I have an advisor and a thesis topic already, both of which I like a lot. I came into grad school with a somewhat specific idea of what math I liked and no other ideas about what to do with myself, so I am pretty far in to my sub-subfield (which is number theory, in particular BSD and Hida theory if you’re interested).
I’ve submitted a patch for SAGE which will have my name on it, but I’ll definitely heed the paper trail advice when I have time/basic competence to work on real projects.
When you say “DoD, DoE, national labs, etc,” how are you generating that list? And where can I read up on the sorts of positions they tend to have openings in?
Both also seem to favor someone with a bit more experience past grad school, but I can look around the site myself later.
I’m vaguely hesitant about the prospect of getting security clearance, I wonder if anyone has a few non-classified words of experience, although I may actually know some mathematicians who do have clearance in which case I might just be able to ask them.
Thank you! I appreciate having any feedback about this at all, it’s sort of awkward for me to talk to most people about it.
$60k means no experience beyond a PhD. I think the NSA will pay that much to people just out of college. The private arm of the NSA (CCR/IDA) will certainly pay much more to newly minted PhDs with irrelevant theses in pure math (not that elliptic curves are irrelevant—surely your adviser has sent previous students to the NSA).
NSF program directors decide what to do with grant money. It’s basically part of academia and normally a temporary position in between academic stints. I think it is for people with tenure.
You don’t get a background check until the company decides to hire you. A full check is takes a long time, somewhat unpredictable, depending on congestion. At most government contractors, I think you start the job without a clearance. But for government jobs, at least ones like the NSA, if you time your application wrong (eg, you apply now for graduation in June), it often involves a few months of unemployment until the clearance comes through.
In particular, it’s too late to be an intern at the NSA or CCR this summer. After such an internship, clearance lapses and I think it’s almost as a big hassle to get again, but it certainly reassures you and potential employers that you’ll pass.
I have two more years after this academic year, so there’s another summer free for me; maybe I’ll check that out next year. My adviser is young and hasn’t had any students yet, so no he hasn’t sent any to the NSA. But as I said I know some people that have who are very close to my field.
When is it that I should be applying if I want such an internship?
Google tells me the due date is 15 October. It also turns up security clearance gossip that sounds right to me. The IDA also has interns, but I don’t see details.
I have quite a few friends and relatives with security clearances, so although I haven’t gone through the background check myself, I think I’m qualified to talk about it in general terms. This is all secondhand, of course.
They’re looking for levers that outside folks could use to manipulate you. As long as you’re not especially susceptible to bribery (i.e., not in massive debt, no current drug addictions, not a compulsive gambler, etc) and have no skeletons in your closet that someone could use for blackmail, I would expect you to pass easily. If anyone I know ever failed a government background check, they didn’t tell me about it. One person has told me that the process involves an interrogation that’s several hours long and extremely unpleasant.
jkaufman is a LWer who had (has?) a clearance, and he’s a helpful guy (and also one of my sources for the above). You could PM him if you want to talk to someone who actually went through the process.
I have an advisor and a thesis topic already, both of which I like a lot. I came into grad school with a somewhat specific idea of what math I liked and no other ideas about what to do with myself, so I am pretty far in to my sub-subfield (which is number theory, in particular BSD and Hida theory if you’re interested).
I’ve submitted a patch for SAGE which will have my name on it, but I’ll definitely heed the paper trail advice when I have time/basic competence to work on real projects.
When you say “DoD, DoE, national labs, etc,” how are you generating that list? And where can I read up on the sorts of positions they tend to have openings in?
Unfortunately, it’s not a helpful rule: I’m listing places that hired people I know.
You can search usajobs.gov: This position for instance, or this one, both seem feasible for an arbitrary American math PhD.
Both also seem to favor someone with a bit more experience past grad school, but I can look around the site myself later.
I’m vaguely hesitant about the prospect of getting security clearance, I wonder if anyone has a few non-classified words of experience, although I may actually know some mathematicians who do have clearance in which case I might just be able to ask them.
Thank you! I appreciate having any feedback about this at all, it’s sort of awkward for me to talk to most people about it.
$60k means no experience beyond a PhD. I think the NSA will pay that much to people just out of college. The private arm of the NSA (CCR/IDA) will certainly pay much more to newly minted PhDs with irrelevant theses in pure math (not that elliptic curves are irrelevant—surely your adviser has sent previous students to the NSA).
NSF program directors decide what to do with grant money. It’s basically part of academia and normally a temporary position in between academic stints. I think it is for people with tenure.
You don’t get a background check until the company decides to hire you. A full check is takes a long time, somewhat unpredictable, depending on congestion. At most government contractors, I think you start the job without a clearance. But for government jobs, at least ones like the NSA, if you time your application wrong (eg, you apply now for graduation in June), it often involves a few months of unemployment until the clearance comes through.
In particular, it’s too late to be an intern at the NSA or CCR this summer. After such an internship, clearance lapses and I think it’s almost as a big hassle to get again, but it certainly reassures you and potential employers that you’ll pass.
I have two more years after this academic year, so there’s another summer free for me; maybe I’ll check that out next year. My adviser is young and hasn’t had any students yet, so no he hasn’t sent any to the NSA. But as I said I know some people that have who are very close to my field.
When is it that I should be applying if I want such an internship?
Google tells me the due date is 15 October. It also turns up security clearance gossip that sounds right to me. The IDA also has interns, but I don’t see details.
I have quite a few friends and relatives with security clearances, so although I haven’t gone through the background check myself, I think I’m qualified to talk about it in general terms. This is all secondhand, of course.
They’re looking for levers that outside folks could use to manipulate you. As long as you’re not especially susceptible to bribery (i.e., not in massive debt, no current drug addictions, not a compulsive gambler, etc) and have no skeletons in your closet that someone could use for blackmail, I would expect you to pass easily. If anyone I know ever failed a government background check, they didn’t tell me about it. One person has told me that the process involves an interrogation that’s several hours long and extremely unpleasant.
jkaufman is a LWer who had (has?) a clearance, and he’s a helpful guy (and also one of my sources for the above). You could PM him if you want to talk to someone who actually went through the process.