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Comment by MSFT_Edging | Hacker News Reader

Do you want to work for a government contractor?

If so, they're always looking to expand and hire more great minds. Many people who are technically skilled but relatively new to RE/VR get hired because it's such a niche field and they teach on the job.

If you don't want to work for a government contractor, gl;hf because most of the money lies in alphabet agency contracts and the vulnerabilities WILL be weaponized and left open. This will often cause things like the ransomware attack on the NHS.

If you're cool with keeping systems vulnerable for cyber weapons and you're a US citizen, throw a rock in the Northern VA region and you'll hit a building that will hire you.

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I’m down to do security contracting. I’m in a similar level of experience as the poster (HTB, CTFs) and work in Security engineering. I’d like to try more typical cybersecurity work, like malware analysis or offsec.

What companies / titles can I apply for to give it a shot? Open to getting a clearance.

Also open to government agencies if they’re in Austin.

> Also open to government agencies if they’re in Austin.

If you are career focused and doing this type of work then relocating near the capital is a no-brainer. It's the difference between being in finance and working on Wallstreet or working in Denver.

Have you considered San Antonio? The headquarters of Air Forces Cyber (aka AFCYBER aka 16th Air Force) and the Texas Cryptologic Center (aka NSA-Texas) are here. Plenty of government civilian/contracting cyber security jobs.

I work in this niche (finding/exploiting C/C++ bugs in operating systems and browsers). Here's the companies I know about: Raytheon, Mitre, L3Harris, Grayshift, Vigilant. Also NSA and CIA will train you if you don't already have the skills, but there's downsides: clearance required, no remote work, DC area only, low pay.

If you find the right contractor or aim for a smaller subcontractor, the pay can be fairly lucrative if you haven't been poisoned by FAANG salaries.

Typically the game in the industry is work for a contractor, quit with a few of your best buds, open an LLC and sub back to the same customer/contractor with your billing rate doubled. Since you lack the overhead of a larger company, you can be a little entrepreneur with your specialization and get very rich very fast.

Agreed! I just meant that working directly for NSA/CIA is low pay. Like ~100k, which certainly isn't poverty wages. Working for a contractor, I think about 250k is normal (but I have very few data points). And I don't know anyone who has started their own LLC, but I'm sure the sky's the limit with that route.

This is a much harder field to break into if you're not a US citizen / eligible for clearance. It's frustrating comparing the jobs available in/around VA/MD/DC to the ones available in other countries.

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