Employment opportunities

[Vermillion]

I have a dilemma. I recently got a moved up the ladder after winning a competition in my current employment. For those of you who know what that is, I now have access to pretty much everything, and I can't TELL you how cool this is. I spend all my off hours just reading up on things. For those of you who don't know what that is, well... too bad...

However, a possibility has opened up for a starting teaching position at Oxford, my alma mater. The pay is less, and the access to ultra cool information is FAR less, but its in my field, and its something I would love doing. It does mean relocating back to the UK, but I am between girlfriends, so thats not critical (except that I will have to sell my beautiful new car... sniff)

What should I do? I am literally balanced 50-50 here.

[Dante Hicks]

<Jakiri>Literally, eh?</Jakiri>

I'd do the academic thing, but I'm anti-statist.

Didn't you have a similar dillemma like this before?

[queball]

Copy all the info to DVD and scarper across the Atlantic.

[JonnyBGood]

Ask for help on an internet forum where most people's major job choices are between McDonalds and BurgerKing would not be high on my recommendation list. Assuming you've talked to everyone who knows you well and still can't make up your mind I'd advise taking the oxford job after fleeing the country with two full suitcases of classified documents.

PS Personally I'd take the teaching job. I always enjoyed the idea of being able to indulge my interests while lecturing and imparting my wisdom (inverted commas) as best I could.


PPS fqqbll

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

<Jakiri>Literally, eh?</Jakiri>

I'd do the academic thing, but I'm anti-statist.

Didn't you have a similar dillemma like this before?

Ten points to you, yes I did. It was just over a year ago. The difference is firstly, the position was not at Oxford, and secondly, I was lower ranked in my job and feeling somewhat disaffected under my mook of a manager.

So both situations are better then they were...

Oh, and queball, I do not think there is a way to measure how fast and agonisingly I would be brutally tortured to death and killed while my family and friends died around me screaming in agony with their last breaths..


Ok, arrested and thrown in prison, but the first one sounds more dramatic.

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

Ten points to you, yes I did. It was just over a year ago. The difference is firstly, the position was not at Oxford, and secondly, I was lower ranked in my job and feeling somewhat disaffected under my mook of a manager.

So both situations are better then they were...

Oh, and queball, I do not think there is a way to measure how fast and agonisingly I would be brutally tortured to death and killed while my family and friends died around me screaming in agony with their last breaths..


Ok, arrested and thrown in prison, but the first one sounds more dramatic.

Where are you now?

Is it more desireably to live in Oxford atm than where you are at currently?

What are the benefits compared to your current position.

You see you could prolly wait 20 years and still get that job at oxford, but who knows how long before the job you have now comes around for anyone?

[Zar]

you still have a long way to go before you get access to everything

[Dante Hicks]

Do many pretty girls go to Oxford?

(lol, Jenny)

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Zar

you still have a long way to go before you get access to everything [/GayInnuendo]

Fixed

[Rids]

I have no idea what you're going now, so its kind of hard for me to provide meaningful advice here.

All I would say is, if the job at Oxford was right for you, if it was really what you wanted to do... would you be here asking us lot for advice?

[acropolis]

stay where you are.

there's plenty of logic and reasons for it but you are probably aware of them anyway so is kind of pointless.

[Boogster]

You're a spy? You have a gun, like James Bond? Or a frown, like George Smiley?

[Dante Hicks]

No, he's Batman. This is his Bruce Wayne persona. Except instead of being a billionaire playboy, he boasts on the internet to a bunch of the coolest nerds there are.

[Zar]

stay in the position you are - until you realise that you are not even a 10th of the way up the ladder and you have much more to climb

[Boogster]

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

No, he's Batman. This is his Bruce Wayne persona. Except instead of being a billionaire playboy, he boasts on the internet to a bunch of the coolest nerds there are.

Who needs the glitz and the glamour anyway? Here we get riveting, sparkling conversation.

[MrL_JaKiri]

I say take the teaching position, but see if you can relocate to Cambridge, because it's better.




Well, traditionally better for the sciences anyway. And everyone loves science, right?

[Boogster]

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

Well, traditionally better for the sciences anyway. And everyone loves science, right?

Nope.

[Sandsnake]

Stay, or at least think very hard about what it's going to feel like to put the blindfold back on.

[Tactitus]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

What should I do? I am literally balanced 50-50 here.

I think asking that here should disqualify you for both positions. Sorry.

[Deepflow]

exactly what kind of secret documents are these? i remember you saying you specialised in ww2 russian front, is there still plenty of secrecy around certain parts of that? what would make more sense would be extending that to russia in general and the cold war. Having spy reports etc would be cool... but hmm.

obviously youre not going to tell me as that would be stupid, i just thought id indulge my thoughts on this interesting subject.

(oh go on, tell me)

[JammyJim]

I would continue my career.

If theyre interested in you now they will be interested in you later too. There will always be opportunities to teach whereas there might not be to scale further up the ladder your currently on.

Obviously the decision is upto you but its a hard one

[madi]

i dont know what you do
so any carreer advice i gave would be ill-informed

but as you are obviously smarter than i thought you were
(which doesnt happen very often )
you will probably make the correct decision on your own

[JammyJim]

Madi in 'mis judgement shockar'


i wonder who else you deem below your level of intelligence?

[sayonara]

I suspect "which doesnt happen very often" refers to madi misjudging people.

[Vermillion]

I will try and answer all comments at once.

No I don't have a gun.

Yes, my speciality in my studies was Germany and the USSR in the second World War, as well as the French resistance (MA thesis). However the work I am currently doing has nothing to do with my studies.

No I am not Bruce Wayne because 1) I am not a billionaire, or any kind of -onaire, and 2) Though I occasionally dress in black tights, thats more for my girlfriend, and I don't have a cool utility belt.

I am aware that asking here is probably not the best sounding available, but I figured some people here know something of me, so why not... Also, at least 10% of my posting it was probably subconcious bragging.

I am currently in Ottawa, Canada.

The issue is not so much the money or the moving about, its just the interest. Do I follow my first passion, History and get a starting academic position at my old school, or do I keep doing what I am doing, which involved 70% dull administrative work and 30% ultra fu*k-off cool analysis and investigating and stuff, all the while moving my way up in the service? I mean, give me 15 more years and I could get myself into a flagship position assuming I don't screw up between now and then... that would be teribly cool.

[JammyJim]

Btw Verm....

what care have you bought?

[acropolis]

you'll never get to the top through competence and experience.

demonstrate that you can excel at the job you have right now, make friends with people that are 'going places', get that dream job in academia a few years down the road,

and if you want to ten or so years from now your old friends should be in positions to offer you a chance to jump back in and start near the top.

but never never quit a job soon after you get it.

[TheShadowMan]

you've climbed to as high as your going to go, maybe its time to change the jobs, but only change if

you are not happy in your current job

Happiness is the key

[Zar]

conspiracy rant:

the higher you climb - the more you will find out about how this world is really run, the less you will associate with us "peasants", and (because the only way to climb is to be 'in' rather than 'out"), you will obviously deny all conspiracy because, that would go against the teachings

thats assuming you ever reach that high, which like acropolis says will only come through the right contacts/people and friends.

[Vermillion]

There are no conspiracy theories. Those that people talk about are completely made up. And those I already know about I am legally bound to state that they too are all completely made up.

Not to put too find a point on it, but I am already pretty high...

[Zar]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

And those I already know about I am legally bound to state that they too are all completely made up.

my point exactly

[Zar]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

Not to put too find a point on it, but I am already pretty high...

there is high and there is high

if you were the latter you wouldnt be telling us

[Vermillion]

Actually, once you reach a certain level of senior management (which you are correct, I am not yet) you are supposed to tell people you work for the Auditor general if they ask what we do. Yet oddly, this fact itself is not secret or classified.

That is except for certain small sub-divisions, which I also don't work for, and I have no idea what their security protocols are.

[KaneED]

God I really want to know what you do Vermillion

I'd say some sort security analyst or something sicne historians are invariably skilled in extensive analysis of facts and historical precedents and alike.

As such. MI6.

[Zar]

Originally Posted by KaneED

God I really want to know what you do Vermillion

I'd say some sort security analyst or something sicne historians are invariably skilled in extensive analysis of facts and historical precedents and alike.

As such. MI6.

hes canadian isnt he?

[KaneED]

I don't know. If he is. The Canadian version.

[Sandsnake]

like i said, think about this part: If you can live without the 30%, go for it. However, most government communities, in my experience, view leaving as lack of loyalty and dedication, so leaving for Oxford now might be the nail in the coffin, so not liking it and wanting to come back might not be as much of an option as you'd like. Sure, they might take you back but your upwards mobility has been shot to hell.

OTOH, Oxford --or at the very least, teaching -- will always be there. Your credentials will probably go a long way there.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by madi

but as you are obviously smarter than i thought you were
(which doesnt happen very often )
you will probably make the correct decision on your own

Nodrog?

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by KaneED

I don't know. If he is. The Canadian version.

FYI, the Canadian version of MI6 is actually two agencies:

Communications Security Establishment: (CSE) the smaller partner, it is a small but well funded agency dealing entirely with Elint and communications.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS): Our intelligence agency, dealing with both internal and external security, thus combining the equivalent MI5 and MI6 into one agency. However Canada's external security establishemnt is fairly small, most of the effort is directed internally and to borders.

[the_dastardley_chihuahua]

go to oxford, then we will know where to find you, and we can kidnap you and torture you to tell us all the cool stuff

[KaneED]

Ah, so you do work for one of them.

I suppose since Canada is that much of a player militarily as the USA and UK they would tend to direct their intelligence inwards more.

I don't know why the UK doesn't just put our GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 all in one establishment. Would save so much bureaucracy and crap.

Go Canada, sod Britain!

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

I will try and answer all comments at once.

No I don't have a gun.

Yes, my speciality in my studies was Germany and the USSR in the second World War, as well as the French resistance (MA thesis). However the work I am currently doing has nothing to do with my studies.

No I am not Bruce Wayne because 1) I am not a billionaire, or any kind of -onaire, and 2) Though I occasionally dress in black tights, thats more for my girlfriend, and I don't have a cool utility belt.

I am aware that asking here is probably not the best sounding available, but I figured some people here know something of me, so why not... Also, at least 10% of my posting it was probably subconcious bragging.

I am currently in Ottawa, Canada.

The issue is not so much the money or the moving about, its just the interest. Do I follow my first passion, History and get a starting academic position at my old school, or do I keep doing what I am doing, which involved 70% dull administrative work and 30% ultra fu*k-off cool analysis and investigating and stuff, all the while moving my way up in the service? I mean, give me 15 more years and I could get myself into a flagship position assuming I don't screw up between now and then... that would be teribly cool.

Vermillion, How did you get goverment clearance so fast for working in Ottawa, anywhere where are you at? I'm down in Bayshore Nepean just 10 minutes walk from the ottawa river about a 30 minute bus downtown ride from the Rideau Centre.

Do pm me I wanna blether about things in ottawa :P

p.s. please tell me you are involved in investigating all of chretein's little deals lol
p.p.s. been real hot here innit
p.p.p.s. I just moved here from scotland in january fyi :P

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by KaneED

I suppose since Canada is that much of a player militarily as the USA and UK they would tend to direct their intelligence inwards more.

I don't know why the UK doesn't just put our GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 all in one establishment. Would save so much bureaucracy and crap.

We are not much of a military player, except for peacekeeping (a Canadian invention by the way) but we are a sigbnificant intelligence player. Canada, the US and the UK form an unwritten triad where among the three most all intel data is shared, at least foeign intel data. Everyone has both professional and personal links with the other agencies and anyone high level in canada has worked in exchages in both the US and the UK. That has changed now that Bush Jr. created the Reichministry for Internal security... sorry, I mean the Homeland security, now the US shares information far less than it used to.

Canada also has fairly close links to both the DGSE and the DPSD in France, something the US agencies disapprove of.

In the case of the UK, MI5 and MI6 are much larger than CSIS, so perhaps there are logistical reasons to keep them separate. After all the US has CIA, FBI, DHS, DIA and even secondary agencies like ATF and Transport, which have their own intel services.

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

Vermillion, How did you get goverment clearance so fast for working in Ottawa, anywhere where are you at? I'm down in Bayshore Nepean just 10 minutes walk from the ottawa river about a 30 minute bus downtown ride from the Rideau Centre.

Speaking in hypotheticals, to get enhanced security clearance takes only a couple weeks, thats good enough for any job in canadian government, in any agency, even entirely non-security related ones. Secret and Top Secret Clearance take a while, a month and 3 months respectively, but some jobs will do these clearances for you while you work, you are just restricted from dealing with high level stuff until you clear. Higher level security clearances, such as TS2 and EO are dealt with case by case.

I'm living in Ottawa South, easy transitway ride to Gloucester and back. My air conditioning broke down.

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

Speaking in hypotheticals, to get enhanced security clearance takes only a couple weeks, thats good enough for any job in canadian government, in any agency, even entirely non-security related ones. Secret and Top Secret Clearance take a while, a month and 3 months respectively, but some jobs will do these clearances for you while you work, you are just restricted from dealing with high level stuff until you clear. Higher level security clearances, such as TS2 and EO are dealt with case by case.

I'm living in Ottawa South, easy transitway ride to Gloucester and back. My air conditioning broke down.

Well here is our situation, Erin is a canadian of canadian descent, her father works for aecl out in deep river you know working with the twin thingie (starts with a c) nuclear reactors etc.

However cause she spent a year in the UK with me the canadian goverment have said to her that it will take 18 months for her to get enhanced security clearance at the earliest, avg wait time we are told is 3 years which is ****ing ridiculous. This is so they have enough time to investigate if she's been brainwashed in scotland of all places or she's some blah de blah etc.

She doesn't have a criminal record etc btw and stuff she's as pure as the driven snow (cept in the bedroom) Doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, has no vices to speak of. We aren't financiall hard up but we are badly under employed thanks too mainly the fact that most of the work here is goverment work and we can't get clearance, while she is under employed we can't get my permanent residence application running which means I'm not allowed to work or study and so far most of the jobs she's been applying for have had roughly 60-150 applicants for each position.... even though she has oodles of experience and good references finding work here atm is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

So like if you know of anything that could help our situation it'd be appreciated, btw if you are ottawa south do you mean near baseline? We usually take the 85 or 97 round here bus route wise to get around :P

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

We are not much of a military player, except for peacekeeping (a Canadian invention by the way) but we are a sigbnificant intelligence player. Canada, the US and the UK form an unwritten triad where among the three most all intel data is shared, at least foeign intel data. Everyone has both professional and personal links with the other agencies and anyone high level in canada has worked in exchages in both the US and the UK. That has changed now that Bush Jr. created the Reichministry for Internal security... sorry, I mean the Homeland security, now the US shares information far less than it used to.

Canada also has fairly close links to both the DGSE and the DPSD in France, something the US agencies disapprove of.

In the case of the UK, MI5 and MI6 are much larger than CSIS, so perhaps there are logistical reasons to keep them separate. After all the US has CIA, FBI, DHS, DIA and even secondary agencies like ATF and Transport, which have their own intel services.

Yah the canadian military consists of material for comedy sketch showws or political shows :P

Basic ridiculing of all the outdated vehicles they buy from the uk etc that they spend billions on upgrading to make em useful again etc.

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

Yah the canadian military consists of material for comedy sketch showws or political shows .

The Canadian military is small, and its underfunded, but it is of superlative quality, recognised by militaries around the world.

Canada has won the Fort Benning international sniper challenge 2 out of the last 3 years, though they only have 3 teams entered as opposed to over 15 from the US.

Consider:

The longest range recorded kill in the world came from a Canadian sniper in Afghanistan, a feat which earned them two cover stories in Soldier of Fortune:
http://www.stormpages.com/swellal/sof.html

Canada won the Top Gun fighter pilot competition two years ago and five years ago, beating the best International and US pilots, and always places in the top 3 every year.

Every year there is a a 'friendly' specOp wargame held, US Army Rangers against Canadian JTF2 SpecOps, rotating as to who hosts and sets the competition. Last time the US won was in 1989, the JTF2 have won the last 14 years running.

The Canadian C-7 rifle is a modified liscence of the M-16, but heavily modified. Its performance is so much better that the US marine corps is considering adopting the C-7 to replace its M-16s. The British Special Air Service (SAS) already has adopted the C-7 as their assault rifle of choice.

Our special forces probably rank as the best in the world considering the recent downgrading of the SAS in the UK.

Small, but nasty.

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

Well here is our situation, Erin is a canadian of canadian descent, her father works for aecl out in deep river you know working with the twin thingie (starts with a c) nuclear reactors etc.

I have no idea why it would take so long to get enhanced clearance, enhanced is a joke. Even Top Secret only takes 6 months. There is a backlog right now at CSIS (The agency that does the checks) due to recent expansion of our securitiy and emergency preparedness agencies. Different giovernment departments are also at different priorities to get clearance, so if she has applied to one of these then it might take a bit longer in the cue.

If I were you I would speak to the people who are doing the check, and ask them when it was sent for security clearance. Then follow up with that agency. I can think of no logical reason why Enhanced clearance would take anywhere near that long, unless she was a foreign national or lives a few years in Afghanistan.

[Sunday8pm]

Originally Posted by Vermillion

The Canadian military is small, and its underfunded, but it is of superlative quality, recognised by militaries around the world.

Canada has won the Fort Benning international sniper challenge 2 out of the last 3 years, though they only have 3 teams entered as opposed to over 15 from the US.

Consider:

The longest range recorded kill in the world came from a Canadian sniper in Afghanistan, a feat which earned them two cover stories in Soldier of Fortune:
http://www.stormpages.com/swellal/sof.html

Canada won the Top Gun fighter pilot competition two years ago and five years ago, beating the best International and US pilots, and always places in the top 3 every year.

Every year there is a a 'friendly' specOp wargame held, US Army Rangers against Canadian JTF2 SpecOps, rotating as to who hosts and sets the competition. Last time the US won was in 1989, the JTF2 have won the last 14 years running.

The Canadian C-7 rifle is a modified liscence of the M-16, but heavily modified. Its performance is so much better that the US marine corps is considering adopting the C-7 to replace its M-16s. The British Special Air Service (SAS) already has adopted the C-7 as their assault rifle of choice.

Our special forces probably rank as the best in the world considering the recent downgrading of the SAS in the UK.

Small, but nasty.

Oh the soldiers themself are great, I had the pleasure of meeting quite a few of the newer recruits and some of the older soldiers who have served abroad at a jiu jitsu class up in pembroke.

They really know their shit and the quality of teaching there while brutal is cheap and damn good stuff. (I ended up the few classes I got to enjoy there sparring with a 6 foot 2 woman who had done 5 years of boxing lol.)

Also don't they supply like an apc or something that's used by most countries etc etc? Though with bushes whole anti canadian thing going on I know a lot of defence contracts that used to go to canadians up here undeservedly headed south but afaik they have the brawn and brains here they just don't put the money into it.

[Demon Dave]

Canada is the only country i know of who got their independance from the British Empire by asking nicely. what they need an army for? they're more neutral than Switzerland!!!!