And yes, declassification is more complicated that just saying so. They are called “intelligence” agencies for a reason. Smart guys like you know how to find things out from subtle clues.

I’d take the money.

I got the job.

Way back in 2007 I was looking for a job and was called on a Tuesday by a fellow at a company saying they would like to set up a phone interview for Thursday. I said ok, and asked about what the position was- he said he couldn’t say, I asked what the project was- he said he couldn’t say. I said ‘Its a little difficult to prepare for a phone interview when I have zero information about the job’.

He agreed, and apologized and said the work was classified- they had just gotten a XX.yz million dollar contract from the government and could not divulge what it was for, but I would have to immediately start paperwork for a clearance if the interview went well. This seemed bizarre to me because I knew the process of getting a clearance is NOT a quick one, I had known people for whom it had taken many months to get a clearance…

It made me think ( erroneously as it turned out ) that somehow my previous work with laser projects in some way made me uniquely qualified for the job…

I asked him what sort of an interview it would be if we couldn’t discuss even the nature of the work- he said they would be asking me questions about my previous work to determine if I was appropriate for the job.

I found this rather insulting, and there wasn’t any way I would take a job without knowing what it was… but I was VERY curious… so I agreed to interview on Thursday…

Then he slipped up… and said “Oh, I see you worked at Sandia National Lab… do you know Dr. XXXXXXXXXX?”.

I said no.

He said they had just hired Dr. XXXXXXXXX for the same project…

After the call I decided to figure out exactly what the job was about… I was able to find the records of the contract awarded by the DoD to the company… the statement of what work the contract was for was vague, but given what was happening in Iraq at the time, I had a pretty good idea what problem the work was trying to solve.

Since he told me Dr. XXXXXX was hired to work on the same project, I looked him up… I found his previous papers, and as I read through them it became pretty clear just what new technology the company was hoping to use to solve the problem.

It was also clear that the work had absolutely nothing to do with anything I had worked on previously. Aside from involving physics, there was nothing in my resume that would lead anyone that knew anything about physics- or the job they were hiring for- to think I was a good choice.

It wasn’t that I was uniquely qualified, it was just that the HR guy was a total moron.

I probably could have just stopped there… I was not qualified for the job, and it wasn’t the sort of work I wanted to do- but I was having fun with the challenge so I researched the company…

And discovered that not only was _I_ not qualified to do the work, it was hard to see how THEY were qualified to do it either… the work they did previously had little overlap with the work they were awarded tens of millions to do.

A little more searching turned up the fact that every single executive at the company had donated the maximum allowed to a certain congressman.

So, a disturbing picture started to emerge… a smallish company had greased a few palms to get a big contract from the government… and like the proverbial dog that caught the car, they were scrambling to figure out what to do next.

So I did the interview… They opened with explaining they were not at liberty to tell me what the work was. I responded with “Here is what I think the work is…” and told them… They muted their side and after a bit they un-muted and said ‘You have done your homework…’ they asked me how I knew, I pointed out the contract award announcement was publicly available, and as vague as it was it was pretty clear what it was for. So that much, at least, was not classified- we could talk about it. Then I told them what technology they were likely looking to use to solve the problem… again there was silence- they were NOT pleased. They confirmed that I was correct and asked if I had experience in that area… I said no, that I had never done anything even remotely related… I didn’t mention how I suspected they got the contract.

Needless to say I did not get the job… I suspect it would have been a nightmare for whomever did get the job…

In general, job postings tell you a LOT about what an organization is working on… they have no choice but to show some of their cards if they want to hire the people they need… I am sure intelligence agencies pay a LOT of attention to such things.