs

#63

Post by SebaSeba »

Is the dragonfly logo somehow on a more general level related to spy stuff? It is not the first time I see it in a spy context and neither this or the other time it could be easily explained just because of dragonfly drones.

Re: CIA Labs

#64

Post by AWildC182 »

thoughtstheseus wrote: post #62
AWildC182 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think that's a perk you don't belong doing that work. It's not the james bond life you think it is and the people who think of it that way are insufferable. Try living in a windowless box for 8 hours a day and having no resume.

I think you meant the inverse. If you value optionality to work on government projects that require clearance wouldn’t one view already having said clearance as a perk? If you don’t want to do that work you would not view it as a perk.

It ropes you into that ecosystem and that ecosystem only. Most consumer/web tech companies won't understand a resume that's just "I did a thing, can't talk about it".

Re: CIA Labs

#65

Post by denysvitali »

jmnicolas wrote: post #37
denysvitali wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but also because they're the CIA, you know

And they're just human, why use a top secret tracking tech worth billions when you can use browsers referrers with the same result?

To make the expense make more sense lol

Re: CIA Labs

#66

Post by AndrewKemendo »

jdm2212 wrote: post #58
daniel-cussen wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The federal government pays a comfortable six figures (if I were offered this kind of job without being told the salary, I would value that opportunity estimating the salary to be $150,000). Plus you retire really early (I'm not certain whether CIA lets you retire after 20 years, but many fed roles do, with full salary), plus you have access to really hard to find information (valuable from the point of view of sheer…

> The federal government pays a comfortable six figures Nope, it doesn't. Cracking 100k in the civil service requires being very very senior (equivalent of at least a colonel in the military). It is a cool opportunity, but it does not pay well. Even the civil service salary PLUS the maximum $150k patent royalties is less than what a 27 year old at a FAANG earns.

This is immediately falsifiable with public documents from OPM:

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries...

A mid-grade GS-12 in SF/DC/NY makes 100k+ which would be a non supervisory Individual Contributor with a BS.

Colonel equivalent (GS-15) is indeed rare and would be closer to $150k+

Re: CIA Labs

#67

Post by AndrewKemendo »

cameldrv wrote: post #51
throwaway894345 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would imagine CIA officers get a regular civil service salary What is a "regular civil service salary"? Presumably CIA officers are better paid than the clerk behind the DMV counter? Perhaps a CIA officer salary is still "excellent" if not on par with defense contractors?

It would be on the GS scale [1]. The GS scale has a set of levels and steps. If you're promoted, you generally go up a GS level. You go up steps with more time in service. There are a number of adjustments, including an adjustment for cost of living. Generally if you only have a bachelor's, you're limited to GS-9. Of course, the federal government provides excellent job security and good benefits, but the salary is n…

One correction here is that you are not limited to GS-9 with a BS only. GS-9 is often people with zero experience and a BS only depending on the position - like everything it's based on competitiveness.

Recognize that the GS scale starts with people who have no formal education at all.

Re: CIA Labs

#68

Post by thoughtstheseus »

AWildC182 wrote: post #64
thoughtstheseus wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you meant the inverse. If you value optionality to work on government projects that require clearance wouldn’t one view already having said clearance as a perk? If you don’t want to do that work you would not view it as a perk.

It ropes you into that ecosystem and that ecosystem only. Most consumer/web tech companies won't understand a resume that's just "I did a thing, can't talk about it".

Tell that to employees at Lockheed, Boeing, Honeywell, Booz Allen... the list of private enterprises or people engaged in government work requiring clearance is large and varied.

Re: CIA Labs

#69

Post by inetsee »

AWildC182 wrote: post #32
thoughtstheseus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearance for one.

If you think that's a perk you don't belong doing that work. It's not the james bond life you think it is and the people who think of it that way are insufferable. Try living in a windowless box for 8 hours a day and having no resume.

A position with a defense contractor that requires a special-access clearance can pay very well. The problem is that you very often need to have the clearance to get the job. Getting a special-access clearance for an employee can take six months or more, and there may be some costs involved. Also, there would be that time waiting for the clearance before you could start working on a special-access project. Many (most?) defense contractors would rather pay extra to get someone who already has the clearance.

Re: CIA Labs

#70

Post by TuringNYC »

thebean11 wrote: post #6
iffyspectrum wrote: post #4

More information: "Officers who develop new technologies at CIA Labs will be allowed to patent, license, and profit from their work, making 15% of the total income from the new invention with a cap of $150,000 per year. That could double most agency salaries and make the work more competitive with Silicon Valley." : https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/21/1008654/cias-new...

Seems like a strange proposition, I take all the risk of creating a new technology that will likely fail, and then if I beat the odds and succeed I'm capped at 150k? Also, if I'm not allowed to monetize my technology or patents, do I really own them? Is this just a bad startup incubator?

Short of being a founder and/or an individual inventor while not being employed who really gets upside from patents? I've seen plenty of executives get big bonuses from IP, rarely a non-founder engineer inventor.

And if you are founder and/or individual inventor, your risk profile is totally different than a salaried employee. The least of which is the sheer legal cost to push thru a patent on your own dime.

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