RE: So many jobs want CURRENT security clearances

["Jenny Igoe" <jenny -at- fgm -dot- com>]

> There is no method for getting a clearance except getting HIRED in a
job that REQUIRES ONE.

As several other folks have already tried to explain, you're wrong. Or,
to use one of your favorite responses, "No."

Many companies that deal with the government have some
contracts/projects that require clearances, and others that don't. Mine
is one of them. I was hired two years ago, without a clearance or any
history thereof, but with the desire to get one someday. I made sure my
supervisor and security officer were aware of my goal. And you know
what? Since the start of the year I've been assigned to one of the
classified projects, my background investigation has been started, and
I've progressed through a couple levels of interim clearance.

That, dear Bonnie, is how it is done.

I spent three years at my previous company trying to get a clearance.
There was simply never a contract that would sponsor me. But I got the
experience with unclassified government contracts at that job that
enabled me to get *this* job, which is leading to a clearance. I did not
take this job simply as a means to an end: the unclassified work I did,
and still do, is challenging and fulfilling. But I knew the kind of
company I needed to work at if I was ever going to be cleared.

As Eric mentioned, It's like someone who is entry-level and only sees
ads for jobs that require experience: How are you supposed to get
experience when no one is hiring entry-level? Everyone has faced this
dilemma, and everyone has eventually gotten past it, one way or another.
So please, stop "venting" about how unfair clearance requirements are.
Yes, it's frustrating to see so many of them when you're out of work and
not cleared. But it's *not* a Catch-22, it *is* fair, and there *are*
things you can do to change your status.

--Jenny


===============
Jenny Igoe
Technical Writer
FGM, Inc.
Dulles, VA
www.fgm.com