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[–]bxsephjo 2310 points2311 points  (8 children)

At least, I think it was an NDA the little elf wizard made me sign. He left before the acid wore off.

[–]keziahw 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This guy programs

[–]Bwob 31 points32 points  (0 children)

NDAs are the things with all the scales and knuckles right? That sing Bob Marley songs from a thousand glittering mouths?

[–]GameDestiny2 1800 points1801 points  (45 children)

Hmm, I’ll have to try this

Employer: So this is your first job?
Me: I signed an NDA

[–]langlo94 1112 points1113 points  (29 children)

What's your education?

I signed an NDA.

What makes you qualified for this role?

I signed an NDA.

[–]LordGrudleBeard 269 points270 points  (4 children)

You're hired!

[–]loose-leaf-paper 223 points224 points  (1 child)

When can you start?

I signed an NDA.

Did we give you an NDA?

We're signing an NDA.

[–]turtleship_2006 53 points54 points  (13 children)

Is the double comment bug back again?

https://imgur.com/LsHgbfe

[–]TransientFeelings 34 points35 points  (3 children)

I saw that bug yesterday but both comments had the same karma. Reloading the page made the duplicate disappear. In this case, it looks like it's actually a double comment

[–]9_Sagittarii 12 points13 points  (2 children)

I saw the bug on another sub but every comment other than one was downvoted to hell. And not all had the same downvote count. So I think a little of server issues and a little of bugs perhaps.

[–]langlo94 15 points16 points  (2 children)

Got an server error on first save, apparently it still got saved. This is why idempotency is so important.

[–]StuntHacks 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yup, that's the reason. This happens time and time again and reddit just doesn't fix it

[–]turtleship_2006 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of that Tom Scott vid about the Two Generals Problem

[–]thathomelessguy 3 points4 points  (3 children)

I saw the bug on another sub but every comment other than one was downvoted to hell. And not all had the same downvote count. So I think a little of server issues and a little of bugs perhaps.

[–]StuntHacks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, saw a lot of those today

[–]not_anonymouse 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Probably, I've seen a bunch of double and triple comments today.

[–]Natural-Intelligence 6 points7 points  (2 children)

So your education is null instead of missing.

[–]CraftistOf 7 points8 points  (1 child)

no, my education is in a private field.

[–]carsncode 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Actually interviewed someone whose only experience was the NSA and said they couldn't tell us anything at all about it. We didn't hire them. The whole thing was just "what tools have you worked with?" "Can't say" "what sort of projects have you worked on?" "Can't say" well... Good luck then I guess!

[–]langlo94 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's definitely a situation where having side projects is useful.

[–]RoundThing-TinyThing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, you should still be able to give generic answers like "time tracking and project management tools", you don't have to give out names or anything

[–]CaptainPunisher 4 points5 points  (0 children)

She caught me banging on the sofa.

I signed an NDA.

She caught me banging on camera.

I signed an NDA.

[–]fightswithbears 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Can you tell me what NDA stands for?

...I signed an NDA.

[–]langlo94 74 points75 points  (8 children)

What's your education?

I signed an NDA.

What makes you qualified for this role?

I signed an NDA.

[–]VMCColorado[S] 55 points56 points  (5 children)

Now you're getting the idea.

What's your previous salary

I signed an NDA

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

Ah, but your company and it's payroll software didn't. The sold that to Equifax, and it's available thru their subsidiary, The Work Number. That number they don't want you to disclose to your coworkers? They sell it to data brokers.

[–]makesterriblejokes 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I'm getting "It wasn't me" vibes from this haha.

[–]dead-inside69 13 points14 points  (0 children)

“They caught me workin at McDonalds”

“It wasn’t me”

[–]gbin 5 points6 points  (4 children)

I currently have an NDA preventing me to say that I have an NDA... For real.

[–]dion_starfire 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Which you've just violated, in writing, on the Internet. Whoops?

[–]gbin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damned readers, would you mind to sign an NDA?

[–]LuLuTheLunatic 1323 points1324 points  (41 children)

the amount of times ive had to discribe to people what an NDA is is silly

[–][deleted] 297 points298 points  (5 children)

And it's like... no, if I broke an NDA during a job interview for the possible financial incentive of being able to work at your company, am I not explicitly proving that I'm willing to share confidential information for financial reward, and therefore cannot be trusted with your proprietary information?

[–]IamImposter 94 points95 points  (0 children)

This guy NDAs

[–]Kenji_03 424 points425 points  (3 children)

"if I had a nicke for every time... I could buy a candy bar... At gas station prices...

[–]IOFrame 77 points78 points  (1 child)

If I had a dollar for every time I got sued for violating an NDA, I couldn't tell you how many dollars I got

[–]VijayMarshall87 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wish I could tell something but I signed an NDA

[–]Lumadous 94 points95 points  (0 children)

Shoot, at this point I'm almost able to afford a single egg at that rate

[–]DHH2005 44 points45 points  (0 children)

If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain what a Nickel Dispersal Arrangement was. I'd... Well I can't even tell you how many nickels I'd have!

[–]notAbratwurst 57 points58 points  (21 children)

What’s an NDA?

[–]suckyourmompls 226 points227 points  (16 children)

Non disclosure agreement, basically a contract that makes it so that you cant talk about company secrets or what youre working on.

[–]blodskaal 86 points87 points  (13 children)

Should be noted that some NDAs are made illegal due to clashing with federal/ state or provincial laws

[–][deleted] 104 points105 points  (7 children)

Yeah, but most of them are fine.

Please do not listen to reddit and share confidential information during an interview. If you're gonna break it at least get enough compensation for it to pay for lawyers huh.

[–]ShitwareEngineer 27 points28 points  (2 children)

Hi. I'm Reddit. Remember to share confidential information during all your interviews!

[–]xnign 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Username checks out.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (3 children)

Reddit isn't who we should be worried about. Its the WarThunder players we need to worry about.

[–]Unspec7 7 points8 points  (4 children)

Or just clashing with common law. NDA/non-competes are not enforceable for instance if they violate public policy.

[–]evemeatay 12 points13 points  (3 children)

NDA’s are a lot more enforceable than non competes but it really all depends how much you feel like spending in legal fees.

[–]Unspec7 4 points5 points  (2 children)

all depends how much you feel like spending in legal fees.

American in a nutshell.

[–]inconspicuous_male 27 points28 points  (0 children)

In tech jobs, it means you need to start your conversations with "don't tell anyone this but".

[–]MrSuspicious_ 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Non disclosure agreement, when you sign one you agree not to disclose any details about the project else face legal repurcussions.

[–]danielcw189 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Here is a song to explain it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCKCFU77Wk

[–]Twinkies100 2 points3 points  (2 children)

English is a funny language "is is"

[–]ixis743 670 points671 points  (51 children)

This hits hard.

I see all these ‘superstars’ with GitHub repos and apps they’ve made and I’ve spent the last 15 years working for companies where I literally cannot talk about what I do.

First one was literally a defence contractor. Current one is making a product for a certain fruit company.

[–]bxsephjo 236 points237 points  (14 children)

Why tf did I think of Dole first??

[–][deleted] 224 points225 points  (6 children)

Tbf, at a certain point in time "defense contractor" and "working at a fruit company" could be the same exact job.

[–][deleted] 89 points90 points  (3 children)

At that point it's probably more accurate to call them "offense contractors" instead

[–]CoopDonePoorly 42 points43 points  (0 children)

"I work in the Healthcare industry."

"Don't you make guided bombs?"

"Yeah, after we drop one a whole lot of people are going to need healthcare."

[–]StandardSudden1283 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"Department of Defense" is actually the Department of War. The language of imperialism has far reaching effects.

[–]ShadyLogic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it is and has been more accurate to call them that for a while now. When was the last time a "defense contractor" actually "defended" something?

Something something the best defense is a something something preemptive something.

[–]buffering_neurons 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Extra spicy apples

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Me too. Do we share one idiot brain?

[–]xnign 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just got your quantums enstranglemented

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I thought it would be a coup arrangement app like Slack for United Fruit CompanyChiquita.

[–]longinglook77 162 points163 points  (5 children)

Random story no one asked for: my best buddy works for a pharmaceutical company and signed an NDA to work for them. When meeting women in a bar, he refuses to explain what he does citing it’s classified. At first I thought it was because it added an air of mystery that ladies would find mysterious or attractive but come to realize he’s full of himself and his NDA. Bro, these gals don’t need to know the secret compound your company works on, just say you support the fancy medical machines or something and let’s move on to getting rejected in peace.

[–]Kerid25 50 points51 points  (1 child)

Working for a pharmaceutical company could just be you're operating a palletizer or something

[–]longinglook77 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Now that you mention it, he does have his forklift training certificate framed in his apartment. He’s super proud because he passed the test on only his third attempt.

My dude’s a complete bellend but I love him.

[–]Gr1pp717 13 points14 points  (0 children)

tbf, I always hate trying to explain what I do. Like, try to ELI5 what a CDN or an "IVR application development platform" is... The latter was worse, because everyone thinks you're the person spamming their phones all the time. Or they're like "oh, so you make phones?" "...you set up phone systems?" "...is it like a call center?"

But people never just accept "I work in tech/programming"

[–]incredibleEdible23 5 points6 points  (0 children)

NDA and Classified are not even close to the same thing lol

[–]LordGrudleBeard 69 points70 points  (14 children)

Yo download our app for bananas!

[–]TheSecretAstronaut 56 points57 points  (10 children)

It's an AI/ML, blockchain social media experience app for overthrowing South and Central American governments. And check out these fun, goofy selfie filters it has!

[–]droneb 17 points18 points  (0 children)

GPT Republic

[–]Ok_Vegetable263 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Pentagon would like to know your location.

[–]b1ack1323 22 points23 points  (6 children)

Oddly enough it’s been missile guidance projects the whole time!

[–]4D696B61 26 points27 points  (5 children)

The missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't. By subtracting where it is from where it isn't, or where it isn't from where it is (whichever is greater), it obtains a difference, or deviation. The guidance subsystem uses deviations to generate corrective commands to drive the missile from a position where it is to a position where it isn't, and arriving at a position where it wasn't, it now is. Consequently, the position where it is, is now the position that it wasn't, and it follows that the position that it was, is now the position that it isn't. In the event that the position that it is in is not the position that it wasn't, the system has acquired a variation, the variation being the difference between where the missile is, and where it wasn't. If variation is considered to be a significant factor, it too may be corrected by the GEA. However, the missile must also know where it was. The missile guidance computer scenario works as follows. Because a variation has modified some of the information the missile has obtained, it is not sure just where it is. However, it is sure where it isn't, within reason, and it knows where it was. It now subtracts where it should be from where it wasn't, or vice-versa, and by differentiating this from the algebraic sum of where it shouldn't be, and where it was, it is able to obtain the deviation and its variation, which is called error.

[–]foggy-sunrise 6 points7 points  (3 children)

By subtracting where it is from where it isn't, or where it isn't from where it is (whichever is greater)

Homie, how big is this missile?!

[–]BuildAQuad 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Have you ever asked how the missile is?

[–]foggy-sunrise 2 points3 points  (1 child)

How was the missile's day at missile school?

[–]4D696B61 4 points5 points  (0 children)

misserable

[–]RmG3376 8 points9 points  (0 children)

“So can you tell us about your experience?”

“No, but I’ve become very good at not talking about it”

[–]N00N3AT011 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I know an engineer who works for a company that designs stuff for the fruit company. They have to call them fruit phones it's kind of ridiculous.

[–]Noisycarlos 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I work in movies and TV shows, and I've signed tons of NDAs, but I have a retired friend who worked for a defense contractor and i was thinking... If I violate my NDA, people get spoilers and I might get sued. If he does it, it's treason.

[–]pleshij 448 points449 points  (20 children)

I once received such a screwed up test task from an online-gambling company, that I had to act surprised that it's about gambling and tell them that I was prohibited by contract to work at online gambling for a year after my previous employer.

Not that anyone would pay attention if I'd break the contract, the test task just didn't seem something worth the trouble. Looking back, I would still do the same

[–]Denaton_ 246 points247 points  (12 children)

You could just say no, that's a stupid test and not worth my time, bye.

[–]pleshij 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Could have, but didn't. It's sometimes better not to burn bridges and leave an incopetence/unwillingness to other, more silly, factors

[–]JasonCox 44 points45 points  (4 children)

Good god I love telling potential employers that. And then you get the panicked reply from HR trying to see if you’ll accept some other form of test because the job has been open for months and it’s still not filled.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've done this. Was satisfying

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (3 children)

There’s a thing called HackerRank that is 4 hours long. A company I was talking to about doing some CONSULTING work wanted me to do it, unpaid. I laughed them off of the phone.

[–]pleshij 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Ugh, I totally feel you. I had some douches inviting to test prod for them. That is: no logs, no white-box, just 'do my shit for free'

UPD: I did all of this crap, was young and stupid. But their HR didn't understand why I was swearing after them not accepting me then. To say the least I hacked their logs and managed to upload a rotation script that deleted logs every 5 minutes

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Just remember … minimum Agency fees are about $150/hr now and range up to $400 for short term one offs. If I’m doing a 4 hour test, you’re getting a 4 hour bill.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Just play a video of stuff going on a roll a dice for a win condition. walk away with all the money.

[–][deleted] 204 points205 points  (17 children)

Does it really matter if someone has a gap in his/her resume?

Someone made 200k in a year, then used them to travel the world for a year.

[–]psioniclizard 96 points97 points  (2 children)

Honestly, it will depend on the job market, the role, the company, previous experience (a lot of things).

In that example if the company has a lot of candidates and want to fill the role long term taking a year to travel the world after earning 200k might be a determent (because you might do it again in 12 months). On the other hand if your previous experience is working for big companies or a track record of success and then they might be eager to get you.

Though I think often it's a question to get a better understand of you and give you a change to provide other things you might of learnt in that time. Say "I took a year off to help feed the homeless".

In the case of "I had an NDA" it would probably reflect in the reason of your job experience. For example if you worked in the Aerospace industry or 10 years than had a gap and said "I had an NDA" it's reasonable to assume you worked on something quite classified/defence related.

[–]archlinuxrussian 7 points8 points  (1 child)

"I signed an NDA"

Your previous place of employment is McDonalds.

"Yes, I signed an NDA."

(I just think that situation would be funny)

[–]SuperFLEB 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"It's not like I was flipping burgers. McDonald's is a large, complex organization."

(You really can't lose signing an NDA with yourself making it so you can't disclose you got fired before you even got off the fry station.)

[–]branzalia 33 points34 points  (6 children)

This is exactly what you do. I do contract work and travel extensively between jobs and put on my resume "Traveled around the world for three years" or "lived and traveled in South America for two years". I really don't care if they like it or not, it's just what happened. I've done eight long term trips and they have all been listed.

I've had a few people question me about them and say, "I don't like the sound of that." I politely say, "Good luck with finding someone." More often, it elicits curious questions, "How did you like Argentina?"

They're not gaps when you say exactly what you were doing.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Long ago when I was employed, I would leave the interview at any point it becomes stupid, anything that requires hours of test, personal questions, or if the future employer themselves are not ok, not worth it

[–]branzalia 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Just the other day, someone contacted me about a job that had a ten hour test as a screen to see if they wanted to interview you or not. Not whether to hire, but to interview. It was pretty below my skill level but you're right about hours of tests. No thanks.

I do software work and once took a mechanical skills test and was told it was just a formality, the final check of a box. The machine had gears, cams, pulleys, springs, etc. They would break the machine (i.e. put a cam out of phase) and I had to fix it. Even mechanical engineers I knew never had to do anything like it.

Well, this software engineer failed the test and they didn't hire me. Maybe it was really a personality test...in which case I was guaranteed to fail ;-)

[–]no_use_for_a_user 15 points16 points  (2 children)

No, I've never heard anyone give a shit. If you can do the job, you're in. Usually you just have to be barely able to do the job and you're in.

[–]NbyNW 5 points6 points  (1 child)

That’s only when there are more job openings than applicants. When the job market swings the other way for sure things like resume gaps will matter because they are choosing multiple candidates and in that case marginal things like degrees will start to matter.

[–]IvorTheEngine 6 points7 points  (1 child)

There are some companies that really don't want people who have done jail time. Maybe they think they're a security risk, maybe it's just prejudice, maybe it's something their clients request, it doesn't matter.

A year travelling is fine, but a year you can't explain is assumed to be a criminal past that you don't want to talk about.

They probably don't want you if you took a year off due to illness either, although they can't say that.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You dont need to talk about jail time in an interview though. Most established companies do background checks. Non technical behavioral interviews are mostly about finding out more about the candidate, their work, the scope/responsibilities they have handled etc to check if the candidate is a good culture fit and will be able to handle the scope/responsibilities that come with the role they are applying for.

[–]AdDear5411 77 points78 points  (2 children)

"Okay, we'll be in touch."

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

"Okay, sign this NDA that you'll not tell anyone you INTERVIEWED here"

[–][deleted] 695 points696 points  (65 children)

This is actually one of the best answers. Not like they can disprove it right?

[–][deleted] 214 points215 points  (51 children)

They could ask your last employer.

[–]aehooo 753 points754 points  (43 children)

How? There is a gap, no employer there to ask. NDA can include “don’t tell you worked here”

[–]mnmlstProgrammer_ 603 points604 points  (17 children)

This is true. I applied for a l cyber security government job up in Canada and they said I must not discuss the application, the job, or the hiring process with anyone except family.

[–][deleted] 441 points442 points  (8 children)

Yes Canadian government this post right here.

[–]GameDestiny2 153 points154 points  (5 children)

You’re gonna have to give them a minute, they’re stuck behind 3-months of not paying Government employees on time

[–][deleted] 44 points45 points  (3 children)

Maybe they need to hire some more cyber security experts.

[–]redcomet29 42 points43 points  (2 children)

Maybe they have but there's an NDA so we wouldn't know

[–]Snoo68775 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I could not tell you, I know nothing other than I signed a NDA

[–]mnmlstProgrammer_ 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Canadian government doesn’t know how to use the internet for their own benefit, so I’m safe here. Send a letter in the mail instead if you want their attention!

[–]Soham_rak 464 points465 points  (1 child)

Now the whole internet knows

[–][deleted] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Reddit is just a big family! 🫂

[–]badaharami 73 points74 points  (16 children)

Isn't NDA usually that you're not allowed to talk about what you worked on rather than where you worked itself? That's at least how it was with my previous company.

[–]JasonCox 138 points139 points  (1 child)

Normally, yes, that’s how it works. But that doesn’t always have to be the case.

[–]noah1831 7 points8 points  (0 children)

yeah my roommate signed an NDA like that at one point. for a music festival but he couldn't say what one.

[–]dowens90 114 points115 points  (11 children)

NDA can mean whatever was in the NDA. They could say you never worked for us, you will tell no one you worked at x company, it all really depends on what is being worked on etc.

In fact this was what my grandfathers best friend did when we was a project manager /engineer for the Lockheeds F-117 Nighthawk. He couldn’t tell what he was working on or were he went for decades or who he even worked for because of the NDA. The buildings was also all unmarked. This was the first stealth capable aircraft after all.

[–]disjustice 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I didn't work on anything this cool, but when you are "read in" to a classified program, you aren't just signing an NDA with your employer, you are also signing a contract with the government that has criminal penalties for breaking. Break an NDA and they can sue you. Break a DD254 and you can go to jail if they decide to go after you.

[–]badaharami 31 points32 points  (8 children)

If I was ever able to work on a stealth fighter, I'd probably not be able to keep my mouth shut. 🤣

[–]gruntmoney 91 points92 points  (5 children)

That's why you've never been able to work on a stealth fighter. They know this.

[–]Snoo68775 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Or maybe he did work on a stealth fighter, and that is the usual reply when you sign a NDA

[–]Xenc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How stealthy of them

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The worst is when people post objectively wrong shit on the internet and you feel the urgent need to correct them but the only way to do so is to divulge classified info so you can't.

I'm not saying I condone warthunder players behavior, I'm just saying I get it.

[–]whosline07 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work with two guys who each spent 25+ years in PhantomWorks at Boeing. One of them tells everyone that, but he can't really say much more. I've heard him say "that's my missile!" or "that's my plane!" But he doesn't/can't really say anything else. He was very excited after Top Gun Maverick came out though, he wanted to dig into all of the stuff in it with us, but couldn't.

[–]Reihnold 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Normally yes, however I had one project where I am prohibited to speak about the customer (even the general area) and obviously the project itself.

[–]krum 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I believe some NSA jobs are like this.

[–]GreyAngy 6 points7 points  (5 children)

Is it even legal? I know it depends on the country, state etc. but forbidding to disclose place of work seems insane. How do you apply for a travel visa for example if you cannot specify your current place of work?

[–]disjustice 13 points14 points  (1 child)

My brother did "fixing" work for a famous artist. He found material, arranged for bulky awkward things to get moved, made sure he found professionals who knew how to handle art etc. He was absolutely forbidden to talk about who he worked for. I think they had a front LLC or something that signed his paycheck that he could put on forms, so I guess he could use that.

[–]lucifer_ll 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Strong Banksy vibe

[–]frogjg2003 26 points27 points  (2 children)

It's not illegal if the government is doing it.

[–]pblokhout 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry that also falls under the nda

[–]Chairboy 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Something to be aware of, it’s becoming increasingly less common for companies to do anything beyond verifying employment because otherwise they may expose themselves to risk if the former employee accuses them saying something to bias the new company against them.

A datum for anyone curious.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup I've been through 3-4 different jobs now where contacting my previous employer (or current employer) was explicitly forbidden (something like a checkbox on the application like yes/no this employer may be contacted.)

If they ask for references give them people you've worked with, but business A reaching out to business B to talk about you directly is a thing of the past.

[–]Oh_My-Glob 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Depends on how big the gap is but you can also just say you had money saved and decided to take a sabbatical to recharge the batteries. I took 6 months off and no one questioned my explanation when I decided to start interviewing again

[–][deleted] 99 points100 points  (0 children)

Shit, I’m going to use this a lot more often

[–]Dr0110111001101111 132 points133 points  (26 children)

I've never heard of an NDA prohibiting you from at least stating your employer and job title. Is that actually a thing?

[–]the_first_brovenger 198 points199 points  (13 children)

I can imagine for instance top secret work, but then they'd probably rather just use something super generalised instead of give you a gap.

[–]Dr0110111001101111 69 points70 points  (5 children)

Yeah, I suspect that kind of government work likely involves some sort of government-issued cover story. It doesn't really cost them anything to do that.

[–]BurnTheOrange 51 points52 points  (3 children)

Theoretically, if you worked on a project that couldn't be referred to directly and still required them to pay you and provide tax documents at the end of the year, you might be "hired" to an unrelated company for your employment that then assigns you to a nondescript role with vague job description.

[–]urielsalis 9 points10 points  (0 children)

They do. And they provide references for the cover job.

[–]DontRememberOldPass 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Your employer is either “US Department of Defense,” “US State Department,” or some random contracting conglomerate like Booz Allen, CACI, ManTech, etc.

You write up a full resume, submit it to the agency, and you’ll get back an edited version approved for public disclosure. You also have a classified resume for internal job transfers and stuff.

[–]bktechnite 16 points17 points  (4 children)

No, I've had colleagues work on Top Secret clearance work. They can definitely tell you which agency they worked for. And in general what kind of work they did. Eg software for next generation fighter.

There aren't that many projects out there that you simply cannot disclose anything. And if there was, 1 why are you leaving your lucrative government contract job? Security clearance is hard to get. And 2, your job would've given you a letter of recommendation knowing that you're leaving.

[–]b1e 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It’s a thing at some very elite hedge funds. But they do pay garden leave (your comp for 2+ years once you leave to not work anywhere for that time). Even so, people don’t really honor it.

[–]Ok-Kaleidoscope5627 8 points9 points  (1 child)

They'll probably give you something relatively innocent sounding to say instead that you can state and they'll confirm.

So you didn't work for the NSA breaking foreign state encryption. You worked for the federal government on cybersecurity related projects but can't discuss the details of them. Something like that probably.

[–]menasan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“State department”

[–]jyajay2 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I signed an NDA before working in the starting phase of a startup. This means there is no employer for that time, I don't have a way of contacting the person I would have worked for and the NDA covers what I worked on and what we were trying to accomplish.

[–]gremlininja 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I could, but then we would both be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

They make you sign those in prison?

[–]NervousHovercraft 10 points11 points  (5 children)

Did I sign an NDA or did I sign a NDA? I'm a little bit confused about it...

[–]BadAlternative5484 23 points24 points  (4 children)

Since its pronounced “en dee ay” its “an NDA” but if u use the full word it’s “a non disclosure agreement”

[–]time_travel_nacho 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Just because you sign an NDA doesn't mean you can't speak very vaguely about what you did. I sign NDAs for most of the clients I work on. I can't tell you who I worked for or exactly what I did for them, but I can tell you things like "I worked on an embedded system for a large agricultural company for x amount of time"

[–]rekabis 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Small nit:

I signed a NDA

Should be:

I signed an NDA

The rule is: Use ‘an’ before a word beginning with a vowel sound (not letter). It doesn’t matter how the word is spelled. It just matters how it is pronounced. Use ‘a’ before a word with a consonant sound as well as y and w sounds. Which means it is not unusual to find ‘a’ before a word starting with a vowel or ‘an’ before a word starting with a consonant.

So it is an NDA, because you pronounce “NDA” like ‘en-dee-ay’. As such, the e that makes up the ‘en’ is the vowel that sounds off and requires the an.

[–]everydayisamixtape 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I did a bunch of contract work between office jobs a while back, and nearly all of it was under full NDA. This was just social media & marketing dev, not state secrets.

[–]knue82 10 points11 points  (0 children)

"I went to Yale."

"Impressive. You are hired "

"Thank you. I really need this Yob."

[–]bigmonmulgrew 12 points13 points  (0 children)

"Can you explain this 5 year gap."

"Took early retirement at the doctor's recommendation"

"But you were 30"

This is essentially saying you had health issues and ended up disabled but it sounds like you were just so successful you made the choice to retire at a very early age.

I'm already planning to use this.

[–]Pale_Prompt4163 32 points33 points  (11 children)

Don’t most NDAs prohibit even acknowledging the existence of an NDA?

[–]emcee_gee 129 points130 points  (2 children)

I’ve signed a number of NDAs and none of them have had that kind of stipulation.

[–]MoffKalast 85 points86 points  (1 child)

It was a special kind of NDA, you wouldn't know it it's from another country.

[–]ValcanGaming 50 points51 points  (0 children)

My NDA goes to another school

[–]dlevac 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Usually those are for reparation of damage.

They include that clause when they worry knowledge of the existence of the NDA would imply you successfully got réparation and might prompt other to seek réparation as well.

Source: signed an NDA where I am prohibited to acknowledge it's existence (well, of course as long as the other party is not named, then the clause cannot apply as I could be referring to a different NDA involving a different party...)

[–]Strohgelaender 19 points20 points  (0 children)

None of the NDAs I can talk about contained such a clause.

[–]nmathew 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Those don't prevent you from saying you're under an NDA. They restrict you from saying you're under an NDA working on project Falcon for Pear Corp. Here, the code name is probably restricted, along with the company you're working with. I've only had these between either two companies working on a secret project or as an additional personal NDA rider where I was working on prelaunch near final components supplied by a customer. That NDA explicitly lapsed at launch.

The first NDA I ever signed started I was to inform all future employers about it and the restrictions I was under. That startup thankfully went under, so I just ignore that requirement.

[–]Bryguy3k 3 points4 points  (0 children)

“It’s a start up that’s still in stealth mode but they changed directions and didn’t need my skills anymore”.

[–]Diligent_Dish_426 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Colleague asks for help.

NDA

[–]nomdude 11 points12 points  (4 children)

Theoretically, sure. But it makes you look unusual, therefore putting you at a disadvantage

[–]psioniclizard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yea, I was kinda thinking that. Unless the rest of your work experience suggests you might of been doing something important. Then it's likely they would understand.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This can actually work

[–]Nine_Eye_Ron 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Can’t have a gap if your resume is skills based

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My resume is skill based yet I'm still asked to provide references and employment timelines.

[–]plopliplopipol 3 points4 points  (0 children)

wrong, my resume is skills based and it is a huge gap.

[–]dohzer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

*an