One More Question on Personal References

[jagghagg]

I doubt they will be contacting your supervisors unless listed. This is a federal background check - looking for ethics and bad behavior. Now the interviewing agency might ask if they can contact your supervisors after they interview you, but I doubt anyone not listed on the questionnaire will be contacted for the background process. The background check is being done by contractors and I doubt they have the full OPM information on you before them.

[kingfisher]

Right before the offer was extended to me, someone from Falls Church called me and asked for the name and phone number of my immediate supervisor. They called her about 10 minutes later. It all worked out great, so if you are doing a good job, yours should also.

[jagghagg]

Oh, Lord, no. If you have ever gone through one of those - and I have (for a Top Secret clearance) - they take WAAAAY longer than what this will cover AND the questionnaire is impossibly long, to include your address as a child of 2 years (actually every address over the last decade at least), the name of your first pet, and whether you ever hid peas in your mashed potatoes. Secret clearances are required for ALL federal employees.

[workdrone]

jagghagg said:

Secret clearances are required for ALL federal employees.

I think that may be a little too sweeping. All JAG officers have a secret clearance by default, and it is upgraded by need. Also, if you work as an attorney for DoD or other national security agencies (CIA or FBI, anyone?), you're probably also required to have clearances.

However, for ALJ positions, while there is a through background check, it's not the same process as getting a security clearance (the one I acted as a reference for a friend who made ALJ, the interview was done by a contractor, not a federal investigator). And for line federal attorneys in my office, while there was a finger-print and background check, I don't believe they have a security clearance in the military/national security sense.

[doctorwho]

peejay said:

Secret clearances are required for ALL federal employees.

Are you sure? That's not even true in the military, although without one, career opportunities are somewhat limited.

Secret clearances are NOT required for all federal employees. Infact, there are at least 5 different levels of security clearances that are in play for government employees. The most basic is the national agency check for non-sensitive clearances.

[jagghagg]

doctorwho said:

peejay said:

Are you sure? That's not even true in the military, although without one, career opportunities are somewhat limited.

Secret clearances are NOT required for all federal employees. Infact, there are at least 5 different levels of security clearances that are in play for government employees. The most basic is the national agency check for non-sensitive clearances.

Actually, I don't think I am wrong. There are different clearances for contractor employees and temp employees, but fulltime employees do have to have the minimum secret clearance. And no, JAGs do NOT have a Secret clearance "by default" - we go through a security clearance process like everyone else.

[morgullord]

I agree with jagghagg; one of the purposes of the background check is to determine if you will appropriately handle sensitive information such as medical records, earnings records, etc. It will be nothing at all like an investigation for a TS or compartmentalized clearance.

[jagghagg]

Eeeeeoooooo, but I do hate being wrong. "ALL" federal employees do not need secret security clearances. (Verify before you type, hagg!) "Doctorwho" is correct. Clearances are based on investigations requested by Federal agencies, appropriate to specific positions and their duties. Until a person is offered such a position, the government will not request or pay for an investigation for a clearance. Once a person has been offered a job (contingent upon satisfactory completion of an investigation), the government will require the person to complete a Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions, initiate the investigation, adjudicate the results, and issue the appropriate clearance. Sorry, Charlie.

[workdrone]

jagghagg said:

And no, JAGs do NOT have a Secret clearance "by default" - we go through a security clearance process like everyone else.

Sorry if I wasn't more clear. What I meant was if you can't get a secret clearance through the normal process when you applied to be a JAG, you won't be comissioned. Hence, all JAG officers on active duty I know of have at least a Secret clearance "by default" if not higher. And if any JAG offcer gets that clearance revoked, he/she probably won't be a JAG much longer.

Anyway, we're getting off topic. Back to normal programming.