Just ended a long process in filling out seemingly endless forms for a job requiring a security clearance with a government agency. The position involved travel, which was no problem as I've been overseas before and have a passport. I have not traveled since the start of this current crisis, and am ready to see the world once again.
Security clearance jobs
This job requires a top secret clearance, which went way beyond what I had to go through in getting my secret clearance when I was in the Navy. Those of you familiar with an SF-86 security clearance form know exactly what I'm talking about. I'd heard the "form" would be comprehensive, but was astounded at the sheer amount of information required to work at an overseas post.
Of course, I have no criminal background. I don't drink, smoke and have never done drugs, not even a joint (my mother would have killed me). So I was not worried about anything coming up in my background, because I don't have any. However, the same cannot be said about other members in my family and people I've met throughout the years.
And it was the family and associates section that became the bone of contention throughout the entire process. I could just have imagined the horror of my family members being contacted by a government agency on my behalf. While I may be "pure as the driven snow" some of my closer family members and their spouses may have been/might be engaged in some shall we say "questionable" activities.
I could just picture the evasive answers given by some of them, and the thought that my career choices might put some of them in jeopardy, caused me to scuttle the entire process.
I couldn't live with the thought that some of my kin might be prosecuted due to my quest to work for the government in an exotic locale. When I first began this journey, I assumed it would resemble the targeted exercise that occurred when they looked in my background for my secret clearance in the military. They called my references, my last job, and that was about it.
Top secret/SCI security clearance jobs
But this time around was "the whole ball of wax" Top Secret-SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information). They want to know all of your foreign contacts going back 10 years. Deep into your family members, friends and associates. The SF-86 form is to put it mildly, comprehensive. A little bit too much for my tastes, and a huge step up from the SF-85 form which I would have been fine with.
Polygraphs? Psych interviews? Being grilled on the phone and by an investigator and a panel of people for hours? What? As Adam Curry would say: Yeah/No. Not what I imagined. Would I like to travel and work overseas? Yes. Am I willing to donate a body part in order to do so? No.
When looking at the brochures picturing people who'd worked there, I wondered why so many of them were older, now I know. The average Joe hasn't got a prayer of a chance of qualifying for jobs like these which is why there's a shortage of workers and they have to keep the old-timers around year after year.
Not only that, but they informed me that due to a massive backlog, it could take up to 18 months for my clearance to go through. Some people have been waiting for years! And here I was early in the process with my e-QIP information at hand.
I remember thinking "what in the world could I possibly overhear that would warrant a process such as this?" But thinking about the job itself, I could see the areas I might have access to, and the memory of that old phrase "Loose lips sink ships" that I learned while in the Navy, came back to me.
There was a time when a bunch of fellow sailors and I were on a bus in Norfolk, Virginia. We'd all been briefed about not discussing forward deployments, and I was shocked to hear one of our own sharing such information with a civilian. I turned around and immediately reminded him about our operational security and he shut up. You don’t know who you could be spilling secrets to. It appears some people need a reminder about that from time to time.
Even asking: "Can't you guys just investigate me?" Brought with it the realization that due to the place and nature of the position it required them to know about the "whole person" and who they associated with as well. So I get it, I really do. Just wish I'd known how far they had to go before starting with all of this. That said, I'm still glad I went through this so now I'll know what's involved if I ever get a similar offer in the future.
When security clearance jobs overseas, affect those at home
So picturing angry family members being hauled off in cuffs due to being investigated because of me was enough for me to pull out. I informed the agency that the depth and amount of information they required was too much for me, and that if they had other positions at a lower security clearance level, I might be interested.
At the end of the day we all have to do what we're prepared to do, and go as far as we're willing to go. I must admit that I did a lot of thinking in the run-up to the deadline in submitting the forms. But at the end of the day the prospect of "unintended consequences" was a bridge too far for me to cross. I wasn't worried about me at all, but instead how my self-centered career choice might affect those around me.
however, If I'm totally honest, the thought did occur to me: "Why should I deny myself because of their poor choices in life?" But there were innocent children to think about and treasured elderly people who would also have to pay a price should anything happen to their caregivers. So a lot of consideration was given when coming to this decision.
For me at this time, this was the right choice. Sometimes you have to think about how your actions will affect others, and I have to keep my loved ones in mind. I'm confident that other opportunities will pop up to work as a contractor for maybe say a public trust position where those I care about aren't as much under the microscope as I would be. How far have you gone to get a job?
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