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It sounds like "clearance" in this context has a more specific meaning than just the generic meaning of the word. I don't know squat about clearances, but I think one worthwhile clearance might be a "TWIC" card? I've seen a few places ask for it, and I think it's something you can get without a sponsor, though I believe a bit expensive.
If you go onto www.FederalSoup.com, there's a background investigator that is on there several times a week, and answers questions for people.
Yes, a clearance will help get you a job - clearances talk money. When I worked for DOD, I had very high clearances, and I sure wish that I had them now. I've been on unemployment since March, and trying to get back into the federal government. If they were still using paper applications, I would have been back in by now.
I've had clearance for almost 7 years. When I resigned my previous position 1.5 years ago to seek warmer climates and higher pay, I made it apparent on my resume and in my interviews that I had a currently active secret clearance.
It makes a difference when the company trying to hire you needs you to become productive ASAP. If you don't have a clearance, you have a minimum of 4 weeks to get your interim clearance so that you can start reading secret-level documents or go into secret laboratories to do your work.
If you look like a candidate that can produce from day 1, they will not only shell out extra cash, but they it definitely gives you a leg-up versus other candidates. Unfortunately, I don't think you can get a secret clearance without being in a 'need-to-know' situation. So, you probably can't apply for a clearance unless you have a job that requires it.
Also to note: if you had a clearance that went inactive less than 5 years ago it is pretty much just as good as an active clearance. A simple form submitted by your new company sponsor can reactivate in a minimal amount of time. If it has been greater than 5 years, you have to resubmit all that paperwork and possibly do the briefing/interview again.
Clearances can be hard to come by these days considering everything going on in the world. If you've done a lot of traveling, ever been arrested for even something minor, are having financial trouble, and so on, a clearance can be denied.
That is sort of misleading. You can have an arrest record and still get a clearance. You have to be completely honest when you submit your application.
Even with an arrest record I was able to get a clearance for a govt job I previously held. It really depends on what the offense was and how long ago. Just make sure you reveal everything because they will find out and you can be denied for not putting it on your application.
That is sort of misleading. You can have an arrest record and still get a clearance. You have to be completely honest when you submit your application.
Even with an arrest record I was able to get a clearance for a govt job I previously held.
I'm all for being completely honest when filling out the clearance paperwork. That's what I did. But I remember the HR dept head at my old company telling me "look, whatever you might have snorted, shot up or smoked at college doesn't belong on this paperwork."
Supposedly, they had had a few employees who were denied clearance because they claimed they smoked marijuana in college and took other illicit drugs. The company wasn't allowed to make their employment contingent on acquiring secret clearance, so the company had to put these people in other departments.
I don't know. What someone does is up to them. Maybe the story I heard from this guy was an urban myth.
Clearance is only good if you happen to live in DC metro area, or you only want to focus on federal government work. Outside of that in commercial/private industries, clearance means nothing.
That is sort of misleading. You can have an arrest record and still get a clearance. You have to be completely honest when you submit your application.
Even with an arrest record I was able to get a clearance for a govt job I previously held. It really depends on what the offense was and how long ago. Just make sure you reveal everything because they will find out and you can be denied for not putting it on your application.
This is true. I was being investigated for a job with the DEA several years ago. I had to tell them that I had been arrested once for marijuana, a LONG time ago. They had no problem with that as long as I was honest and no longer a user.
BTW, I wasn't even a "user" when I was busted, it was someone else in my car that was holding the stuff. I paid a $50 fine at the time and have never looked back.
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