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CIA Labs

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Re: CIA Labs

#81

Post by thelean12 »

waterfowl wrote: post #79
thelean12 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are they going to get the Palantir people? Doesn't Palantir pay extremely well? I don't think people in this thread understand: The starting salary range for a "Technical Developer" is $60k-$150k according to their website. I imagine it's similar for CIA labs. That won't get any FAANG or Palantir developers out of bed in the morning unless they think being in the CIA super cool or something.

Palantir does not pay well, or at least used to not. They had a disclosed relatively low salary cap back in the day. https://www.quora.com/How-does-Palantir-attract-talent-if-it...

Interesting, sounds like I'm mostly wrong about Palantir vs the CIA, unless the prospects of Palantir IPOing is luring.

Regardless, I'm much more familiar with FAANG compensation and my comments are still accurate for those.

Re: CIA Labs

#82

Post by varispeed »

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?

Better that, than getting yourself "disappeared" if you catch my drift... Believe or not, there are people who crave such feudal relationship despite being quite intelligent and capable of discovering new things (to please their masters).

Re: CIA Labs

#83

Post by CamperBob2 »

jdm2212 wrote: post #56
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?

Federal civil service is all on the same scale, and it tops out below what new grad engineers typically make at defense contractors, to say nothing of FAANG.

There are (legitimate) ways to get paid more in government service. Years ago, I sold a Ferrari to a guy who worked on nuclear weapons at Los Alamos. His boss drove a Lamborghini.

I've never understood how this fit in with the whole GS scale thing, but the reasoning was straightforward: if we don't pay them well, somebody else might.

Re: CIA Labs

#84

Post by bllguo »

it feels like the scopes of our government agencies are overly broad. why exactly does the CIA need to do research and invent things _itself_? so what exactly are groups like DARPA or the NSA for?

Re: CIA Labs

#86

Post by Spooky23 »

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?

You have no risk, civil service protection, government salary, benefits, pensions.

With government jobs, you make less cash but get other compensation. In a professional role, between retiree healthcare and pension alone, the present value of your benefits can be worth $3-4M.

You can do better with big tech companies, but generally speaking you have higher risks.

Re: CIA Labs

#87

Post by rprenger »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #83
jdm2212 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Federal civil service is all on the same scale, and it tops out below what new grad engineers typically make at defense contractors, to say nothing of FAANG.

There are (legitimate) ways to get paid more in government service. Years ago, I sold a Ferrari to a guy who worked on nuclear weapons at Los Alamos. His boss drove a Lamborghini. I've never understood how this fit in with the whole GS scale thing, but the reasoning was straightforward: if we don't pay them well, somebody else might.

The employees of the DOE labs aren't civil servants on the GS scale. They're paid more like defense contractors. The base salaries at a DOE lab can be comparable to FAANG base salaries if you ignore RSU part of the compensation you also get at a FAANG (which can be a significant portion of the overall salary).

Re: CIA Labs

#88

Post by ryguytilidie »

core-questions wrote: post #85
jonathanstrange wrote: post #5

Probably a better workplace than their illegal torture camps, though only marginally.

They have illegal ones? Where are they? Is there some compelling evidence of this?

"They have illegal ones?"

Yeah I thought the US only had LEGAL torture centers!!

Re: CIA Labs

#90

Post by refurb »

inetsee wrote: post #69
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.

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…

This was my understanding. You basically get the gov't to pay for your clearance (which I hear can take a long time). Once you separate, your clearance can get your jobs in the private sector that people without clearance can't.[1]

I'm not saying it's a ticket to being filthy rich, but it opens doors to some lucrative careers that you wouldn't otherwise be able to get.

[1]https://www.clearancejobs.com/

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