Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just after thanksgiving I am moving from Atlanta, GA to Fayetteville, NC. I have been looking and searching for jobs in the smaller city in my field, Logistics/Supply Chain and a good portion of the jobs say that they require for a candidate to already have security clearance.
How do I go about getting a security clearance myself? Anyone have any advice on best way to apply for these jobs?
You don't get a government clearance by yourself. You have to be sponsored by a contractor/organization that is supporting a contract that needs the clearance.
In other words - these positions are essentially only open to those that are already working for a contractor (and thus, have a clearance), or are just leaving the military/Fed and have a clearance.
For most - they obtain a job with a contractor and work on tasks that will sponsor the clearance or start with one that don't require one then move to a task that does. Obtaining a clearance is costly (money and time), hence why you can ask for more if you have a clearance.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,570 posts, read 81,147,605 times
Reputation: 57791
In logistics it's probably the TWIC card they are looking for, but I would ask and find out for sure. I got mine through my employer who paid for it ($125.25) and takes several weeks or a month.
Just after thanksgiving I am moving from Atlanta, GA to Fayetteville, NC. I have been looking and searching for jobs in the smaller city in my field, Logistics/Supply Chain and a good portion of the jobs say that they require for a candidate to already have security clearance.
How do I go about getting a security clearance myself? Anyone have any advice on best way to apply for these jobs?
You have to find one willing to sponsor you. Look for terms like "eligible" in the PD. If it says clearance required, you're SOL... even if they like you, the government customer won't take you.
You have to find one willing to sponsor you. Look for terms like "eligible" in the PD. If it says clearance required, you're SOL... even if they like you, the government customer won't take you.
When hiring a contractor, the government is hiring the company, not the employees of that company, so the government isn't involved in decisions to "take you" or hire/not hire you. That is strictly up to the company and off limits to the government.
What really happens is the contractor hires it's employees. If someone does not have a clearance, the contractor assigns them to work that doesn't require a clearance until one comes through. Contractors do this all the time with recent graduates and new hires. The amount of time depends on the level of clearance required by the contract. People who currently hold clearances can command much higher salary because then the contractor doesn't have to do this and can put them to work much faster. It all comes down to a balancing act for the contractor because too many high dollar employee's who already have clearances drive the labor rate up and make the contractor less competitive. Too few and they contractor can't produce the products and services required by contract. We see a pretty big influx of uncleared right after college graduation season (naturally) and the more currently cleared during the rest of the year.
When hiring a contractor, the government is hiring the company, not the employees of that company, so the government isn't involved in decisions to "take you" or hire/not hire you. That is strictly up to the company and off limits to the government.
Err, no. That's not how it works. The government absolutely vets everyone who works on a classified program. Period. There is no way to hold a clearance or work in a classified billet without government oversight. You might be talking about some "public trust" position, but that is not how cleared (SECRET/TOP SECRET in DoD or IC) work, or how DoE works.
Some positions require "ability to obtain a clearance", but then the "ability" is judged by at HR departments and corporate recruiters. If you only have an 80% chance of getting a clearance, then HR throws you out of consideration like a used paper tissue.
Some positions require "ability to obtain a clearance", but then the "ability" is judged by at HR departments and corporate recruiters. If you only have an 80% chance of getting a clearance, then HR throws you out of consideration like a used paper tissue.
Of course they're going to vet candidates, and only accept those they believe will be issued an interim clearance quickly and that are likely to be favorably adjudicated for a final clearance. But the fact that they have a customer willing to sponsor is a gold mine... if you find a job scrubbing toilets that will sponsor you for a clearance, grab it! Once you have the clearance, you can move to something else. (And, yes, there absolutely are custodial staff with TS//SI/TK tickets!)
There is absolutely nothing "fair" about this process. Just as there's nothing "fair" about subjecting people to the polygraph and denying or revoking clearances based on tea-leaf reading. But it is what it is, and if you can jump through the flaming hoops, you wind up part of a very small community. Based on where you want to live, you can have pretty darn good employment pretty much guaranteed for life.
This is very un-meritocratic.
Instead of considering chance of getting clearance and what skills someone has, they 1st check chance regardless of skillset, then check skillset on remaining candidates.
Let's say 1% of the candidates are experts, 20% of the candidates have more than 99% chance of getting the clearance. What is the chance that the expert candidate passes the pre-selection? 20%. Then 80% of the jobs are guaranteed to not be filled with experts. At least they should reverse the order to skills first chances second. If an expert is at 80% of getting clearance, while a mediocre guy has 99%, which one a company should take chances with? Risk/benefit analysis is lacking. Guaranteed mediocrity vs likely excellence, HR always prefers the first one. Basically that is what they do to any corporation, even the ones where clearances are not required. The clearance requirement amplifies the damage that HR morons can do.
Err, no. That's not how it works. The government absolutely vets everyone who works on a classified program. Period. There is no way to hold a clearance or work in a classified billet without government oversight. You might be talking about some "public trust" position, but that is not how cleared (SECRET/TOP SECRET in DoD or IC) work, or how DoE works.
I know exactly how it works. You've comingled the determination of a clearance with what controls the government has over a contract employee. They are two different things. If there is unclassified work to be done, the contractor can assign a non cleared employee to do it. Or they can maintain them in a holding pattern awaiting clearance. Actual clearance investigations are made by a different specialized organization than the one holding the contract. If Bob has been adjudicated and granted access, then I have no reason to deny Bob to work on the contract. Likewise if Bob has not been granted access but there is unclassified work to be done, again, I have no reason to deny Bob to work on the contract.
The point being, the government does not control individual employees, and does not give direction to them (other than a few unique circumstances). The direction to the employees, as well as hiring decisions are strictly within the contractor's control.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
