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Subject:Re: So many jobs want CURRENT security clearances From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 13 Aug 2003 13:39:18 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lippincott, Rick" <Rick -dot- Lippincott -at- flir -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: August 13, 2003 01:15 PM
Subject: RE: So many jobs want CURRENT security clearances
Bonnie Granat said:
>The requirement that one already possess a security clearance is an
unfair
>requirement. That is precisely the point of my post. They should permit
>otherwise qualified people to *get* clearances.
The requirement for a clearance may actually be a very fair requirement.
---> I did not say that the requirement for a clearance was unfair. I said to
require that someone already have it is.
Remember, it takes about a year to get a clearance. Sometimes longer.
----> Put some people to work and it won't take a year.
What if you're being hired for a project where the deliverable is due in
six months? It would be impossible to put you through the clearance
process and get it completed in time for the deadline.
Sound far-fetched?
-------> Sure, that could be the case. But not all of the jobs I've seen are
for such short-term dates, I would wager.
The company I'm working for now, we're working on a project for the
military. Although the tech writing aspects do not involve classified
data, the actual hardware specifications and system capabilities are
classified.
The contract was awarded in May 2003. The article is due in January
2004. Eight months total. Not enough time to get -anybody- the
clearances needed. If we didn't have people here with active clearances,
we would not have gotten the contract in the first place.
Consider that some of these jobs may be for fairly short-term,
high-intensity projects. Right now, my sense is that there is a lot of
emphasis on getting these things done and out into the field quickly.
And there just may not be enough time to run new people through the
clearance cycle.
-----> That may well be the case, Rick, but I'm talking about full-time
permanent jobs.
