Everyone wants to work for DHS. Or not.
Homeland Security is reporting problems filling their Cyber Talent pool via their Cybersecurity Talent Management System. They are supposed to fill 150 slots by then end of the fiscal year. As of this writing, they have filled four. Yep, four.
One issue facing the department is a mismatch between the entry-level candidates who want to join DHS and the pool of potential positions. The program has generated interest among entry-level job seekers but there are only about 75 entry-level positions available under CTMS.
Things are tough for human resources managers looking to fill cybersecurity positions – and not just in government. Currently, there are over 714,500 openings for cyber jobs nationwide, according to Cyberseek, which is backed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In fairness, they have 17 folks in the pipeline awaiting security clearance checks etc. they intend to make offers to. That might put them up to 21 out of 150.
Or, in one seemingly expert opinion:
Mark Montgomery, former executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and CSC 2.0 executive director, told FCW that the government needs to concentrate on the cyber workforce problem as much as it focuses on technology, policy and processes.
“You can’t throw money like a drunken sailor at technology, spend countless hours writing new policy and processes and not go fix the people problem,” he said.
Well said.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", DHS
Bush did far more damage by creating DHS than the
original event or even its intent. Somewhere in Hell
a terrorist laughs while Satan smiles.
Amen.
Yep.
A good idea, poorly executed. Instead of preventing “stovepiping” information, it created new layers of bureaucracy. Thick layers.
Thick, deep self replicating layers.
Why wait for security clearance, what could go wrong?
Snowden.
Manning.
Both of whom had security clearances, ne? And I still can’t understand why Manning, a lousy little SP4 in some Brigade(?) HQ in the desert had access to top secret State Department files.
Manning’s clearance should’ve been yanked the first time he threw a temper tantrum. I still want to buy that female SGT that whooped his ass the drink of her choice.
Haha, she tore his ass up!
Heck yeah! He tried to be all Billy Badass and flip a table over, and she whupped his ass.
I’d buy her a nice dinner as well!
“You can’t throw money like a drunken sailor at technology, spend countless hours writing new policy and processes and not go fix the people problem,”
Clearly this man gas never heard of the US federal Government before as this flies in the face of the last 100 years of history.
When I started my career in the computer industry I didn’t know jack about computers. But I passed an aptitude test and interviews, the company sent me off to training classes interspersed with mentored time in the office and a year later I was considered “qualified”, meaning I could do the job under supervision. A couple of years later I had my own area of responsibility after proving I was not actually stupid. (Little did they know).
The company did this because there weren’t that many people who knew the computer business, technical customer support and consultation 45 years ago.
Companies and the government need to get back to that way of doing business, particularly in fields like this where there simply aren’t that many people who know the business.
But you are now faced with the reality of the times we live in, wherein people evidently can’t be expected to work at any one place for an extended period of time. As soon as someone gets useful on the job training, they may just walk right out the door and take the next slightly better offer. Hard for companies to rationalize investing in people when the people refuse to return the investment (or even show the slightest gratitude).
That may have been the case 40 years ago when computer technology was limited to a few industries and government agencies, but today every segment relives on computer technology to function. The generation entering the job market grew up using computers in home and school, so it is not as if the pool of experienced talent is limited. And this emerging pool of candidates for the most part are not the type to seek out physically challenging jobs, so sitting behind a cubicle in a windowless building while sucking on an $8 Starbucks Frappuccino appeals to them.
“grew up using computers in home and school”
And thus lack a basic understanding of all that is analog.
It today’s Woke Society, Analog is the contact tracing list you have to submit when you test positive for Monkeypox.
good one
Analog? Isn’t that a sequel to Anakarenina?
Next you will be talking about COBOL and such.
Plus, using computers to play video games & surf the intertubes & talk to friends does not really mean you understand computers, or networks, or much of anything useful to somebody else. I can drive a car but I can’t build, fix, or design one. I m not even sure I know what all the parts are.
Why? They can just outsource code to some foreign company that will leave a bunch of exploits in the software and save millions. By the time the ship is burning the CEO will have collected his bonus and moved on to another company.
The 715K job unfilled openings is interesting. That means they are short around 42%, which is actually much worse than the shortage for police which is averaging around 11%. Although there are actually more openings for Cyber experts than there are total police officers in the US.
I wonder what influence PINO Joe & Handlers have on the recruitment issues?
I spent nearly a quarter century in the programming world, including the Y2K run-up/aftereffects. My boss saw what was happening in other gubbment institutions with qualified COBOL-ers leaving for 2x – 3x the pay, went to the higher-ups and got us all a significant pay raise.
But in most cases, the IT folks are expected to put in 60+ hours/week for relatively low pay (especially if you compute it as hourly) – put up with some truly ignorant petty tyrants who really hate the programmers because (a) they don’t understand what the programmers do and (b) cannot do it themselves, so that (c) they feel helpless and inferior in consequence.
Then there’s the fact that as a group IT folks are pretty odd birds – Dilbert is not made up out of whole cloth.
Personally, I would be unwilling to go to work for DHS knowing that those In Charge are jackbooted pawns.
Cont.
The “quiet quitting” is a factor, as well as the cultural change to unsupervised work environments and the general inability/unwillingness to put in the effort to develop the requisite skills – plus a lot of other factors, have in consequence the problems we are seeing here and elsewhere.
Of course, this is a situation of the (D)emon-rats brewing, with RINO cooperation of course.
Prediction – the DHS security will be sponge-like to the nth.
“put up with some truly ignorant petty tyrants”
For me, the ignorance was more annoying; watching truly unqualified people screw up smooth functioning organizations & systems and hiring other unqualified (including splendidly credentialed) people who further screw things up.
You have probably seen these, but I love them, so what the heck;
Ties into the “quiet quitting” thread from before. Got a buncha lazy mofos that don’t want to even take a job, much less do anything while they are there. My IT Geek in SD makes serious large $ and is solicited by numerous Head Hunters to either come on board with them, recruit for them, and/or set up/do training programs. Takes a hard pass. He’s got it made doing his Secret Squirriel Cyber Security with a very flexible schedule, from his home, and nobody “micro managing” him. Who daphuque would want to work for the grubermint when there are plenty of jobs like his available?
“The program has generated interest among entry-level job seekers but there are only about 75 entry-level positions available under CTMS.”
Typical. Everybody wants experienced, credentialed experts trained and credentialed, of course, by somebody else.
And ideally, to pay these credentialed folks entry-level wages.
I work for the Number 1 worst company to work for in America as noted by Money magazine for 2 years running (a successful title defense on their part). For the longest time companies have looked at their workers as replaceable cogs, this attitude doesn’t breed much loyalty in the employee. Don’t get me wrong, I love the company I work for, just as much as they love me. There are companies out there who value their employees, I worked for a year for USAA. Great company to work for, but the pay was not great and I went back to the job I was furloughed from as soon as I got called back. There is no reason to do extra for a company that won’t do extra for you.
They’ve been looking for volunteers in the Coast Guard Auxiliary to fill some of those positions on a temporary basis.
And as far as completing security clearances goes, it took the Coast Guard THREE YEARS to complete my background check for the Auxiliary, thus keeping me in Status Pending, and unable to qualify for some programs for the length of time I was being checked.