Can you crack it? - GCHQ

TJM · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:50

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...-rewarded-with-news-of-25000-job-vacancy.html

GCHQ are running this campaign because so many of their employees jump ship to the private sector when they realise how badly paid they are.

Gold-plated pensions, over-paid public sector, blah blah blah.

cainer · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:53

silentweed said:
Don't you get it guys, it's very clever ... there is NO code.. you simply need to do what the website says:

Enter "Keyword:"

So enter "Keyword:" as the keyword!!!

oh dear

close the door behind you

Hatter The Mad · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:54

TJM said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...-rewarded-with-news-of-25000-job-vacancy.html

GCHQ are running this campaign because so many of their employees jump ship to the private sector when they realise how badly paid they are.

Gold-plated pensions, over-paid public sector, blah blah blah.

You clearly don't know anything about the job role or working as a grad in GCHQ to judge them underpaid. Nor do you know what senior GCHQ engineers and agents are paid.

Do you want to expose your ignorance of anything else while you're here?

Nico_Joey · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:05

One thing i'm wondering is, with somthing like this. Is if their is some innate 'skill or talent' to solving things like these, or is it just the correct or creative use of somthing some-one has learnt/been taught or possibly a mixture of both?

If anyone has a long winded answer that would be great.

Hatter The Mad · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:07

Nico_Joey said:
One thing i'm wondering is, with somthing like this. Is if their is some innate 'skill or talent' to solving things like these, or is it just the correct or creative use of somthing some-one has learnt/been taught or possibly a mixture of both?

This particular puzzle definitely needs a specific skill that has been learnt or taught. It isn't something anyone can do.

D.P. · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:10

Ev0 said:
For someone just starting out then I agree it's a fantastic opportunity, for a grad it'd be great as the lower banding salary is far from horrific fresh out of uni and will set you up very well for the future.

But for an existing professional in this field it's not an attractive offer, although to be honest I don't think that's the sort of people they want. Think they want the young fresh out of uni types personally.

The thing is a lot of these will be tempted to work for a bank on twice that salary. A lot of the very smart kids I graduated with went to Quantitive Analyst type positions etc.

As I said previously , I appleid for GCHQ after Uni, was invited for an interview, and then just realised that it was being massively underpaid and I also changed careers directions (doing a PHD and getting paid 10-15K more than at GCHQ). I also had 2 interview lined up for investment banks in London who would be paying 15K more .

Money is not that important to me but I don't like to feel that I am being underpaid.

Also to put things in perspective while searching for jobs in the US recently I had hundred of hits form US DoD and intelligence agencies (NSA etc.), I would be looking at $150,000 USD (except im not american and wouldn't want to anyway). That is about £100K sterling fo doing a similarjob in the US.

My girlfriend in a totally different field but in Academia had the same thing. She had an offer from a good University in England, salary expects in the lower £30K, she accepted an offer from a top US University an earns 3x times that in a 9 month work year with half the required teaching hours.
Hence academia in the UK is going down the pan.
Now guess why I doubt i will ever work in the UK again.

TJM · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:18

Hatter The Mad said:
You clearly don't know anything about the job role or working as a grad in GCHQ to judge them underpaid. Nor do you know what senior GCHQ engineers and agents are paid.

The salary bands for skilled roles are more or less the same across the Civil Service. Your starter position in London begins at about £25,000 and tops out at less than £35,000 after several years of service. As you progress, your maximum salary increases by £7,000-10,000 per grade (again, requiring several years in the role to hit the top end).

“Those who can do that challenge could easily earn up to £80,000 a year in the private sector. It’s disappointing that as a society, we are not willing to acknowledge those skills by spending more money.”

The only way you will ever see a salary like this is if you make it into the Senior Civil Service, which will take the better part of your working life.

If you have the skills that both GCHQ and the private sector are looking for, it's a no brainer (unless you like Cheltenham a lot). GCHQ's problem with retaining staff due to low levels of pay is well known and has been acknowledged by the Government.

theipodkid · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:26

Easy!

Deleted member 651465 · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:46

Congratulations, we will be in contact with you soon.

McDonalds recruitment

Abraham · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:50

did anyone actually do it end to end here?
As on the thread linked to further up they're still working on it, and think that the

Pr0t3ct!on#cyber_security@12*12.2011+

which takes you to the success page might be a red herring.
This would tie up with the reports that only 50 people have solved it, while millions have probably entered the above into the form. The telegraph also says that those successful will get fastracked to an interview, while the success page doesn't identify you at all.

.Kencs · 2 Dec 2011 at 13:57

the shadow said:
Somebody posted the answers here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoxQ4Ul_DME

I cant view YouTube at work. Whats the answer??

the shadow · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:00

Wait till you get Home

paddy · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:05

.Kencs said:
I cant view YouTube at work. Whats the answer??

I'm a Comp Sci grad and that video made my head hurt. I won't try to explain it, best watch it at home with a strong coffee

Ev0 · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:14

D.P. said:
The thing is a lot of these will be tempted to work for a bank on twice that salary. A lot of the very smart kids I graduated with went to Quantitive Analyst type positions etc.

Depends on the person though, there are a still people out there who will do a job because it's something they want to do and not just for the money.

It's these people they will be wanting, and will get as they always have a good response to recruitment campaigns.

It's retaining the staff where the trouble lies

D.P. · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:21

Ev0 said:
Depends on the person though, there are a still people out there who will do a job because it's something they want to do and not just for the money.

It's these people they will be wanting, and will get as they always have a good response to recruitment campaigns.

It's retaining the staff where the trouble lies

That works if ther is little option to do these things i the private sector with private secor salaries. This is often the case for academia, there is rarely an equivalent in industry so many academics in the UK accept BS pay for the love of what they are doing.

Working for GCHQ you will ofte find smilar work for a bank or security firm paying far more. Given the choice of 2 near identical jobs and massive diffferences in salaries then for sure people will look elsewhere. I think GCHQ only does well from recruitments beause of the name, and because graduate jobs are not so easy to come by so any offer is better than no offer.

Engram · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:22

Hatter The Mad · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:32

TJM said:
The salary bands for skilled roles are more or less the same across the Civil Service. Your starter position in London begins at about £25,000 and tops out at less than £35,000 after several years of service. As you progress, your maximum salary increases by £7,000-10,000 per grade (again, requiring several years in the role to hit the top end).

This isn't true, actually.

If you have the skills that both GCHQ and the private sector are looking for, it's a no brainer (unless you like Cheltenham a lot). GCHQ's problem with retaining staff due to low levels of pay is well known and has been acknowledged by the Government.

Your "£80,000" quotation isn't true either. The answer is easy for any Computer Science grad, of which there are 10,000s in the country.

andy_mk3 · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:37

Nitefly said:
Well, it's not 'sausage'.

Nor is it 'cheesecake'

the shadow · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:45

or Pancake

Ev0 · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:47

D.P. said:
That works if ther is little option to do these things i the private sector with private secor salaries. This is often the case for academia, there is rarely an equivalent in industry so many academics in the UK accept BS pay for the love of what they are doing.

Working for GCHQ you will ofte find smilar work for a bank or security firm paying far more. Given the choice of 2 near identical jobs and massive diffferences in salaries then for sure people will look elsewhere. I think GCHQ only does well from recruitments beause of the name, and because graduate jobs are not so easy to come by so any offer is better than no offer.

Thing is there are many roles within GCHQ where there is no private sector equivalent, and thats the stuff people who want to work there will look at rather than just the salary.

I'm not arguing that it's better money in private sector, just that a lot of people don' see that as the number 1 factor in choosing who to work for.

Can you crack it? - GCHQ

Deleted member 651465

Deleted member 651465