Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
(OP)
I was recently asked to get top secret security clearance at work. I have some questions for those who have experience in this:
1) If I later part ways with the company, do I keep the clearance? (I see jobs that say active DoD clearance required, so I assume this is the case.)
2) Are there financial benefits to having DoD Top Secret Clearance should I be in the job market at some point in the future?
3) Anything else you know about this?
I'm not planning on leaving my company, but we are going through layoffs so I'm happy to apply for clearance. I really didn't see it coming, so there is a lot to learn.
1) If I later part ways with the company, do I keep the clearance? (I see jobs that say active DoD clearance required, so I assume this is the case.)
2) Are there financial benefits to having DoD Top Secret Clearance should I be in the job market at some point in the future?
3) Anything else you know about this?
I'm not planning on leaving my company, but we are going through layoffs so I'm happy to apply for clearance. I really didn't see it coming, so there is a lot to learn.
Cedar Bluff Engineering
http://cedarbluffengineering.webs.com





RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
2) Yes, there are sometimes jobs where having a clearance is more important than relevant job skills. So it increases your employment prospects which one assumes increases your earning potential.
3) I wish I had one
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
2> Possibly, generally, it's more of a clincher than a monetary benefit. Generally, a SECRET clearance is what's most useful to a company, and few companies are certified for TOP SECRET.
3> There may be some limitations on travel to countries that are not friendly to the US. That may have changed.
TTFN
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RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
I've thought of that already. I won't be using online message boards after submitting my application tomorrow since I have no way of knowing who may be foreign agents.
Cedar Bluff Engineering
http://cedarbluffengineering.webs.com
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
1) Security clearance goes inactive once you leave. For my clearance it was inactave for a period of 1 year (I believe). If after that you need a clearance again, you have to start over from the begining.
2) A DoD clearance is very expensive to obtain (I think the number was about $20,000 a pop), however it is much cheaper to maintain once its active. This explains why many companies require thier candidate to already have a clearance. This keeps costs down for them, they are basicaly stealing the application costs and downtime for the employee from someone else.
3) A top secret clearance will be very invasive into your personal life. I worked with many people who had them or were getting them and they all agreed that it was taken very seriously by the government. There is also always a chance you will be denied, from what I understand they may never tell you why. That being said, if your a good citizen you really have nothing to fear.
4) Keep a copy of any (unclassified) application paperwork you fil out and send off. You will have to renew your clearance every so often (every 3-5 years for TS if memory serves, longer for secret) and a copy of that next to imposible to dig up information will be invaluable when you renew (it also ensure the information is the same if you can't remember exact dates).
5) You can easily downgrade to a lower clearance if you jump jobs.
6) Always keep your mouth shut. Some people are bad about informing you what is classified and what isn't when your are working with them. If you spill the beans you get punished. Be safe and never discuss any of it unless you have express (preferably written) permisiion to do so.
Just my two cents worth.
A question properly stated is a problem half solved.
Always remember, free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it!
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Then I open up a magazine one day and there it is with about as much detail about the sensitive aspects as I knew anyway.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Also, 'always' follow the laws. I have worked with and heard of employees that lost their jobs and/or clearance because they become too lax.
Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
That said, we had a program with unclassified performance requirements where every parameter needed to determine compliance to the requirement was classified. So while the answer was supposedly unclassified, the intermediate steps were classified.
What's even more annoying are where the identical requirement is classified on one program, but unclassified on a related program.
Be prepared to memorize a whole new set of passwords and passcodes and to carry around one or more cypher fobs.
TTFN
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RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Just my $.02.
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Top Secret clearances are good for 5 years, secret for 10. If you have ever held a clearance before it is much cheaper to get it again and the cost to upgrade a clearance is much less than an initial investigation. There are some things that will ensure you will not get a clearance.
If you ever did LSD or mushrooms you can forget it.
If you are in severe debt you can forget getting a TS.
I am sure there are more but that is all I can remember. I got out of the Army almost 10 years ago so some things may have changed.
One thing I do know, as long as you tell the whole truth you will most likely get a clearance. We had an old Sergent Major who was a devil on wheels into his 20's, committed all kinds of crimes that he was accused of but never convicted of. When he sat for his TS interview he fessed up to everything. Told the investigators how he pulled everything off and was given his TS. But all of his crimes did not have financial benefits. We had another soldier who committed insurance fraud and fessed up, he was denied. The crime he committed was strictly for financial gain so they considered him a high risk.
After this I am sure big brother is watching me very closely.
SW 2007 SP 5.0
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
My secret clearance was revoked when I left the military.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
However, I think that during the Bush adminstration everything got classified, and they had to streamline the process just to haev enough clearances to handle all the added classified material.
TTFN
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RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Cheers
Greg Locock
I rarely exceed 1.79 x 10^12 furlongs per fortnight
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
Sorry, the dumber the pun the better I like...
RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance
TTFN
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RE: Question about Top Secret Security Clearance