A lot of people have been interested in what I do, so I figured I might do my first AMA. As such, a few ground rules, and a bit about me to help reduce redundant questions before opening the floor. 1. No biting, I'm rabid from the 4-6 redbulls I slam back daily, that's bad trade brigade. 2. No throwing food. Lord knows they don't pay me enough to be able to throw back. 3. Im not an active agent, or a federal employee, Im a contractor. My insights, opinions, and statements are my own personal beliefs & experiences, and do not reflect an official opinion or statement of, for, or by the FBI. 4. No questions about active cases. Please see your local FBI field office if you have questions regarding active cases. They are wonderful resources. 5. No questions about our TTPs. It impacts mission, and they'll hit me with the bonk stick. A small blurb about me: I have 18 years of experience, the majority of it supporting DoD, most at the Senior to Senior Principal level across the domains of Cloud, Systems, Security, Storage, Compliance, DevOps and Network. I have additional exposures for Pentesting (Network & Webapp), Big Data, Satellite Communications & Fullstack Development at the Lead level. TC is around or slightly less than what your typical FAANG/Tier 1 intern makes. No, that's not a joke. It's that bad. So what do I do? Well, the simplest way to answer that is this: If you've seen Blacklist, and you've seen the show Skorpion, my literal job is Aram meets Skorpion. I operate as a covert operator & maintainer supporting a team of covert operators & federal agents who conduct Sanctioned Counter Terror, Counter Intel, and operations against Organized Crime, like the RICO and child trafficking type. My official title is Lead Full Stack Developer according to my manager, but I'm pretty much Aram, a build, create, or McGayver you anything you need for a very "by any approved means" kind of mission. What I do is really cool, but why I do it is way more important. I'll save you in the clichés, and I'll just say this: When you care deeply about something, you'll dig just as deep to fight for it. A perfect example was my day today. I drove 8 hours one way to get to work, stopped to sleep in sub freezing temperatures, got 2 hours of sleep, worked a 10 hour shift onsite, and am biting at the bit to get back at it again tomorrow. I live in a world that's more than just planet sized networks or IaC, a place where mistakes aren't outages, or measured in loss of revenue, but loss of life. It's far more rainbows and roses than rain though, it's all about perspective, and I like to be a perpetual optimist. Well, thats about all I can think of without going on tangents, floors open.
OP has posted his fantasy. In reality he is a clerical technician guy at FBI.
That would actually be the fantasy funny enough. Contractors are um ...seen as disposable...within the FBI. Highly disposable. To quote one manager of mine: "They dont care what you have to say. If they want to know something, they'd ask".
Not a question, just a comment. Keep doing what you are doing!
Good on you I guess. Wish they paid you better.
Me too. It's why government is so costly. It won't afford the people who could do a lot more with a lot less.
Do you see the government becoming more efficient or getting more/better work done if they actually offered competitive salaries? i.e. attract more talent.
Thoughts on aliens?
Totally probably real. Statistically with a billion billion galaxies, and us finding life on Mars, which is literally next door over equivalent to space. Statistically there's gotta be no way we aren't alone, or that we are the superior species. We are just too young, in too young of a portion of space.
Any resources that prove life on Mars?
How many of your coworkers are LGBTQIA+?
Quite a few, not just at FBI, but in DoD as a whole. I personally served with two gay men in my unit. We never much cared who was gay or straight, we just cared that we were straight with each other, and support one another, both then and now.
What background checks do you conduct when someone applies for H1B - probably applicable to 85% of ppl in this group
That's a hard question. I was just asking about foreigners today. Apparently they can get a clearance, but it's an extensive, expensive process, but possible. Given how we wouldn't have nukes as a deterrent without foreigners, I'd say it's an important option to have
When are you going to investigate Hunter Biden's laptop? Just kidding. I don't really have any questions. Seems like you've already ruled out the interesting ones. I'm just happy that you enjoy the work you do. Good luck!
All I'll say on that one is check the news 8)
Also ur TC pls
TC is about 225, 200k base, 10% bonus, 5k moving. Sadly that's substantially higher than GS rate, which is official government pay. I'm pretty sure most GS employees direct make less than most teachers.
Well, they also get excellent job stability and retirement benefits etc. 225k with a guaranteed retirement is absolutely stellar
Why are you a contractor and not a federal employee? Is it just to avoid the bureaucracy of background checks or an alternate reason?
I absolutely HATE THE POLITICS! IT MAKES ME WANNA SCREAM EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!!! Plus I'd take another paycut on top of the paycut I already take by not leaving the space, which I'm working towards now. We all have to do background checks. Matter of fact, I have a polygraph this Wednesday.
*FBI wants to know ur location*
Funny enough, we really don't. The amount of paperwork that goes along with it just isn't worth it. We, at the very least I, would very much love it if never Had to know anyone's location.