Question regarding jobs and security clearance.

Let's assume you're interested in a job that requires a secret clearance.

If it's required for the job and the clearance can take 1-3 months to get, is it safe to assume you wouldn't get the final yes or no until the clearance was approved or disapproved?

I have no experience regarding security clearances, so I apologize if the question seems silly.

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Hyper-Me

I beleive they typically let you start the job with the understanding that if you dont obtain the clearance in X amount of time that you will foreit the position.

wastedtime

It depends on the job. Although as soon as your paperwork starts to process you will probably receive a interim until you receive the actual clearance. Also it could take longer then 3 months. I would say 3 months would be a minimum from the time you submit your paperwork.

bellhead

Depends on what the clearance is? If it's a confidential clearance then it's granted almost on the spot. A secret may take a week or two. Secret no-foreign a while longer. A TS will take a very long time.

RouteThisWay

I started my current job about a year ago. It is for a govt contractor and I was required to get a Q Clearance. This is the Dept of Energy equivalent to DoD's Top Secret + Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information. Have to undergo to 10 year SSBI, etc.

How it worked for me basically was that I was hired and allowed to work in anything that was classified Secret or below on a "temp" basis, since I was in the process of getting a clearance that was rated higher than Secret. I had to be escorted to do my job, etc. If it was in an unclassified part of the building, I was allowed to work as needed without escort.

Anything classified as Top Secret was offlimits to me period, even though my clearance was in the works.

Once my clearance was approved (which included multiple interviews, family + friends + anyone I knew in the last 10 years interviewed, all by the FBI), I was granted access to anything TS and below without escort or supervision. It took ~8 months.

Most jobs requiring a clearance list one of the two:

a) Must be able to obtain a ___ clearance.
This means that you must meet the requirements to obtain this clearance. If you have any felonies, a huge amount of debt, or anything that would cause you to fail any kind of background check... you more than likely will not be able to obtain one. You will be hired without one, and the contractor/govt will pay for you to get one. Your work will be limited.

b) Must have an active ____ clearance.
You must already have the specified clearance listed as Active.

Good luck.

wastedtime

+1 exactly as RouteThisWay said. I have seen the clearance approval process take as long as 1 year and as short as 3 months.

Bokeh

Even renewals and reinstatements can take forever. I had an active TS, and inactive TS/SCI. The new position required activating my TS/SCI again, and it took two interviews with folks from DIA and then played the waiting game. From last interview to reinstatement was 6 months.

RouteThisWay

Yep. If your clearance isn't terminated (fired, quit, etc), it automatically expires after 5 years and must be renewed. You go through the same process again.

Also, I forgot to mention... in some cases, you will be required to take a polygraph. And you will always be in a pool, and you can be randomly selected from there to have to take a poly at any time while your clearance is Active.

Best thing I can recommend is:

a) Get all of your dates in order. Unemployment, vacation, any time you left the country, anything.

b) Get names together that can verify each and every date. All this info needs to go back 10 years. EVERYTHING.

I was unemployed for 2 months back in 2005. I had to have names of people who could verify this. And I also had to provide them with what I did to fill my time during this period, etc. It is very specific and very detail oriented.

Basically, every moment of your life in the last 10 years needs to be accounted for, with verification. Unless you were under 18 at anytime in the last 10 years, then you go back to your 18th birthday.

bellhead

Almost everybody I knew who had a TS/SCI had to take a polygraph. But I worked in Crypto and Communications. People in other divisions who had a TS for their job I wouldn't know as I didn't interact with them in a job like basis.

napolean420

i was granted a interim secret and was able to do my job without any problems. took about 3 months.

i was also granted a ts and that took about a year. they went to my home town and asked questions to EVERYBODY i put on my app. no poly for the ts, for me at least.

dont lie on any app. they WILL find out. good luck

Bokeh

Yeah I got hit with a polygraph at my last duty station. Kind of nerve racking, but I passed. It is nothing like you see on tv.

RouteThisWay

Back to the original question also.. you made it seem as if you interviewed and are thinking that you are waiting for clearance approval before they tell you yes or no.

They will offer you employment before trying to obtain your clearance. Clearance checks cost money. They aren't going to spend money (thousands) on a clearance check for you, in the event that you may or may not accept a position.

Dr_Atomic

/usr wrote: »

Let's assume you're interested in a job that requires a secret clearance.

If it's required for the job and the clearance can take 1-3 months to get, is it safe to assume you wouldn't get the final yes or no until the clearance was approved or disapproved?

I have no experience regarding security clearances, so I apologize if the question seems silly.

I was offered a job with the condition that I passed the employer's background check. However, I was never allowed to start until I cleared - and it turned out I didn't pass because of a decade-old "less-than-honorable" discharge from the military, which I was told will follow me the rest of my life.

So it all depends of the job, I think.

RouteThisWay

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

I was offered a job with the condition that I passed the employer's background check. However, I was never allowed to start until I cleared - and it turned out I didn't pass because of a decade-old "less-than-honorable" discharge from the military, which I was told will follow me the rest of my life.

So it all depends of the job, I think.

Ontop of the federal security check which takes months, they also do a brief background check which reveals alot of that information. I wasn't allowed to start until I paid the $5 and went to the police station for a copy of my background check.

/usr

Back to the original question also.. you made it seem as if you interviewed and are thinking that you are waiting for clearance approval before they tell you yes or no.

I haven't interviewed for the position yet, but I have a phone interview Monday. However, I believe that it will most likely be followed up with a face to face interview (I'm good at talking to people and I'm confident in my abilities

).

Though I'm certainly not sure if this will lead anywhere, I was just curious because if it comes down to me being offered the position, I wondered if I would be expected to start before actually getting the clearance.

You see, I currently have a job that I value a lot. It would take a bit of a push for me to leave that job, especially in this economy. However, if it all plays out in my favor, it has the potential to be worth the leap (closer to home and a potentially large pay raise). It would really suck if I started the job and worked for 3 months, only to find out my clearance had been denied for whatever reason, and I was then without a job at all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really worried about that, if it comes down to it. I have no criminal record to speak of, no shady past, ONE speeding ticket in 11 years of driving, everyone I know likes me, I've never had any issue with any employer, etc. The only possible nuance I can find from my research on the matter is my credit history.
My credit is good and I've paid bills on time for as long as I can remember, aside from a few here and there that were simply paid late and I own my home. However, due to some stupid mistakes when I was a bit younger and more immature, I've got more credit card debt than I'd like at this point. But, like I said, I'm paying it off and haven't even used the damn cards in over a year.

I just have no experience in this matter and I have no idea how large or small the strike against you has to be before you'd actually be denied.

The job requires a secret clearance, if that matters at all.

wastedtime

Beyond the stuff you just listed make sure you have no outstanding debt and be 100% honest.

/usr

I mean, I just listed that I had credit card debt that I was in the process of paying off. Though it's not as fast as I'd like, I'm not incurring anymore debt. That's the only debt I have that wouldn't be considered "normal" (house, car).

wastedtime

I am a bit sleepy typing this so bare with me. By outstanding I am saying you are getting overdue notices/debt collectors at your door. Bad credit history won't keep you from it but owing people you aren't paying back will.

tpatt100

/usr wrote: »

I mean, I just listed that I had credit card debt that I was in the process of paying off. Though it's not as fast as I'd like, I'm not incurring anymore debt. That's the only debt I have that wouldn't be considered "normal" (house, car).

Credit card debt is not considered bad but I have heard if you have excessive debt it can raise a flag. From my understanding if your income debt ratio is excessive you are more likely to be desperate enough to betray information for money.

I also have experience with clearances since all of my jobs required one. At my most current job they had "IT" levels with Help desk being IT 3 and this required a basic clearance and most had interim clearances. NOC had IT2 and the Security guys have IT1 meaning the highest due to the work being done.

At my first IT job we had a guy who's clearance took forever and when it finally got completed they found stuff and fired him a week later after they asked him to submit information and explanations as to why he withheld information.

At my last job we had a guy who could never even get an interim because he married a Russian girl through a mail order bride service. Plus he divorced another Russian girl so he was screwed all around. He sat outside our work office getting paid but after 6 months they canned him.

Zartanasaurus

tpatt100 wrote: »

At my last job we had a guy who could never even get an interim because he married a Russian girl through a mail order bride service. Plus he divorced another Russian girl so he was screwed all around. He sat outside our work office getting paid but after 6 months they canned him.

Jesus that's harsh.

qp81

RouteThisWay wrote: »

Yep. If your clearance isn't terminated (fired, quit, etc), it automatically expires after 5 years and must be renewed. You go through the same process again.

Also, I forgot to mention... in some cases, you will be required to take a polygraph. And you will always be in a pool, and you can be randomly selected from there to have to take a poly at any time while your clearance is Active.

Best thing I can recommend is:

a) Get all of your dates in order. Unemployment, vacation, any time you left the country, anything.

b) Get names together that can verify each and every date. All this info needs to go back 10 years. EVERYTHING.

I was unemployed for 2 months back in 2005. I had to have names of people who could verify this. And I also had to provide them with what I did to fill my time during this period, etc. It is very specific and very detail oriented.

Basically, every moment of your life in the last 10 years needs to be accounted for, with verification. Unless you were under 18 at anytime in the last 10 years, then you go back to your 18th birthday.

Wow....btw is this for S or TS? I'm looking to move down east, and from the job listings I see on CL, a lot of employers want S or TS. I have no record a part from maybe speeding ticekt(s). Credit is good always paid on time. I do have one concern... My sisters BF is from a known asian gang, how bad can this hurt me form obtaining even a S clearance?

tpatt100

qp81 wrote: »

Wow....btw is this for S or TS? I'm looking to move down east, and from the job listings I see on CL, a lot of employers want S or TS. I have no record a part from maybe speeding ticekt(s). Credit is good always paid on time. I do have one concern... My sisters BF is from a known asian gang, how bad can this hurt me form obtaining even a S clearance?

Secret clearances are not that hard mostly a criminal background check, if they require a SSBI that is where they interview you and people you know. I have a Secret but my last job required an SSBI so they sent some people around to ask my friends/neighbors questions about me.