<p>How hard would it be to get a security clearance? Specifically, if you have been charged for example with a misdemeanor (ie reckless driving). However, you have went to court and essentially got it dismissed, would that still hurt you? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>One reckless driving charge that was dismissed?..won’t hurt you at all. As long as you can explain what went wrong, can prove that the issue is now cleared and promise not to do it again, you should ok for a clearance.</p>
<p>What about fincancial situations? Can that prevent you from getting one?</p>
<p>Front what I have read so far, financial situations plays a role.</p>
<p>Yeah, appearently it is. It’s the top reason for getting denied. A security clearance is a must if you want to get a good pay, especially if you live in DC.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Top Reasons Applicants are Denied a Security Clearance](<a href=“Top Reasons Applicants are Denied a Security Clearance - YouTube”>Top Reasons Applicants are Denied a Security Clearance - YouTube)</p>
<p>There are three things they look for when granting a clearance: ideology, responsibility, and (forgive me) blackmailability.</p>
<p>The first is pretty easy - if you have spent your college years advocating the overthrow of the US, or if your cousin is a KGB agent, or if you think blowing up abortion clinics is a valid form of protest… sorry, no clearance.</p>
<p>The second is not too strange either. They need to make sure that you have the basic skills and qualities to keep a secret. They don’t someone who will accidentally spill classified details to their yoga instructor, or leave passwords in their dry cleaning.</p>
<p>The third is where finances come in. You cannot be in a position where someone could force you to betray your country. Maybe you wouldn’t, but they can’t tell that, so the best thing they can do is make sure that you won’t need money so badly you would sell anything, and don’t have any secrets big enough that you would trade national security for your own. For a long time homosexuals were denied clearances on this alone - it was such a damning secret that they figured anyone would trade secrets to remain in the closet.</p>
<p>Is credit a factor?</p>
<p>Where do they get their info from? Do they question people you know? how does that whole process work of getting a clearance, anyhow?</p>
<p>Yes, credit is a factor, just like with a bank. The sum total of your debt must be managable and managed, and they will be wary if your available credit is enough that you could easily slip into an unrecoverable slide.</p>
<p>As to where they get their info from, they mostly get it from you. When you apply for a clearance, the forms ask for lists of everywhere you’ve lived, worked, or studied, along with contacts for each of them. They will contact some of these people - how many and what they ask I am not sure, but presumably varies by clearance level. They will also check your credit reports and other such sources.</p>
<p>Remember that in order to get a clearance you have to give them permission for all this - if you refuse, they reject.</p>
<p>Reckless driving is a well known offense to have when a lawyer gets you off the hook for a dwi/dui</p>
<p>Reckless driving is a well known offense to have when a lawyer gets you off the hook for a dwi/dui </p>
<p>I was charged with reckless, which after having gone to court was reduced to an infraction.</p>
<p>Cosmicfish has basically said everything that goes into the clearance process…up to the Top Secret/SCI level. Let me add the last step for the “intel” agencies like FBI, CIA and the one I contract for…the No Such Agency.</p>
<p>Once you receive your TS/SCI, you must undergo a polygraph every 5 years. The purpose of the polygraph is to basically catch anything that may have slipped through the cracks of the background investigations and to formally explain any “hiccups” in your investigation and also your international travel.</p>
<p>The other thing they really grilled my husband about was the fact that he put down “marriage counseling” on his form. They wanted to make sure he wasn’t suffering from some kind of mental illness. The agent interviewed me, also! We explained that we were just going through a rough patch and wanted to make adjustments before we had bigger problems. He asked a few more questions and then was satisfied.</p>
<p>Hmm, that’s interesting about the polygraph exam. That wasn’t explained to us, and it’s been more than five years since he got the clearance. He’s still working on some of the projects that required clearance, too. Maybe he should check!</p>
<p>If you are going to work in an industry where a security clearance is necessary, resolve yourself to being John Q. Public. It’s that simple. Your neighbors will be visited, professors may be questioned. Spouses will be checked out. Your credit on it’s own is not necessarily the problem, it’s the factors behind it. Are you a risk taker? As stated before, are you at risk to be blackmailed, or more likely with credit issues bribed. Anything that may cause you to be a liability. These checks will be routine and become more involved as your clearance gets higher.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t sneeze at a reckless driving charge. That’s at minimum 20mi over the posted limit. Lack of respect for authority isn’t encouraged. Like I said, John Q. Public.</p>
<p>Yeah…I can agree with Blueiguana.</p>
<p>Also, you MUST “ask” to visit any international destination before you can actually go. Yes, it makes you feel like a child asking Mommy/Daddy “can I go?”, but that comes with the territory of having a top-secret+ clearance.</p>
<p>…and every so often you will look at your credit report and see under “who viewed your credit” the entity known as “Department of Defense”. They don’t ask…they don’t give you warning…they just check it.</p>
<p>Can someone explain the levels of security clearances and to what extent someone is checked for each of those levels? Obviously the higher the clearance, I would suspect the more questions asked. Also, about how long does it take to obtain different types of clearances? How long does the clearance remain active for each of the levels of clearance and as previous poster indicated, is there constant investigation during the clearance for the clearance to remain active?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Secret
Top Secret
Top Secret/SCI
Top Secret/SCI with CI Polygraph
Top Secret/SCI with Full-Scope Polygraph</p>
<p>Secret is basically a credit check and criminal check and can take as little as 6 months. None of your relatives, friends, co-workers or professors are interviewed. The background goes back 5 to 7 years.</p>
<p>Top Secret is the Secret clearance process plus MAYBE a FEW of your relatives, friends, co-workers or professors are interviewed. The background goes back 10 years. A Top Secret clearance takes about 9 months to process.</p>
<p>Top Secret/SCI is the Top Secret clearance process plus more investigation to qualifiy for the SCI “compartment access”. Relatives, friends, co-workers or professors WILL BE interviewed. Travel past WILL BE researched. ANY financial and/or criminal violation (no matter how small) MUST be throughly explained. The background goes back 10-15 years. A Top Secret/SCI clearance takes about 12 months to process.</p>
<p>The CI Polygraph will ask you questions about your entire background (just in case anything slipped through the cracks of the investigation) and if you have been associated with anyone who is against the USA and if you have not followed protocol with prior classified information.</p>
<p>The Full-Scope (also called Lifestyle) Polygraph includes the CI Polygraph and can include questions about your overall lifestyle. Who you date, are friends with, hobbies and just about anything else IS FAIR GAME for discussion. Your privacy is essentially gone.</p>
<p>Thank you for the info–and about how long do the different levels of clearance remain active? Is there intermittent investigation once a clearance has been issued to ensure that clearance to an individual reamins active/valid? Is there some sort of renewal process if clearance is only valid for a limited period of time?</p>
<p>Global left out Confidential (below Secret), probably because relatively little is still classified at that level and very very few professionals ever receive it. Time can vary immensely depending on your lifestyle - if there is a lot of travel and residences, especially foreign, it can take longer than usual. My TS took well over a year and a half to process.</p>
<p>Also, bear in mind that some agencies use a different system - the ones listed above are DoD. For example, the DoE uses “L” and “Q” clearances in place of Secret and Top Secret. Having a clearance with one agency does not correspond to having a clearance at all agencies.</p>
<p>Once you are investigated and approved, you retain the clearance as long as you still need it and don’t do something stupid. Each clearance is periodically re-investigated - I beleive the interval is something like 3 years TS, 5 years Secret, but I am not sure.</p>
<p>What kind of work requires this clearance, specifically pertaining to engineering? How much (more) money can you make with clearance? And how do you go about getting this? Is it a matter of getting hired for the job first, then having them initiate the process?</p>