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Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

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Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#21

Post by vineyardlabs »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #14
vineyardlabs wrote: post #13

Not sure why this article (or Palantir) is trying to paint this as a new thing. I started at a legacy defense contractor immediately after graduating from undergrad. I was hired and had my security clearance process initiated during the fall of my senior year. Unfortunately this was during the great backup of ~2016 so I still wasn't cleared by the time I started, but they still had unclassified work I could do.

You should never submit an SF-86 before your first day of work. That is used to trick you into an interim clearance review that can lead to the job being revoked before you report for work. Once you're an official employee you can't be fired for denial of clearance, though an effort at constructive dismissal will likely ensue if they can't find an uncleared role for you.

That wouldn't have mattered for me. The contractor I worked for (and most that I'm aware of) required me to complete a questionnaire that they used to assess my likelihood of getting a clearance before extending me an offer.

Not trying to doubt you, but I find the idea that a company can't terminate an employee for failing to get a clearance for a job that requires a clearance to be tough to believe. You have a source?

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#22

Post by wildzzz »

j_bum wrote: post #7
buildsjets wrote: post #6

A job that requires a security clearance is not a job that I want to be doing, ever.

Why’s that? I’m really not familiar with the ins and outs of clearance. Do you have ethical reasons? Or practical?

There's a lot of practical reasons why someone wouldn't want one. There are foreign travel and contact reporting requirements and use of weed is forbidden. Some people may be uncomfortable with the level of scrutiny that investigators go through to find dirt on you (talking to neighbors, friends, and family even if you didn't put them down as references). Once your clearance lapses, you have no requirements other than the lifelong NDA you sign regarding the work you did which could hamper future job interviews somewhat if you can't talk about what you actually worked on. If you write a book, you usually need to get permission prior to publishing by submitting drafts to the government, especially if it's relevant to your work.

As for ethics, clearances go hand in hand in working with intelligence agencies, the department of defense, federal law enforcement or a few other departments either as a contractor or government employee. So if you are fundamentally opposed to what these groups do, maybe a job requiring a clearance isn't the best fit for you. There is another clearance called public trust that is very mild that may be required at places like the Treasury or NASA. Basically if you don't want a clearance, avoid working for the government.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#23

Post by bpshaver »

josh_carterPDX wrote: post #20

Security clearances should take a long time because the risk of information being leaked is so high. Not sure I'm aligned here with Palantir or Steve Blank that the process needs to be sped up. Sounds like a recipe for disaster given all of the leaks we've seen over the past decade or more.

The article does not mention speeding up the process, only starting it sooner.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#26

Post by anthomtb »

vineyardlabs wrote: post #13

Not sure why this article (or Palantir) is trying to paint this as a new thing. I started at a legacy defense contractor immediately after graduating from undergrad. I was hired and had my security clearance process initiated during the fall of my senior year. Unfortunately this was during the great backup of ~2016 so I still wasn't cleared by the time I started, but they still had unclassified work I could do.

This was also the case for several of my college classmates and I graduated in the late 2000's.

I would be curious why Steve Blank (who's pretty sharp otherwise) and Palantir are presenting this as something novel.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#27

Post by 1oooqooq »

0x1ch wrote: post #18
1oooqooq wrote: post #15

> Over the last five years more of my students have understood that Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine and strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China mean that the world is no longer a stable and safe place. This has convinced many of them to work on national security problems in defense startups. oh so that is why there's always that crap on the news? Man I miss when they lured smart kids with the false p…

I don't know a single graduate that joined a defense contractor to help Ukraine lol. Maybe their bank accounts perhaps, but that isn't a false promise.

I was being facetious for humor, on the fact that now several senate hearings are public in which NASA budget was justified as such recruiting.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#28

Post by tedmiston »

altairprime wrote: post #12

I think this submission title should be modified to: > Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students This addresses several issues with the headline as presented: - It’s capitalized appropriately for HN. - It clearly states that this is about students only , reducing the scope of the effort from the unstated framing: “all workers”. - It reflects the single-company focus of Palantir in the article, impro…

Yeah, this is a much more accurate title than Security Clearances at the Speed of Startups.

I think you need to email dang to see if he'll agree to update.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#29

Post by upfrog »

girvo wrote: post #17
j_bum wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why’s that? I’m really not familiar with the ins and outs of clearance. Do you have ethical reasons? Or practical?

For myself it's somewhat ethical, and somewhat practical: there's no way I'd get cleared anyway, due to my history of hard drug addiction in my teens and early 20s. Despite being sober for... gosh, over a decade now, it's a moot point in that process.

Don't assume that your history would be an immediate dealbreaker. With enough time, they are happy to ignore a lot of that stuff. Just be honest.

Of course, if you don't believe in any of the causes you might need a clearance for, it doesn't matter, but don't be too quick to make that assumption either. A lot of stuff gets classified by the government, and not all of it is morally noisome.

Re: Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students

#30

Post by jdmarble »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #14
vineyardlabs wrote: post #13

Not sure why this article (or Palantir) is trying to paint this as a new thing. I started at a legacy defense contractor immediately after graduating from undergrad. I was hired and had my security clearance process initiated during the fall of my senior year. Unfortunately this was during the great backup of ~2016 so I still wasn't cleared by the time I started, but they still had unclassified work I could do.

You should never submit an SF-86 before your first day of work. That is used to trick you into an interim clearance review that can lead to the job being revoked before you report for work. Once you're an official employee you can't be fired for denial of clearance, though an effort at constructive dismissal will likely ensue if they can't find an uncleared role for you.

Is there a law that prevents a company from firing you if you can't get a clearance?

I've seen job postings with something like "the ability to acquire and hold a [Top] Secret security clearance is required for this position". Is this illegal or necessary to be able to fire someone because they couldn't get or lost their clearance?

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