Obtaining a security clearance will allow you to manage information that the government deems to be a security issue for the state. There are various levels of security clearance that allow you to manage increasingly sensitive information. Having a security clearance is mandatory for employment in some branches of government and for government providers who provide security-sensitive services and products. Use these tips to learn how to get security clearance.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Request a Regular Security Clearance
Step 1. Find a job offer
Apply for a job in a branch of the government that handles secure information or for a company that provides products or services to the government that are deemed security sensitive.
- You cannot apply for a security clearance on your own. The procedure is activated only with the job, if you get it.
- If you cannot acquire security clearance, you will not be able to apply for jobs that require it.
- A good website that helps you check if you can pass it is the CIS Database. It shows many of the same sources that investigators will use to check your background.
- Know that people are denied security clearance even when they don't have red flags in the CIS database and others. Criteria for passing include subjective factors such as judgment, self-discipline, discretion and integrity.
- Conversely, people can pass security clearance even if they have a crime or other yellow flag in their context. There are mitigating factors for the different types of yellow flags listed on government websites. Just one example: the poor judgment demonstrated in adolescence can be ignored if it is proven that you are matured and there is little risk of recurrence.
Step 2. Get the job
The prospective employer will notify you as part of the selection process if the job you have applied for requires security clearance.
The prospective employer will not give you specific information until he offers you the job and you accept it. This is normal
Step 3. Fill out the Homeland Security Positions Questionnaire
Once you have obtained the position, your new employer will ask you to complete this specific questionnaire for national security positions.
- Fill out Model 86 Standard.
- Complete it honestly and accurately.
- The form is over 120 pages long. It will ask you for a lot of details.
- Further investigation revealing any questionable answers on this form would likely disqualify you for a security clearance.
- No application is made for a certain level of security clearance. The level granted is based on work needs.
- You should expect your electronic, cellular, and internet history to be checked as well.
Step 4. Warn potential contacts
Tell your family, friends, neighbors and former business associates that the government has launched an extra - criminal investigation into you.
- Expect family and overseas contacts to be checked as well.
- Make it clear to your contacts and family that this is for the purpose of issuing a security clearance, not because you are pursuing a crime. This survey will typically cover the previous 10 years. Remember that the government will probably think about talking to many more people than you can think of.
- Don't tell your potential contacts the details of the job you've accepted. If you go around telling all your friends that you have found a secret job as a spy, you will fail to meet the requirement of discretion, that is, the ability to keep secrets.
Step 5. Go to your interview
This will be scheduled within weeks of submitting your employment application. It will be conducted by a representative from the Safety and Eligibility Department of the Personnel Department. You must be willing to discuss any information you entered in your initial question.
Answer the questions truthfully and completely. Many of the questions might seem silly, but investigators are trained to delve into and ask everything. Not only do they record your answers, but they notice how you answer questions
Step 6. Ask for an interim security clearance
Once the application is received by the government, the new employer can apply for an interim security clearance from the relevant office. If granted, it could take a couple of weeks.
Step 7. Follow the process of your application
The Security and Personnel Eligibility Office will review the application. They may have additional questions for you. They will check fingerprints and extra - criminal records as part of the process.
Step 8. Get clearance
It will take approximately 90 days from the submission of the job application package for the relevant office to make a decision. This can be delayed by complicating factors or by negative results.
Some special clearances require up to a year
Step 9. Prepare for a security clearance review
Just because you got through it once doesn't mean you got through it for life.
- Every security clearance is redone: every 5 years for a Top Secret, every 10 years for a Secret and every 15 years for a Confidential. The Security and Staff Suitability Office will inform you when it is time to do it again. It will provide you with all the necessary forms.
- If you fall under any kind of suspicion, you may be under investigation even earlier.
- Activities such as spending more money than you earn, public drunkenness and miscellaneous crimes may result in further investigation and / or the removal of your security clearance.
Method 2 of 3: Request a TSA / Airport Security Clearance
Step 1. Know that different TSA jobs follow different processes
All are required to have US citizenship and a full background investigation. The investigation will confirm that you can read, speak and write English, pass a physical test, a drug and alcohol use test and an aptitude test.
Step 2. Apply for the job
The exact background investigation process for each job application will become clear after completing it on the TSA website.
Step 3. TSA clearances are different from common ones
Method 3 of 3: Apply for a TWIC Card
Step 1. Ask for a TWIC card
Keep in mind that many jobs in maritime transport (ships), ports and docks require a transport worker identification credential, called a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) card.
Step 2. TWIC cards also include their own investigation, but are different from the standard security clearance
- TWIC cards are granted by the Transport Security Agency (TSA).
- You can apply for a TWIC card online, even before you have a job.
Advice
- Maintain good behavior. Letting it degrade once cleared could lead to non-renewal after 5 years or even revocation for good cause.
- Each application for a security clearance will have an in-person interview. Interviews are available within the United States and in other countries as well.
- If you have served in the US Military with some level of military security clearance, you will have an advantage in obtaining a civilian security clearance.
- Language skills such as Arabic, Persian, Chinese and Russian are in high demand in intelligence. Traveling to countries where these languages are spoken does not disqualify you for a security clearance. To speed up their release, think of contacts abroad who would be helpful if they spoke to investigators to testify your loyalty and trustworthiness.
