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One thing to consider is that a federal security clearance is expensive. It makes a huge amount of sense to hire people who already have a clearance paid for by

One thing to consider is that a federal security clearance is expensive. It makes a huge amount of sense to hire people who already have a clearance paid for by a federal employer. That saves $50-$80 thousand per headcount. A high quantity headcount of clearance holders also bolsters a contractor’s position in contract negotiation. Every defense contractor does this. It’s stupid not to. My current employer isn’t even a defense contractor (as far as I know) and still hires thousands and thousands of veterans.

yangwuzrite 5y ago
This isn't even remotely true. The costs of a security clearance investigation are borne by the sponsoring agency, not the contracting firm. The problem is that it's difficult to justify taking an uncleared person and submitting them for a clearance. You have to have a billet where someone isn't needed to hit the ground running, you have to be willing to take the risk to hire them with the possibility you may have to fire them within 12-18 months if they don't pass the investigation, and the program and/or contracting officer they're assigned to has to be willing to sign off on it (many contracts are written such that pre-cleared individuals are required to staff it).
mojomark 5y ago
> That saves $50-$80 thousand per headcount. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, but this is a wildly innacurate claim. Citations are requested on HN posts to avoid misinformation (though apparently nobody adheres to or enforces this rule anymore). It only costs employers a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to obtain and maintain a US security clearance for employees [1]. It's not really a hurdle when hiring new talent without a clearance. In general, we hire military veterans not because of their clearance, but because of their tendency (not always, but in general) to possess high integrity, strong leadership skills, loyalty, niche skillsets, and strong work ethic. 1. https://www.taonline.com/security-clearances/hiring-cleared-people https://www.taonline.com/security-clearances/hiring-cleared-...
- austincheney 5y ago
  According to your link the cost for a TS is $3000-$15000. That is just the expense directly to OPM (office of personnel management). The hired employee cannot perform the work they are hired to perform until that clearance is granted which can take as little as 3 months. A TS investigation will generally run from 6-18 months. Mine took closer to 18 months and I am a boring nobody with no foreign connections. Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior advisor also took about 18 months for a clearance. TS alone does not grant access. It is a classification umbrella allowing access to compartments, the most common being SCI. These also take time, money, and administration.
  - TecoAndJix 5y ago
    You can also receive an interim secret pretty fast to start certain work immediately . Once you have TS/SCI it’s as “easy” as some paperwork and a briefing to get read into another space. That initial TS investigation is LONG though as you said
    - austincheney 5y ago
      Interim secret clearances are routine, but not so much for TS. Unsurprisingly, it comes down to urgency of need and not anything else like seniority or authority. That explains why certain nobodies in the military can easily attain an interim but not senior officials working on presidential staff.
      - TecoAndJix 5y ago
        I was a nobody in the military and had to get one at my first command until the investigation completed! Also - I heard from buddies still in/contracting that they increased the time period between needing to get reinvestigated? I did contracting for a while afterwards and have considered returning. I miss being mission focused rather than profit but the reinvestigation process/finding a sponsor is intimidating.
- nonameiguess 5y ago

yangwuzrite 5y ago

This isn't even remotely true. The costs of a security clearance investigation are borne by the sponsoring agency, not the contracting firm. The problem is that it's difficult to justify taking an uncleared person and submitting them for a clearance. You have to have a billet where someone isn't needed to hit the ground running, you have to be willing to take the risk to hire them with the possibility you may have to fire them within 12-18 months if they don't pass the investigation, and the program and/or contracting officer they're assigned to has to be willing to sign off on it (many contracts are written such that pre-cleared individuals are required to staff it).

mojomark 5y ago

> That saves $50-$80 thousand per headcount. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, but this is a wildly innacurate claim. Citations are requested on HN posts to avoid misinformation (though apparently nobody adheres to or enforces this rule anymore). It only costs employers a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to obtain and maintain a US security clearance for employees [1]. It's not really a hurdle when hiring new talent without a clearance. In general, we hire military veterans not because of their clearance, but because of their tendency (not always, but in general) to possess high integrity, strong leadership skills, loyalty, niche skillsets, and strong work ethic. 1. https://www.taonline.com/security-clearances/hiring-cleared-people https://www.taonline.com/security-clearances/hiring-cleared-...

austincheney 5y ago
According to your link the cost for a TS is $3000-$15000. That is just the expense directly to OPM (office of personnel management). The hired employee cannot perform the work they are hired to perform until that clearance is granted which can take as little as 3 months. A TS investigation will generally run from 6-18 months. Mine took closer to 18 months and I am a boring nobody with no foreign connections. Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior advisor also took about 18 months for a clearance. TS alone does not grant access. It is a classification umbrella allowing access to compartments, the most common being SCI. These also take time, money, and administration.
- TecoAndJix 5y ago
  You can also receive an interim secret pretty fast to start certain work immediately . Once you have TS/SCI it’s as “easy” as some paperwork and a briefing to get read into another space. That initial TS investigation is LONG though as you said
  - austincheney 5y ago
    Interim secret clearances are routine, but not so much for TS. Unsurprisingly, it comes down to urgency of need and not anything else like seniority or authority. That explains why certain nobodies in the military can easily attain an interim but not senior officials working on presidential staff.
    - TecoAndJix 5y ago
      I was a nobody in the military and had to get one at my first command until the investigation completed! Also - I heard from buddies still in/contracting that they increased the time period between needing to get reinvestigated? I did contracting for a while afterwards and have considered returning. I miss being mission focused rather than profit but the reinvestigation process/finding a sponsor is intimidating.
nonameiguess 5y ago