How do clearance positions work?

I've been very interested in some of the private sector jobs, working for the government, directly or as a contractor.

I've come across several posted positions both entry and experienced, and they all require you to ALREADY have TS clearance, and so far none that would give you a chance to acquire it as part of the process.

How does one go about pursing these jobs, what am i missing. I feel like an idiot searching for these types of jobs.

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Everyone

Look for "preferred". If it says that, you may have a chance, but if it says "required" probably not.

Without a clearance, you will always get passed over for someone who does have one.

Easiest way in is through the Military.

The problem is, if they have a position to fill that requires a clearance, you absolutely can't do the job until you have one. So if they hire you without one, they have to pay you to sit around and do nothing until your clearance goes through, would which take months, and sometimes even years, especially for a TS. Then what happens if you end up not being able to get a clearance? If the government denies you a clearance, the company just wasted a ton of money on you. If the job is sitting empty too long, they could lose the contract, etc.

instant000

Getting the clearance is expensive, and time consuming. With some of the information these jobs deal with, you can't be exposed to it without a clearance first.

The easiest way to do this is via the military.

If you're not going the military route, then you need to look at finding a position where the contractor is willing to sponsor you for the clearance ... it's not cheap.

You probably need to set your sights lower, and look for the jobs where they say something like "should be clearable" or "able to attain a secret clearance" or something like that, which are signs they are going to sponsor the clearance for you, just don't show up with a jacked background: bad credit, felonies, etc.

I work with one guy who's non-military, and he apparently has a TS, and I know another who definitely was never in the military (way overweight) who recently got a TS job, so it's entirely possible, but not necessarily going to happen that fast.

Try to get a secret tier job first. It takes a LOOOONG time for the TS to come back, especially for people with a non-military background.

jdchilders

So it's essentially very unlikely to even get unless I spend some amount of time in the military?

shodown

You have to apply for jobs with secret clearances first. I got a buddy of mine a VOIP job with a secret. He got a Interim 1st, then a final. Once you have a secret you can stay on the job and they can put you in for higher. When I was at SAIC a guy went from secret to full scope poly. He worked the secret job for a few years applied for a job with a poly, the put him in for it, Time came for the poly it came through he was gone 3 weeks later.

myedjo24

jdchilders wrote: »

So it's essentially very unlikely to even get unless I spend some amount of time in the military?

A TS is highly unlikely to obtain unless you get one through the military OR you have been with a govt contractor with a Secret clearance for awhile and they'd be willing to sponsor you. A job asking you to have a secret is way easier, and not that difficult to obtain.

Also, you CAN still work at the place while they're waiting for you're package to be approved (which can take any where from one month to several months). Depending on the work, you'll just not handle any potential sensitive information (which in the gov IT world would just be like secret hardrives and such). You can still work on the non-secret stuff at the job location.

instant000

I think we're all telling you the same thing: Don't go for the TS job all of a sudden. Go for the Secret job first, then later go for the TS job.

As far as military experience first, some occupations require having a secret or top secret, so that is how you get the clearance. Irregardless, unless you maintain the clearance (by working cleared jobs), it will expire after some time.

Even with that said, if you've had a clearance before, it is quite easy to get it back again. (Wait, I said that wrong. If you've had a clearance before, it's a lot easier than if you didn't do it before, as you hopefully saved a copy of the last SF-86 you had to submit.)

higherho

myedjo24 wrote: »

A TS is highly unlikely to obtain unless you get one through the military OR you have been with a govt contractor with a Secret clearance for awhile .

This is false. I went from college right to a contracting Agency (there are a ton. Netconn, HP, Northrop, and many others) and I got my TS from them before even going on a contract. Northrop actually goes all the way and gives you a poly / SCI status.

I was with one contractor for 3 months then left them and went with HP and exactly a month later (4 months total) I got my TS / SSBI clearance.

My advice to anyone is go for a contracting agency first (they love taking college graduates) if you are in the north eastern region it will be so much easier.

myedjo24

higherho wrote: »

This is false. I went from college right to a contracting Agency (there are a ton. Netconn, HP, Northrop, and many others) and I got my TS from them before even going on a contract. Northrop actually goes all the way and gives you a poly / SCI status.

I was with one contractor for 3 months then left them and went with HP and exactly a month later (4 months total) I got my TS / SSBI clearance.

My advice to anyone is go for a contracting agency first (they love taking college graduates) if you are in the north eastern region it will be so much easier.

Was this in the last 4-5 years because no one I know is currently doing that. Basically, nobody wants to front the money any more and only want people who already have the TS. If this was recently, then you are extremely lucky and I'm jealous lol.

higherho

myedjo24 wrote: »

Was this in the last 4-5 years because no one I know is currently doing that. Basically, nobody wants to front the money any more and only want people who already have the TS. If this was recently, then you are extremely lucky and I'm jealous lol.

Yep, my clearance started in 2010 and 4 months later I got my TS. Go to job fairs (Penn State main campus job fair had a lot of contractors there). Actually a good majority of my IT graduating class got TS's this way.

Xargon61

National labs are great places to work up to your clearance as well.

JDMurray

Getting a job with a defense contractor, like Lockheed, Northrup, Boeing, GD, Raytheon, SAIC, etc. is probably the quickest route, assuming you already have an engineering degree. IT people are usually at Secret and not TS, but that's not always the case.

Job requisitions ask for candidates who already have clearance(s) mostly to save money. The clearance process is expensive, and if you fail they must start the hiring process for that position all over again.

On a related note:

Security Clearance Jobs Blog Detailed Instructions Now Available for New SF86

How to Prepare for a Security Clearance Polygraph Examination

higherho

JDMurray wrote: »

Getting a job with a defense contractor, like Lockheed, Northrup, Boeing, GD, Raytheon, SAIC, etc. is probably the quickest route, assuming you already have an engineering degree. IT people are usually at Secret and not TS, but that's not always the case.

Job requisitions ask for candidates who already have clearance(s) mostly to save money. The clearance process is expensive, and if you fail they must start the hiring process for that position all over again.

On a related note:

Security Clearance Jobs Blog Detailed Instructions Now Available for New SF86

How to Prepare for a Security Clearance Polygraph Examination

Very good post! I do like to say if you get a System Admin position in the govt you are guaranteed a TS (unless you only work in a Unclass environment but even then you will be granted at least Secret and possibly TS if their are spillages. )

My one friend failed the polygrah exam 5 times. each time he was sooo nervous.

instant000

The majority of the clearance jobs posted are through the contracting agencies. If you want to apply to the government agencies directly, use usajobs.gov.

If you want a job sooner, apply to the contractors.

CodeBlox

myedjo24 wrote: »

A TS is highly unlikely to obtain unless you get one through the military OR you have been with a govt contractor with a Secret clearance for awhile and they'd be willing to sponsor you. A job asking you to have a secret is way easier, and not that difficult to obtain.

Also, you CAN still work at the place while they're waiting for you're package to be approved (which can take any where from one month to several months). Depending on the work, you'll just not handle any potential sensitive information (which in the gov IT world would just be like secret hardrives and such). You can still work on the non-secret stuff at the job location.

Not true. I am not military. My company sponsors for Top Secret even if you have no clearance at all.

onesaint

CodeBlox wrote: »

Not true. I am not military. My company sponsors for Top Secret even if you have no clearance at all.

Honey, grab the kids. We're moving to Virginia.

I was looking to get into IT in aerospace for a while (still am frankly) with no mil. experience. its all S and TS. Sometimes they'll sponsor, sometimes not. I'll tell you what though, that mil. experience is well liked in IT.