Government jobs and Delphi?

[styxxxola]

So I'm in the military, currently deployed in Iraq.
I've always loved computers, planning on taking the comptia A+ certification tests once I get out of here. I'll be out of the army shortly after my deployment. I've been dedicating a lot of my time here to ANSI C and C++. I'm almost through my C++ for dummies book, I've also been reading TC++PL by BS, Effective C++, TC++STL, etc... I've gotten a couple C and C++ certs through the army as well as a few A+ certs.

I'm planning on getting a simple A+ job as soon as I get out to pay the bills while I continue to study C++ and other programming languages (C# next? Not completely sure) I heard that the U.S. Government uses a lot of Delphi, I don't know anything about Delphi though.

I have a secret clearance and I know getting a clearance is one of the harder parts for people trying to land a government job. Does anybody know anything about landing a programming job with the government? Would it be easier to go that route than another given my military experience, clearance, and certs through the army?

Thank you!

[berry120]

First up, I'm talking in the UK here so things may be a bit different. But FYI and for others that may be in a similar situation in the UK...

I have a secret clearance and I know getting a clearance is one of the harder parts for people trying to land a government job

Interesting to hear that's the case there - it's really not in the UK. I once applied for a position in government dealing with top secret data on a day by day basis. I didn't get the job (fell down at the last interview stage) but once I got past the first 3 rounds I had to be vetted as a matter of course. The process was extremely thorough and they do need to know literally everything about your life - but as a relatively normal guy that's lived in the UK all his life and never done drugs, I sailed through the process with no quibbles at all. Had I failed the drugs test or originally come from another country the process would've likely been far trickier.

I appreciate you're not really a beginner - but I'd still recommend having a look at my sticky just for the points I make when choosing a language. In your situation I'd definitely recommend both Java and C# as general purpose languages, they're probably the most widely used out of any these days.

Never touched Delphi, but I don't know of anywhere that actually still uses it. So if you definitely know you'll need it then sure, go ahead - but as a general purpose language I'd give it a miss.

One other point - certificates help, but it's experience that really counts If you can point to concrete examples of good quality programs you've created, that will most likely help your case more than a few certificates.

Good luck with it all!

[Atomic Rooster]

I think the prudent thing in your case to do would be to talk to your CO.

[Nik00117]

Get a top secret clearance...

It's cheaper to train a cleared person

Then to hire a qualified person

[styxxxola]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

I think the prudent thing in your case to do would be to talk to your CO.

My CO isn't in my chain of command.

I think what you mean is my first line supervisor? My NCO.
She can help me with any questions Army side, this is more of a question directed toward people who might have knowledge in the field I'm interested in.

There isn't a software MOS =/

Originally Posted by Nik00117

Get a top secret clearance...

It's cheaper to train a cleared person

Then to hire a qualified person

I'd love to, I am a guitarist in the Army and I'd have to have a pretty damn good reason to have my clearance bumped to top secret from secret as a guitarist. I'll gladly ask though haha