anyone know anything about US Secret Security Clearance?

[slugg]

This is my first year in college. I'm a computer science major and right now I'm looking at internships. I don't want one right now, but I'm looking at them to get a feel for what kind of schooling and experience employers are looking for. Anyways, I've noticed that there are a few employers who require an active US secret security clearance.

And now my questions

1. Do I have to be part of the military in order to receive this clearance?

2. What are the different ways of getting it?

3. Is there anything else I should know about the security clearance and/or a job that requires it?

 

[Yomicron]

1. No
2. If you get a job that needs one, your employer will take care of it. You can't go and get one yourself.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Security clearances come in many different flavors. The main thing they have in common is that they are expensive to do so, a military contractor looking to hire a full time employee would begin the process through the FBI. However, due to the expense, an internship requiring anything beyond a cursory background check would be limited to active or discharged personnel who either held current or recent clearance. The best source to ask is the company itself. Top secret clearance can easily take 3 months.

 

[JackRipper]

I used to work at the pentagon...

from what i know, you don't have to be in the military to have/get a security clearance.

There are different levels of clearance's... in my line of work we had Administrative, Secret, Top Secret, and White House clearances...

Sometimes it takes a few months to a few years to complete and recieve the required level of security clearances...

Most of the time they were looking for honesty, past convictions, debt and credit worthiness... You just have to be real honest on paperwork and during interviews otherwise u would fvck ur chances of getting the clearance if they catch your lie...

Depending on the level of the clearance, they do deep background investigations to see who you know/knew etc etc...

These investigations are very costly for a company to spend on a person so many times people with clearances have an advantage when applying for a job.

There is no way.. not that I know of that you could just volunteer, purchase, request to have these types of clearances...

JR

 

[talyn00]

Originally posted by: JackRipper
I used to work at the pentagon...

from what i know, you don't have to be in the military to have/get a security clearance.

There are different levels of clearance's... in my line of work we had Administrative, Secret, Top Secret, and White House clearances...

Sometimes it takes a few months to a few years to complete and recieve the required level of security clearances...

Most of the time they were looking for honesty, past convictions, debt and credit worthiness... You just have to be real honest on paperwork and during interviews otherwise u would fvck ur chances of getting the clearance if they catch your lie...

Depending on the level of the clearance, they do deep background investigations to see who you know/knew etc etc...

These investigations are very costly for a company to spend on a person so many times people with clearances have an advantage when applying for a job.

There is no way.. not that I know of that you could just volunteer, purchase, request to have these types of clearances...

JR

I never heard of Administrative or White House Clearances.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Don't we have at least 2 of these threads every week?

 

[mwmorph]

1. Do I have to be part of the military in order to receive this clearance?
No

2. What are the different ways of getting it?
Go through your employer

3. Is there anything else I should know about the security clearance and/or a job that requires it?
It's a long process and the Top Secret/SCI level at least has the FBI will check with your neighbors/references you put down so make sure nobody hates you too much.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: slugg
1. Do I have to be part of the military in order to receive this clearance?

2. What are the different ways of getting it?

3. Is there anything else I should know about the security clearance and/or a job that requires it?

1. No. Your employer can get you a clearance though it will cost them. That's why some employers prefer you already have one.

2. Military service may get you one depending on your job or your civilian employer can get you one. NSA normally does the background checks and investigating for clearances.

3. Be truthful in all questionaires. Depending on the clearance (secret, TS, etc.) will depend on the depth of the background check.

Originally posted by: talyn00

I never heard of Administrative or White House Clearances.

An administrative clearance is low level normally giving access to confidential but not necessarily highly classified info. A White House clearance normally gives access to White House offices and most importantly White House personnel (president, vp, etc.). Marine Security guards that guard the White House and the Presidential staff have what is called a "Yankee White" clearance which gives them access to staff and personnel.

 

[smack Down]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_clearance

Has alot of good back ground info.

 

[JackRipper]

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze

Originally posted by: slugg
1. Do I have to be part of the military in order to receive this clearance?

2. What are the different ways of getting it?

3. Is there anything else I should know about the security clearance and/or a job that requires it?

1. No. Your employer can get you a clearance though it will cost them. That's why some employers prefer you already have one.

2. Military service may get you one depending on your job or your civilian employer can get you one. NSA normally does the background checks and investigating for clearances.

3. Be truthful in all questionaires. Depending on the clearance (secret, TS, etc.) will depend on the depth of the background check.

Originally posted by: talyn00

I never heard of Administrative or White House Clearances.

An administrative clearance is low level normally giving access to confidential but not necessarily highly classified info. A White House clearance normally gives access to White House offices and most importantly White House personnel (president, vp, etc.). Marine Security guards that guard the White House and the Presidential staff have what is called a "Yankee White" clearance which gives them access to staff and personnel.

Yeah those 2 clearances are kinda weird. One is really general the other is really specific... talyn00 u musta worked in those environments b4?

I had to get a White House Clearance because I did medical support missions at the white house whenever there were honor guards present there. The weird thing was anything above Administrative required that I get US Citizenship. Working at the Pentagon alone required a special clearance (suppose to be Secret and above)... Served 5 years in the Army and STILL TO THIS DAY HAVE NO CITIZENSHIP!!!!

Anyway... gettin off topic.

 

[krunchykrome]

Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

Ten pages? You must've gotten the short form.

 

[d3n]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

Ten pages? You must've gotten the short form.

No kidding. I think its required to be submitted electronically now. I keep my copy handy.

It would be impossible for me to remember some of the dates.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: d3n

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

Ten pages? You must've gotten the short form.

No kidding. I think its required to be submitted electronically now. I keep my copy handy.

It would be impossible for me to remember some of the dates.

I don't remember many of the exact dates. What do you guys do in those cases?

 

[d3n]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: d3n

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

Ten pages? You must've gotten the short form.

No kidding. I think its required to be submitted electronically now. I keep my copy handy.

It would be impossible for me to remember some of the dates.

I don't remember many of the exact dates. What do you guys do in those cases?

I dug up old documents, letters, bills, whatnot. The electronic form is a pain in the way it wants no lapse in the dates. Some approximation is Ok. They look for inconsistencies and it will all get spot checked with an investigator that will go knock on doors for some investigations. They also focus on periods where you are out of the country.

The biggie is that they look for anything in your past that could be used to blackmail you later on for sensitive information. So if you used drugs and got busted for it just go ahead and fess up. That kind of thing.

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: d3n

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im in the process of applying for security clearance through a prospective employer. The form is like 10 pages long. It's a bit overwhelming.

Ten pages? You must've gotten the short form.

No kidding. I think its required to be submitted electronically now. I keep my copy handy.

It would be impossible for me to remember some of the dates.

I don't remember many of the exact dates. What do you guys do in those cases?

In that case, dont bother applying. (j/king). I would guess that you would have to guesstimate ?

 

[shortylickens]

Well, in the Navy everyone that goes on a ship has to have at least Confidential.
I had Secret when I was a comm tech and one of my buddies got the regular Top Secret when he was a crypto tech.

Dont know about all the special ones. But I do know that a lot of civilian companies and agencies like it if you had one done in the military. Apparently it makes it cheaper for them to renew it on you. (You automatically lose it when you get discharged, but its much easier to get back when you've already had it.)

 

[AeroEngy]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Security clearances come in many different flavors. The main thing they have in common is that they are expensive to do so, a military contractor looking to hire a full time employee would begin the process through the FBI. However, due to the expense, an internship requiring anything beyond a cursory background check would be limited to active or discharged personnel who either held current or recent clearance. The best source to ask is the company itself. Top secret clearance can easily take 3 months.

Wow that would be crazy fast for a TS especially if it is a DOD clearance going through the DSS. I have seen them take years to complete. I think the DSS was giving an average of 12 to 18 months just to get a final Secret not that long ago. ... Unless you mean an interim clearance then maybe.

 

[d3n]

Any clearance must have a sponsor. That consists of a position that requires it and an employer that maintains the position. Once the investigation is done for a Secret its valid for 7 years (might be 10 now) In the case of TS its 5 years (used to be 3?) If your sponsor is no longer sponsoring you it goes inactive. The inactive clearances must be re sponsored every two years from then on for it to continue as valid. It is much easier to get an update done than to pay for a completely new investigation.

 

[Andrew111]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Top secret clearance can easily take 3 months.

It usually takes years to complete a top secret clearance:Q

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: AeroEngy

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Security clearances come in many different flavors. The main thing they have in common is that they are expensive to do so, a military contractor looking to hire a full time employee would begin the process through the FBI. However, due to the expense, an internship requiring anything beyond a cursory background check would be limited to active or discharged personnel who either held current or recent clearance. The best source to ask is the company itself. Top secret clearance can easily take 3 months.

Wow that would be crazy fast for a TS especially if it is a DOD clearance going through the DSS. I have seen them take years to complete. I think the DSS was giving an average of 12 to 18 months just to get a final Secret not that long ago. ... Unless you mean an interim clearance then maybe.

DSS doesn't do most of the clearances these days -- they typically go through OPM. I don't know what the current breakout between the two is, but I do know that several years ago they brought OPM in to help with the backlog since DSS is such a screwed up organization (not to mention the adjudication agencies, which aren't any better).

Interim TS/SCI clearances can be done within a month or two if there are no flags in the record, and a full clearance can be completed within six months. Much depends on the current caseload, however, so it's hard to tell. I haven't been a security manager for a little while (almost 2 years) now so things may be different right now. Regular TS clearances are a little shorter, and Secret clearances can be very quick.

To respond to the poster a couple up: Secret lasts for ten years if in a position requiring it (for government employees/active military -- contractors are different) and TS lasts for five years. Upon discharge or departure from government service, the clearance is valid for two years unless there's new employment.

I've heard bandied around that a Secret investigation costs around $50,000, and a TS/SCI one can cost in excess of $100,000. I have no idea if that's true, but with the TS/SCI, they certainly do ask a bunch of people questions. Sending investigators around must be fairly expensive.

Well, in the Navy everyone that goes on a ship has to have at least Confidential.

That's strange. Secret is a requirement for everyone in the Air Force. If you don't have it, you're relegated to either specific career fields (certain medical don't require it), or you're leaving the service. Basically, you need a Secret to deploy so you can receive the intelligence and security briefings.