Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst • Hacker News Board

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#51

Post by ergothus » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

kodablah wrote: post #19

Maybe it is how it's written, but this person's entire career reads like a rat navigating through a maze built by superiors. Even though they say the job is among the happiest times of their life, it helps put into perspective the follower mentality some have, especially in the public sector. I'd have given the middle finger right away knowing I can find enjoyable work sans harassment. To put it crudely, I can't even…

What is a reasonable hoop to jump through and what is unreasonable is very subjective.

Consider...on the east coast, interview suits are the norm. Even for a coding job where you will never wear a suit, it is reasonable to wonder why a candidate refused to wear a suit for an interview. West coast, though, the reverse is true. I had quite the culture shock coming from a govt job on the east coast to a Seattle coding job.

I have anxiety and would find routine polygraphs stressful...but I also hate annual performance reviews and enjoy my 1:1s with managers. I'm sure others might look at my life and wonder why I choose certain issues as important and others as trivial.

So while I have the same reactions as you when PERSONALLY considering the named job, I'm less inclined to snap judge the author as "so willing to grab their ankles"

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#52

Post by ekianjo » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

phyller wrote: post #25

ekianjo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that its inconsistent. For every ethical action out there how many dozens of other wars are completely ignored by the same powers? That is what makes the ethical stance highly doubtful.

Not sure I follow your logic. So if the US doesn't intervene to stop genocide in the Sudan, it is unethical for them to stop genocide anywhere else? If the US was to get involved in a war every time they thought something unethical was happening would that be good? If the US made a policy to never intervene anywhere, even if trivial intervention could improve the lives of millions, would that be good? I find that peo…

My point is not about being ethical or not ethical. It is about the ethicality being an excuse more than anything else to intervene. For example the US will never intervene in a conflict between Russia and neighboring regions, or genocides in China if they ever occur. It would be ethical to do so, but keeping good relationships with powerful countries is the prime consideration.

It would also be ethical to remove the leadership of North Korea or even recently Venezuela since they actively harm their own constituents, yet it is very unlikely it would ever happen.

So in the end it is clearly calculated motives and returns on interventions. Ethical concerns are for the politicians to sell the package to Congress.

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#53

Post by YeGoblynQueenne » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:31 PM UTC

>> The examiner came back. "You're having a problem with one of the questions. Do you know which one?" I had no idea. I'd answered all of them truthfully. She said, "How about, 'Have you ever lied to your boss?'" I said I hadn't. She pressed me until I came up with an occasion when I'd passed my boss in the hall. She said, "How are you?" and I said, "Fine." But I wasn't fine, I was in the middle of a cancer scare.

Heh. In machine learning, when someone gets a "successful result" like that they publish a paper.

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#54

Post by iooi » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:40 PM UTC

ergothus wrote: post #51

kodablah wrote: post #19

Maybe it is how it's written, but this person's entire career reads like a rat navigating through a maze built by superiors. Even though they say the job is among the happiest times of their life, it helps put into perspective the follower mentality some have, especially in the public sector. I'd have given the middle finger right away knowing I can find enjoyable work sans harassment. To put it crudely, I can't even…

What is a reasonable hoop to jump through and what is unreasonable is very subjective. Consider...on the east coast, interview suits are the norm. Even for a coding job where you will never wear a suit, it is reasonable to wonder why a candidate refused to wear a suit for an interview. West coast, though, the reverse is true. I had quite the culture shock coming from a govt job on the east coast to a Seattle coding j…

In NYC it's absolutely not expected or normal to wear a suit for a software engineering interview.

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#55

Post by iooi » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:40 PM UTC

forapurpose wrote: post #30

polythrowaway wrote: post #10

I was a team leader at a USSOCOM unit and had to take a poly to be read into a couple of three-letter agency programs. In the middle of the test, the smug 23 year old fresh college grad administering the thing tells me I'm being deceptive and obviously support jihadi terrorism. This as I'm getting ready to leave on my 12th deployment. I've never wanted to so violently break someone's face as right then in that moment…

> This as I'm getting ready to leave on my 12th deployment Unfortunately, people with far better credentials have been traitors and spies. Kim Philby, Aldrich Ames, and Robert Hanssen come to mind. IIRC, at least one was even given a pass on his polygraph test because of his credentials. Recently, Michael Flynn was a Lt General, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Security Advisor (to be clear, he i…

Yeah, and they were all caught during their polygraph interrogations right?

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#56

Post by craftyguy » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:42 PM UTC

crististm wrote: post #17

polythrowaway wrote: post #10

I was a team leader at a USSOCOM unit and had to take a poly to be read into a couple of three-letter agency programs. In the middle of the test, the smug 23 year old fresh college grad administering the thing tells me I'm being deceptive and obviously support jihadi terrorism. This as I'm getting ready to leave on my 12th deployment. I've never wanted to so violently break someone's face as right then in that moment…

I hate it when people do this. What's the better comeback/reaction to this frame? (apparently, my verbalized fuck-off, tamed or not, is not the best approach)

"I'm sorry, that's not true.", then wait for them to continue the test?

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#57

Post by doe88 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:42 PM UTC

The only thing I could think through reading this madness is as if the author was in the movie Brazil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film)

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#58

Post by throwanem » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:43 PM UTC

iooi wrote: post #54

ergothus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a reasonable hoop to jump through and what is unreasonable is very subjective. Consider...on the east coast, interview suits are the norm. Even for a coding job where you will never wear a suit, it is reasonable to wonder why a candidate refused to wear a suit for an interview. West coast, though, the reverse is true. I had quite the culture shock coming from a govt job on the east coast to a Seattle coding j…

In NYC it's absolutely not expected or normal to wear a suit for a software engineering interview.

Nor in Baltimore.

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#59

Post by nyolfen » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

irundebian wrote: post #44

A little bit unrelated: Are they any credible resources which give insights on how it is like to work for these three letter agencies?

they're a bit dated but you should check out phil agee's books. his first one in particular was very scandalous.

Re: Personal Statement of a CIA Analyst

#60

Post by ianai » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:56 PM UTC

PaulRobinson wrote: post #9

ilaksh wrote: post #2

I had a contract doing a WebGL 3D space sim and graphing thing for a guy who was then going to recruit me to apply the technology for military applications. They wanted a browser-based simulator. But he told me that the application process in order to get clearance would involve a nasty investigation questioning everyone who knew me about all kinds of personal things. It seemed like a fun project that would pay decen…

I get why people think they should/could object to war and think choosing projects is enough. If you work on OSS, you're contributing to the military industrial complex indirectly. If you pay your taxes, yes, you pay for schools, but you're also paying for an intelligence system and armed contingent within your country. Most HNers are contributing to NATO. The Internet started life as a DARPA project in order to coor…

I think of it differently. The economy really doesn’t need to employ everyone who needs work and money. Government could diminish this discrepancy any number ways. For one, they could establish stipends to help people achieve their basic needs. Or they could create public works projects or just government projects to ensure full employment with suitable accommodations for people’s varied needs. I look at defense spending as essentially this. Yes, the US has a huge defense department. Yes that means the US has the most might of any country. That even leads it to things like excesses. But it’s fundamentally the only version of my previous statement the political climate digests. If you want otherwise and are a US citizen then get involved in your civil duties.