Drug Testing in IT?

Let's put it this way, if the work includes any handling of sensitive data and/or critical IT infrastructure, don't be surprised if they demand a drug test at employment and even later.

As a general rule, most careers that require a good education, are based on academic and professional merit, not what you do on your personal time. But exceptions do exist.

Provided you got the skills, most employers could care less if you fire up a fatty on your own time. But even so, it is not a good idea letting it be known that you toke. It may be used against you if you for some reason should do a fuck-up (it happens to all of us, no-one is perfect), or they are looking to downsize.

It's an easy way to get rid of people based on anything but professional conduct. "He abuse drugs, we cannot have such criminals in our organization. He is no longer part of our business!" is what they will say, and you have a snowballs chance in hell getting through in any wrongfull termination hearing.

So by all means, toke and do IT, just be discrete, and don't apply for a job that require some sort of security clearance.

 

IT FTW! But from what I have been told, most of the people in charge of hiring for IT, are probably stoners as well, which makes sense.

 

I start my A+, MCP, & MCDST training in the fall. Hopefully I'll be able to find a good stoner IT job once I finish the courses!

 

Hopefully OSG sees this.

 

Most mid sized or larger firms do pre-employment testing but not ongoing testing.

 

My teacher once told me a story of a woman who interviewed for a job right out of a 2 year degree program. She was highly sought after having completed a big project that the company was planning on implementing. She failed the pre-employment drug test.

The teacher that got her the interview was contacted about the situation, and stated that they really wanted her. My teacher talked to the student to clean up her act and that she would still be asked to join the company after passing the drug test. What he didn't tell her was that if she had passed the first test she would have gotten a $50,000 signing bonus.

But IT for the win. I have my CCNA and will be completing my Associates degree this winter. I really don't want to go into security but my schools program just changed around. Since Im always late to register for classes Im taking the security program instead of the CCNP or VOIP track.

 

Part-time Application Developer here (that handles sensitive data), doing that to put my way through school - I was not asked to take a Drug Test. My dad, who is an Electrical Engineer, hasn't been drugged tested except when he worked for Lockheed. So it may not necessarily happen.

 

I've been a hiring manager for a few large IT firms and ALL the big players do pre-employment testing.

 

I don't doubt your experiences or knowledge for a second, and most companies probably do.. but not ALL. Like I said, I have a job at a decent-sized company and I deal with sensitive information on a daily basis. My dad has been in the IT field for close to 30 years and has worked for several large corporations that have government contracts - the only company that tested him was Lockheed. I could tell you the same went for my grandfather, he was never once tested once and worked for NASA, Lockheed, USA and a few other companies - but I honestly believe that he wasn't testing because there was no such thing as drug testing at the time.

Of course OP, I'm not saying you should even consider for a second taking the risk. Stop whatever you're doing for a month and go in and take the test. Better safe than sorry.

 

Almost all IT companies will test. I'm working my way up to a security position (penetration testing is my goal), but have to start in technical support until I have the experience. EVERY SINGLE company that I've applied for has tested. But they only test the once unless you really fuck something up. I suggest just takin' a break before you get a job, then keeping a cleaner in your car, just in case.

 

I was in IT/Engineering where I worked in numerous data centers. After doing this for many years, my company promoted me to the engineering manager for 10 data center locations. The whole time, I was provided with a company car since there was a lot of travel involved and on call responsibilities. Because I had a company ride, I was subject to random DTs. I saw two of my co-workers lose really good jobs because they failed a DT.

Good jobs are hard to come by. Really good jobs cause you to re-evaluate your priorities in live. I quit cannabis for over 5 years for this reason. In January, my company took away company cars for salaried employees. I was pissed at first, but then I lit a bowl and now I'm very happy with their decision

 

I have been in electronics/telecommunications as tech and mid level manager.

I hate to tell you to buy some clean piss or quit smoking a month before looking for work.

I have spent half my working years since 1982 as a contractor/consultant with no insurance or paying for my own. That can be tough I just dropped $12grand on dental implants a year ago and I was working for a company with benefits at the time.

IT/telecom is not as friendly as it once was during the late 80s to 97 or so there was good money for all levels installer to Engineer.

Those days are over in my neck of the woods there are to many middle men involved, labor and technical brokers sucking MORE than there share of the pie.

Get the highest level degree you can, thats your best defense.

My AA and various certifications in spite of 25years experience make it rough. I get lots of offers but very few want to pay me the salary I know I am worth. Contracting and Consultanting are great but it is lots of
"Feast or Fammion".

Best wishes for you and your goals

MM

 

Been tested for a few different IT jobs, but it is ALWAYS pre-employment and only a one time thing.

A good number of people in the industry blaze, so don't expect ongoing drug tests. At least, I've never had a single company offer me an IT job and expect me to piss in a cup at random times.

I just used urineluck or some other synthetic whenever I needed to, worked like a charm, and I'm STILL in the IT field as an active stoner for 8 years.

Usually you have enough notice that you can pickup a synthetic or clean your system. I mean, you know when you're interviewing that, nowdays, regardless of industry, there is a GOOD chance you'll be tested. Tests are cheap to run, so most companies don't mind spending the initial $45 or whatever just to get certified as "drug free".

In all honesty the only reason most companies pretend to care is for the insurance benefits...

 

almost all of the it jobs i have had said they drug tested on the initial paperwork but never tested me.

 

If you think about it after the initial drug test' they won't test unless you give them a reason to.

 

Getting a job as an ELP at a fairly large software firm starting in a few weeks, and they don't hire anyone without a pre-employment drug test. Just my two cents.

 

I woudlnt invest to much into certifications. They will do no good without prior experience in the field. If you talk to any person who is in charge of hiring in IT, they will tell you 99% of the time, experience will trump any certification.

Also, personally, I think the A+ is a complete joke and half. Its a two part test about basic tech support now from what Ive been told.

I also hate certification tests. They costs an arm and a leg. Ill get my MCSE and whatever else college will pay for, but Im going for a degree and experience in what ever field pays the best. I just need to get back into CISCO and unix based IT.

 

Here's my experience with this. I got my certifications for A+ and Network+ back in 2006. So when I got them and was looking for IT Help Desk jobs I would always get tested for jobs that needed a security clearance. Thats going to be a guaranteed drug test right there. Jobs that I would get using a contracting company were about 75% drug testing. I never got drug tested when I got my last job working to L3 communications. So really it all depends on the company and you can ask if they drug test. I usually ask them without really asking them...like I will be "so ok, what would be the next steps in the process?" and they will usually tell me they will run a background check, file my application and get me setup in the system...ect and if drug testing is involved they usually tell you. Also alot of the ads on careerbuilder will tell you if they drug test or not. Basically, just plan for them to drug test you and pray that they dont. Also, after the pre-employment drug test they will never drug test you again unless you go into work and cant maintain