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What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

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Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#301

Post by mynameisvlad »

jkaplowitz wrote: post #284
mynameisvlad wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same problem with something so much more benign than that. I was a Green Card holder. Technically, you need your card and foreign passport to enter the country. I got yelled at for giving them my passport once, with the guard claiming it’s useless and not needed. So then I started having it on hand but not providing it on the spot, at which point I’d get yelled at for not providing the needed passport upfro…

My understanding is that the passport is not actually required at the CBP checkpoint if you present a valid unexpired green card. But yeah, there's no way different officers should be yelling contradictory things at you. Side note: A passport may still be required to board an inbound international flight even if I'm right about it not needing to accompany a green card at the CBP checkpoint, depending on the rules of…

Is it? I've been yelled about doing or not doing it so much that I can't keep track anymore.

That part of my life is behind me so now I get the next fun challenge: Which passport to use when going up to Canada and back as a dual citizen.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#302

Post by adastra22 »

xdfgh1112 wrote: post #7
Reubend wrote: post #4

> I learned by chance that putting certain provocative information on a security clearance form can greatly speed up the clearance process. But that is another story. Did he ever write about what that trick is?

https://yarchive.net/risks/mongrel.html Other poster posted the same link but is getting downvoted so might get overlooked.

My former boss has similar experience with TSA and customs. His father in law runs a farm back in his home country, and he usually goes once to visit whenever he is there. So, technically, he visited a farm which is one of the questions on most immigration forms. As a resident alien without a green card, he usually gets the 9th degree from TSA and customs. He has found, however, that if he checks this box they immediately start grilling him about the "farm" he says he stayed at. Once he explains "Oh no, it's a farmhouse. I visited my father in law for dinner one night. I didn't do any farm work or walk in the fields." they stamp his form and let him go. They never ask (or even check, as far as he can tell) anything else.

Moral: give the agent an easy problem to find, but one with a simple solution in your favor. They will never look for a 2nd problem.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#303

Post by m3047 »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #149

When I moved to Canada, at age 16-17 I initially failed a lot of job applications at places like Staples, Future Shop, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc. For some reason, many of them had a type of "Corporate Personality Test" on their application, and asked the same "Have you ever considered stealing from your employer?" to which I would cheerfully answer "Yes". Apparently this was an automatic deal-breaker; there was no f…

I mean, there's a whole book that's popular dedicated to saying "yes" to every opportunity you're offered to improve your "luck"...

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#304

Post by davidw »

idopmstuff wrote: post #259
CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't pretend to know what the original test writers had in mind. However, I actually think this question serves a different purpose than to determine if you had actually considered stealing from an employer. These types of questions are better suited to determine if someone can walk the corporate walk and talk the corporate talk. They don't want a low level employee to go off on a customer, or make rude remarks, o…

Yeah, seems like if you're hiring for a low-level retail employee, it's not necessarily a plus if they're the kind of person who deeply analyzes this sort of question instead of giving the superficially correct response. Particularly if this was in an employer-friendly time from a hiring perspective, and they had an endless supply of candidates.

Reminds me of the scene in Cryptonimicon, again:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1866629

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#305

Post by DoctorOetker »

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #223

> On another occasion much later, I learned by chance that putting certain provocative information on a security clearance form can greatly speed up the clearance process. Gotta know this piece!

I was about to post the same.

Is this person still alive to tell the other story?

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#306

Post by Atheros »

kibwen wrote: post #269
foobarbecue wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm like you. An ex of mine claimed that most people never even think about committing suicide. It's hard for me to understand how anyone could avoid such an obvious thought, but I have since seen a lot of evidence that some people's minds really don't explore the possibility space, and when they do it's only along prescribed paths... So I guess it's possible?

It boils down to a semantic argument. People have differing definitions of what it means to "think about committing suicide". If you're up on top of a tall object and happen to imagine yourself plummeting over the edge even without any intention to do so, some people will consider that "thinking about it", and some people won't. The useful interpretation is to exercise empathy and put yourself in the mind of the pers…

It's impractical for everyone and impossible for some people to interpret every question through the lens of the person asking the question. The use of American euphemisms is constantly changing and it is unreasonable to expect non-native English speakers or neurodivergent people to keep up.

Practice empathy. Guess at others' intent in order to do your best to give others the information that they want. But then insist that they use plain English in the future and that doing otherwise is wrong.

https://sneak.berlin/20191201/american-communication/

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#307

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #294
notch656c wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some cultures, and strongly correlated thus nationalities, are more brutally honest than others. So it may just be a test to see if you're an apple pie white American, which could be unlawful discrimination.

I think you have this backwards - Apparently, Americans are considered more brutally honest and direct in negotiations than other cultures: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-negotiate-around-the-...

That doesn't mean that Americans are more brutally honest in social interactions. In my experience, Americans commonly (admittedly, not always) avoid topics and observations which they think a listening party would find uncomfortable.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#308

Post by davchana »

oxfeed65261 wrote: post #211
screamingninja wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think that you have been using the word "considered" rather lightly. To me, it means careful thought and deliberation, not just "the thought crossed my mind at some point".

In this context, I think “considered,” here, is best understood as: “Have I deliberated over whether or not to do this?” Not: “Have I thought, in the abstract, about how I might do this, or what it might be like?”

Yes, more like, "wanted" (to do) it.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#309

Post by gr4yb34rd »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #149

When I moved to Canada, at age 16-17 I initially failed a lot of job applications at places like Staples, Future Shop, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc. For some reason, many of them had a type of "Corporate Personality Test" on their application, and asked the same "Have you ever considered stealing from your employer?" to which I would cheerfully answer "Yes". Apparently this was an automatic deal-breaker; there was no f…

that's how i knew 'voice stress analysis' tests were trash. when i was a teenager, it was all the rage for companies to put candidates through these and i'd sit there lying all the way through it and still get the job every time.

now, any of my ex's can agree, i'm the worst liar in the world and if that test thought i was being honest, there's definitely something busted with it.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#310

Post by AceJohnny2 »

Off-topic, but:

> the most frequently occurring letters in typical English text are e-t-a-o-n-r-i, in that order. (The letter frequency order of the story you are now reading is e-t-a-i-o-n-r. The higher frequency of ``i'' probably reflects the fact that _I_ use the first person singular a lot.)

Wait, I thought the letter frequency was Etaoin Shrdlu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency

Interestingly, that Wikipedia article references the same "Secret & Urgent" book by Fletcher Pratt, but only for the Spanish letter frequency!

Also, though the header table confirms my memory, it cites a now defunct algoritmy.net website, and the per-language table below has a "citation needed" for english! The archived algoritmy.net website also doesn't mention what corpus it used!

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