Insane Background Checks

Greetings!

I wanted to know what is the worst background check you've ever had to endure?
For a job I recently interviewed for I had to fill out a 52 page background check. They wanted every place I had ever lived since I was 8, every place I ever worked, an autobiography, a detailed description of my interactions with the police, to know all of my bank accounts, any bills I was past due on and why, references, every employer I ever worked for, my transcripts from every school I ever attended and a list of those schools, why I wanted to work for the agency, references, and some other stuff I am forgetting. The whole thing had to be hand written and is to be graded on spelling, grammar, and neatness of writing. To top that all off I had to be electronically fingerprinted.

This is obviously a position with a governmental agency, but still. I feel like I was abducted by aliens and probed a few times. It took almost a week to completely fill out.

Does any one else have similar experiences?

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Comments

LeBroke

I planned to apply to the RCMP as a cop before I seriously considered IT as a career. Needed to do something similar, + polygraph check afterward. In the end, broke my foot, which threw any dreams of being a cop out the window.

I'm not sure how it works in the US, but I wouldn't do the above for anything less than a top secret clearance or a job with the CIA (which probably requires a top secret clearance anyway).

TLeTourneau

Yes, I went through a similar process for a DoD contract position I had some time ago that also involved people interviewing my relatives and past associates. Good times!

markulous

I've had about the same as the OP when I was applying as a Sheriff's deputy a few years back. Everything that you said I needed but additionally they wanted every coworker I've ever worked with and their contact info. So they wanted me to remember every single person (even if it was a huge warehouse with tons of people) and if not, then contact their HR and document everything I tried to do. I also had to contact friends from elementary school that I haven't talked to in forever. Needless to say some people thought I was a creeper asking for their address/phone number when they hardly even remember me.

I went through all of that, all the testing, passed everything only to find out my high school diploma was never accredited and they said no.

srabiee

Oh hell no. No f***ing way!

kiki162

You applying for a TS clearance? If so, that sounds somewhat normal.

xD Lucas

srabiee wrote: »

Oh hell no. No f***ing way!

The more I see you post, the more I realize that I must be a lot like you as you indicated in my thread. Your post was exactly my first thought. If that's the requirement for TS clearance, I guess I'll never have TS clearance.

E Double U

@markulous: WOW!!!

MrAgent

Sounds the SF86 you filled out. I'm not sure what clearance you are submitting for, but it gets a lot worse when you have to get a polygraph as well.

Bchen2

What position is this for anyways?
IT Security
Help Desk
Network admin?

Jasiono

What the heck.
Are you applying to be the head of NSA?

Sheesh.

I would excel in the neatness of my handwriting. I've been told that my handwriting looks like excellent calligraphy, and often times my notes in multiple courses throughout school were copied and distributed to students in subsequent years.

markulous

Oh yeah I forgot about the polygraph I had. There were hundreds of questions on that too. Anywhere from simple ones such as have you ever smoked marijuana to have you ever fantasized about a family member. Seems a little overboard even for a sheriff's deputy.

E Double U

markulous wrote: »

have you ever fantasized about a family member.

What was your answer?

the_Grinch

Haha been there done that. I had all of the above (albeit it was electronic and I don't recall ever having to say why I wanted to work for the agency) plus a full scope and CI polygraph. Things have definitely changed in the post-Snowden era. My current job required the following:

Transcripts from schools
Three years of tax returns
A years worth of statements for every bank account I owned
A years worth of credit card statements
NCIC/State/County/Town criminal checks
Fingerprinting

markulous

E Double U wrote: »

What was your answer?

Apparently saying "Which one?" is not what they were looking for.

Codyy

Been there, done that. It's a pain but the benefits of having that clearance is more than worth it. It's a big deal in the right areas.

SteveLord

FWIW, there is a lot of government outfits that do no background checks at all! Especially smaller ones.

Shdwmage

Its a database administrator / programmer position for a decent sized police department.

I worry that I forgot to put things on it, but if I did its from a really long time ago.

--edit --
Also did I mention the pay for this job is 150% more than my current position?

kurosaki00

markulous wrote: »

have you ever fantasized about a family member.

E Double U wrote: »

What was your answer?

( ͡o ͜ʖ ͡o)

Levithan

Im quite suprised anyone would submit to that these days, and it honestly sounds rather fascistic to basically have to hand over the story of your life to a government entity. Who ends up with all your data? What if there is a data breach and your data along with everyone else's is stolen? Sounds like large risk for a paycheck to me...

cyberguypr

Q: "Who ends up with all your data?"
A: The Chinese

LeBroke

Levithan wrote: »

Im quite suprised anyone would submit to that these days, and it honestly sounds rather fascistic to basically have to hand over the story of your life to a government entity. Who ends up with all your data? What if there is a data breach and your data along with everyone else's is stolen? Sounds like large risk for a paycheck to me...

It makes sense if you want to work for an organization where you will have access to sensitive data. I.e. a high-level, high access job in places like the CIA, FBI, or Pentagon.

Hell, a lot of people will go through hell and high water just to work for a 3-letter agency. I personally blame spy movies.

Blackout

LOL I had to go through this for my clearance, I have a Foreign National wife, so mine was really in depth lol

Burnsie

cyberguypr wrote: »

Q: "Who ends up with all your data?"
A: The Chinese

Isn't that the sad truth. It was only a matter of time.

Not only your data, but all of your references, supervisors, family and anything else in your background check.

Khaos1911

So does the whole "E-QIP/background check freeze" means that people who just submitted sf86 and all the background stuff...say two weeks ago, will have to wait until the 6 weeks is up, just to resume your background investigation? Smh, I'll probably just stay at my current post.

Tom Servo

150% bump? Heck, might actually be worth the hassle for that. I was always under the impression public sector didn't pay very well. It sounds like you found the rare decent paying one, or you are insanely underpaid in your current role. That or I am very mistaken about the $$$ gov't jobs pay.

Blackout

Tom Servo wrote: »

150% bump? Heck, might actually be worth the hassle for that. I was always under the impression public sector didn't pay very well. It sounds like you found the rare decent paying one, or you are insanely underpaid in your current role. That or I am very mistaken about the $$$ gov't jobs pay.

Depends on where, GS can be on the low side pay wise until you earn your stripes. Now the Cisco Federal side, NOC Tier 1 there starts at 70K a year. Its difficult for Cisco to find cleared folks in Raleigh, so they pay for the clearance essentially

MTciscoguy

That is really an easy one, as an officer in the Army, when I was finally moved the Pentagon, you should have seen what I had to go through as a section commander! I have been retired for several years now and still have to update my background yearly and will until the day I die. There is nothing in my life that can be secret and there never will be. I retired as an O-6, so I have been going through extreme background checks since I was 15 years old, it is just something I have to do. The side benefit is I still get called quite often to consult on certain things and to approve new IT set up at new DOD contractors and when I get called out on one of those consultation jobs, the pay is quite good, gives me a nice boost over my standard retirement pay.

TranceSoulBrother

Levithan wrote: »

Im quite suprised anyone would submit to that these days, and it honestly sounds rather fascistic to basically have to hand over the story of your life to a government entity. Who ends up with all your data? What if there is a data breach and your data along with everyone else's is stolen? Sounds like large risk for a paycheck to me...

How else can we assist the Chinese in learning everything about us?

Robertf969

My clearance investigation wasn't even that bad. Then again I got my clearance during the troop surge, i'm pretty sure times have changed.

Nafe92014

I had to do another CARC and AARC along with a CRC for my current job. Also, attending Regional Orientation was a big pain for me cause I had to fill out all of the paper work from last year AGAIN....