Fairs help job-seekers with security clearances connect with intelligence firms

Washington Post ^ | August 24, 2010 | Dana Hedgpeth

[Poundstone]

Outside a hotel ballroom near Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport airport, about three dozen men and a handful of women lined up one recent morning to get a colored dot - green, blue or red - affixed to their suits and dresses. The colors were key to what's known as the "meal ticket" for getting a job in the intelligence community: a top-secret clearance.

[Poundstone]

I kept my TS clearance after retiring from the federal government earlier this year. My new (private sector) employer keeps it active. This article accurately spotlights the critical importance of federal government security clearances in equipping employees with a very lucrative credential.

[jazminerose]

Lucky for BHO, the Commander in Chief isn’t required to have a security clearance. He’d never qualify.

http://joytiz.com/2009/barry-doesn’t-need-no-stinkin-security-clearance/

[Thrownatbirth]

My company is offering a $10K referral bonus to employees who can bring in someone to fill a TS slot.

[Pessimist]

I’m sure there is a valid need for security clearances in some positions, but this has a faint whiff of “pay-to-play” to me.

Kind of like a degree from the right college.

Anyone know what is required to pass the various levels of clearance.

Like most people, I’m born here, never been arrested, never been in trouble, don’t gamble, no debt, etc.

So how far would that get me?

Or what else do they check?

[jazminerose]

There’s a link in the article to the standard questionnaire for national security clearance:

http://joytiz.com/2009/barry’s-got-the-nuke-codes-but-no-security-clearance/

[Redleg Duke]

Getting a clearance is a long and envolved process, requiring a background investigation by several agencies and the cross-checking of information.

It costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. That is why these companies prefer to get an already-cleared candidate who can be productively on the job within a month at the most.

You might be an all-around great guy with a spotless record, but it will probably take over a year to get that verified.

When a company needs a cleared worker, they need that worker now...not someone who is going to inventory paperclips for a year.

[Gasshog]

They are only hiring people with top security clearances. You only get that by working in high security goobermint jobs or.military and these people are in demand because they have the credentials. The employers likely all have lucrative goobermint contracts so they need these people with the TS clearances. These guys go from job to job making big bucks and mostly its being paid by the goobermint. Yep this is why DC area is booming they have all da suckers tax money to blow. GOLD he says. Indeed.

[Freeport]

Doing quite well.

Now, how about your family? Any non-US relatives? Friends? How many generations has your family been in the states?

Move a lot?

Have a wife? Kids? what's their background?

For a TS, you can expect the FBI to show up and run you, your family, neighbors, friends and dog+cat though the ringer... Are you really ready for that kind of invasion?

Then there's the other parts: Need to Know and previous clearance level. Both are required.

And the cost, not to you, but you're employer, unless you're a direct contractor, are huge.

Good luck... You'll need it.

[Freeport]

Because that’s cheep compared to have someone without a clearance try and get one.

[conservativeharleyguy]

It’s not so much what they check, but how long it takes that drives this.

Unless you have a very unique skill set, there is little incentive to hire someone like you (nothing personal) who cannot do classified work until your clearance is granted (up to 18 months).

They (we) can just recruit and hire someone with similar skills who has an existing clearance that can be transferred. Few companies are willing (or able) to keep you on overhead until your clearance is granted. They also run the risk of it being denied. Plus, there are higher direct overhead costs associated with getting someone cleared than in maintaining one.

The job would be contingent, so if you can’t get a clearance, then what do they do w/you? They lay you off.

[Dexter Morgan]

I’m kicking myself for not finding a way to keep my clearance active when I left for college (I was civilian TS)...I graduated in April and now I can’t find a job.

TS firms won’t hire me because for some reason they have to start cold with my investigation, like I never had one. In the private sector I’m competing with MBA’s, and my TS work experience, while substantial, is completely irrelevant.

I knew I’d take a $20k/year paycut by choosing to go to college, but now it will be at least a $35k/year cut. Going to college was the worse decision of my life.

[Pessimist]

I’m not getting one. I was jsut curious.

Actually, from what you listed I should be good to go, though!

[NetLiberty]

Ironic isn’t it that the focus seems to be on whether or not someone has a TS clearance, and not on whether or not they are competent, skilled, or knowledgeable at their work. Guess that’s why they work for the Gov’t after all, isn’t it? ;)

[fightin kentuckian]

I recommend that anyone who wants a TS clearance join active duty, reserve, or National Guard in a job that requires a TS clearance. Typically those jobs fall with the intelligence community and communications to a lesser degree. That TS SCI is good for five years but once you have it, it is acceptable for any gov. contractor.

[fightin kentuckian]

To clairify, there aren’t many jobs in the military that require a polygraph but if you’re looking for a TS SCI this is a way to get your foot in the door, make connections, and gain intel experience.