Gov't contracts and clearances (contractors, salary, living in) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

sportsterjohn · 02-10-2012, 09:28 AM

For thoses of you thinking of working as a Gov't contractor. This is the type of stuff you can expect. I was hired by a contracting agency in Nov of 2009 for an IT contract (DOI)which required a public trust cleanance. So I start the paperwork to get an interim so I can start work. In Jan, the agency office calls me and tells me that the interem is done and I can start work. So I move from Atlanta to Va. and report to the job. When I get here, I am told that the interim is not done so I should call every morning to check. Finally a month later, it is done so I can start. So, it took 3 months just for an iinterim public trust. Next step is to meet with an investigator which is a 3hr sessions. it's a bit unnerving as I see him taking notes for every colorful part of my past! Budget cuts hit and I am laid off in oct. I call the security office for my agency to see if the final has been adjudicated. It has not. So after 11 months no public trust clearance.
A week later, I get a job for Treasury dept. They do a quick background check and I get an interim public trust within 3 days. I start the contract and get to fill out the equip again (it did not retain any infor from my earlier application). BTW, the eqip takes a good 6 hrs to fill out!. Due to budget cuts, I get laid off again. As with the 1st go round, the final has not been adjudicated.
I do a couple of civillian contracts and then take a DOD gig. This one requires a secret clearance which means that they go back 10yrs instead of 7 on alot of things. I get to spend 6 more hours filling out equip again!!! DOD does not grant me an interim. The reason given is that I am already in the system so they will use the info from my earlier investigations and will make thier final decision based on that info. Meanwhile, I am trying to work as a sys admin although I am not allowed to use a computer!!! The Gov't people are not happy as they are paying my consulting company a lot of money for me to not be able to touch my system. After 45 days, the Gov't puts a halt to my project. It is not cancelled but the Gov't branch chiefs have to decide who is going to own the system and who is going to pay for it. Bottom line, I am laid off until further notice. Again, no clearance. Well, downtime is not a good thing for an IT contractor so I take a short term gig with a non gov't client. I signed the paperwork yesteday and start on Monday. Lo and behold, I check my e-mail this morning and DOD has granted my final clearance. So now I have a brand new clearance but no gov't job! At least I know I am good for 10yrs if I go back to a Gov't gig!

Cardiff Kook · 02-10-2012, 09:37 AM

damn man you have some bad luck and must have a sketchy past.

i got my Top Secret clearance in 5 months. And the E-Quip takes like an hour and a half to fill out at most unless you've moved like 20 times

BoomBoxing · 02-10-2012, 09:50 AM

Yes it can be a crappy process. I am a COR (among many other things) at a federal agency and it is like pulling teeth getting contractors through the entire process. The parties who review these are very finicky so it's important to answer everything as thoroughly as possible. Ask your COR/COTR if you have any questions or doubts about anything. Chances are high you did something wrong and won't find out about it until weeks later.

In your case it sounds like you have some really bad luck...but like you said, you'll be in good position for the next contract you're on.

ChristineVA · 02-10-2012, 10:20 AM

You must have a long past. I have used eqip several times and, like GMUAlum08, it maybe took me an hour or so.

I didn't have any of the problems you faced. Not saying they don't happen but it's not the story for everyone. I was hired by a contractor, given an interim, which might have been on a few months and then the official one was granted. When I went from contractor to Fed, I worked until DoD granted me one about 3 months after my hire date.

Of course, I've led a VERY boring life. Very little to check.

Cardiff Kook · 02-10-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

Yes it can be a crappy process. I am a COR (among many other things) at a federal agency and it is like pulling teeth getting contractors through the entire process. The parties who review these are very finicky so it's important to answer everything as thoroughly as possible. Ask your COR/COTR if you have any questions or doubts about anything. Chances are high you did something wrong and won't find out about it until weeks later.

In your case it sounds like you have some really bad luck...but like you said, you'll be in good position for the next contract you're on.

shouldn't he talk to his FSO about questions/concerns with his clearance?

sportsterjohn · 02-10-2012, 11:27 AM

from what I understand, DOD uses a seperate process than most of the other agencies. That may be why I was granted a final secret in 65 days. (problem of course is that the contract got put on hold after 55 days.) The only real aggrevating thing was not giving me the interem while they waited to adjudicate the final.

As far as why it takes me so long to fill out equip. First off, I am a contractor. As a contractor I have had alot of different contracts in the past 10 years. Also, I travel alot and have been on 10 overseas vacations in the past 10 years. I also lived in Europe and have family living in Asia at the moment. In addition, both my family and my wife's family is large so figuring out birth dates, death dates of realatives does take a while. Nothing real sketchy in my past, just a long past and a lot of details to dig around for and get answers to.

ChristineVA · 02-10-2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsterjohn

As far as why it takes me so long to fill out equip. First off, I am a contractor. As a contractor I have had alot of different contracts in the past 10 years. Also, I travel alot and have been on 10 overseas vacations in the past 10 years. I also lived in Europe and have family living in Asia at the moment. In addition, both my family and my wife's family is large so figuring out birth dates, death dates of realatives does take a while. Nothing real sketchy in my past, just a long past and a lot of details to dig around for and get answers to.

Yes, that does sound like a nightmare. I guess my boring life pays off in at least one area!

Carlingtonian · 02-10-2012, 11:51 AM

Sorry you had to go through all this.

Several years ago I had to get a TS/SCI for a conditional job offer from an IC agency. It took two years. (I'd moved around a lot and had lived overseas, but I'm told they were also backlogged.) I've heard things are moving faster now.

I ended up turning the job down, because they wouldn't raise their offer to account for the modest increase in my salary I'd seen in those two years. So the tens of thousands they spent investigating me were down the drain, all in hopes of saving 2,000 on salary.

sportsterjohn · 02-10-2012, 12:03 PM

It is kind of amusing that the clearance I received yesterday is for a job that I was already laid off from. Once my current short-term contract ends, it may be an option to go back to this DOD gig if they get the funding fixed or I may end up doing something else. I am guessing that in the current economy with gov't budget cuts that it is quite common for people to be laid off before a clearance application is adjudicated.

Bigfoot424 · 02-10-2012, 01:49 PM

I thought once the eqip was done once it was done for good? Or is this only true for that particular agency? When I retired from the PD I had a DoD clearance and when I went to work for DoJ as a contractor I was required to go through another clearance. (The waste in govt is incredible) This clearance took at least 10 months (2010) and I was a police officer in one place for 30 years and only retired a few months prior to starting the contractor background.