Are We Clear? Questions and Answers About Security Clearances

Many Washington-area jobs require confidential, secret or top-secret level security clearances. Those jobs frequently pay better than comparable positions that do not. Workers without such clearances, however, face a challenge: It is impossible to obtain one on your own.

Employers, often defense contractors, must sponsor employees and inform them about the job the employee will fill. The background checks required for some clearances, meanwhile, can take as long as 18 months.

One worker feels like this process is running their career up against a brick wall.

OK, I'm totally frustrated. I am so qualified for a number of jobs requiring security clearances. I apply and companies don't even respond to me. I can't even go to the job fairs.

My background is television, which typically doesn't require a clearance. But how can I get someone to notice my credentials and sponsor me for a clearance?

It's just so frustrating to see jobs that you're qualified for and they won't even talk to you. What can I do?

It's a common frustration, says Evan Lesser, director of Atlanta-based cleared worker placement firm ClearanceJobs.com. "We probably hear this question six or seven times a day."

But it's also a fact of life. "You have to look at the supply and demand of what the government contractor needs," Lesser explains. "They have to have a government contract that would require that person [to be hired] before they can even process the clearance. He'd have to be assigned to a certain contract and a specific job."

And this means that job seekers can't simply rely on their skills to convince employers that they deserve a clearance.

Even if the employer is interested, Lesser adds, "nine times out of 10 the contract starts immediately, very soon or has already started. Since it's still taking a year to 18 months to get a clearance, the government contractor can't wait that long to put that person on board."

But there is hope. One strategy is to apply for non-clearance positions at targeted firms in hopes of eventually transitioning into different work; some contractors, meantime, will hire unclassified workers to work on less sensitive tasks while they wait out the clearance process. While this may not be ideal for all workers in the short term, it's still work -- and, potentially, a stepping stone.

Firms can also get interim clearances for new hires within a month with the government providing a "cursory" background investigation before later undertaking a full one. "If you're lucky," says Lesser, "while on the interim clearance the company will perhaps find it has a contract coming up and seek a full clearance for you."

Finally, workers may join the military in hopes that they obtain a clearance through a sensitive assignment -- in exchange for completing a military service requirement.

Workers interested in more information on this topic may want to read a document provided on Lesser's firm's web site at http://www.clearancejobs.com/security_clearance_faq.pdf.