4 ms·

how can they detect that someone "used marijuana" once long time ago ?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hyperbovine 3y ago
They can't, of course. But then your only option is to lie to a federal agent. https://news.clearancejobs.com/2016/04/02/consequences-lying-withholding-information-background-investigation/ https://news.clearancejobs.com/2016/04/02/consequences-lying...
- tough 3y ago
  If it's a CIA interview don't you get a pass if you lie to the liars?
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    No, they don’t want people who get caught lying, and if you don’t get caught, its indistinguishable from not lying.
    - tough 3y ago
      Well, my -getting a pass- meant precisely not being caught... It's a nice filter for the job
      - xboxnolifes 3y ago
        You "get a pass" by lying in all situations where you don't get caught.
dekhn 3y ago
The background checks for agencies often include going back and talking to high school friends and neighbors. They will ask about drug use.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  Having friends and neighbours that will lie for you (or be unaware of your gravest moments of joint smoking) seems like a good level of trustworthiness.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    You can't predict who they will reach out to you. Also, lying during a federal background check is ... dangerous, to say the least. Remember, it's really hard to produce lies that stand up to repeated questioning, especially lies that span several people.
  - red-iron-pine 3y ago
    if they're lying about weed they're lying about... what else? theft? fraud? violent crime? domestic abuse? the point is that there are no surprises about a candidate, not that some guy they've known since 3rd grade will cover for them. cuz their job won't involve talking to people they've known since 3rd grade
speed_spread 3y ago
They don't have to detect it, they'll ask as part of the security interview. The interview is very thorough and requires to be completely transparent and truthful in the given answer. The worse that may come out is that you don't get hired (unless you confess to murder, maybe?). Lying, hiding facts or getting whatever kind of crafty to get hired will lead one to MUCH MUCH bigger trouble if/when it gets discovered later on. Think _treason_. The main idea is to assess the ways in which an asset can get corrupted by outside influence. Agencies can work with people's various deficiencies and vices, after all it's what they do all day long. But they need to be able to qualify the risk represented by each of their people vs the other agencie's people.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > Lying, hiding facts or getting whatever kind of crafty to get hired will lead one to MUCH MUCH bigger trouble if/when it gets discovered later on. Think _treason_. No, don’t think “treason”, because lying on (even a national security related) job-related interview is nothing close to treason. OTOH, lying to government officials about a matter within the jurisdiction is a felony even without invoking weird flights of fancy about treason.
- Spoom 3y ago
  > Think _treason_. That's hyperbole. According to the United States Constitution, Article III, Section 3: > Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. It's narrowly defined for the very reason that prior history had tons of abuses of a much broader definition to silence political enemies. Granted, lying to federal officials is almost certainly a crime, and not one you'd like to have on your record. But treason it is not.
Scoundreller 3y ago
Depends how long your hair is.
pengaru 3y ago
I thought part of getting anything like a security clearance involves their interviewing people from your past. So all it takes is one of those people admitting they smoked pot with you under the bleachers in high school, for example.
- cafard 3y ago
  It really depends on the level of security clearance, I think. I had a secret clearance years ago, and never heard from friends or acquaintances that anyone had asked about me.
  - momirlan 3y ago
    I agree with this. I got a security clearance with the Canadian government, and the only way they could have interviewed my friends was to find them across EU and the world. They relied on police check, including federal, and fingerprints.
  - dgacmu 3y ago
    The investigation for S is pretty tame. But for TS they do a lot of interviews. I had a long conversation with an OPM investigator about one of my friends' past drug use (he got the clearance).

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

They can't, of course. But then your only option is to lie to a federal agent. https://news.clearancejobs.com/2016/04/02/consequences-lying-withholding-information-background-investigation/ https://news.clearancejobs.com/2016/04/02/consequences-lying...

tough 3y ago
If it's a CIA interview don't you get a pass if you lie to the liars?
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  No, they don’t want people who get caught lying, and if you don’t get caught, its indistinguishable from not lying.
  - tough 3y ago
    Well, my -getting a pass- meant precisely not being caught... It's a nice filter for the job
    - xboxnolifes 3y ago
      You "get a pass" by lying in all situations where you don't get caught.

dekhn 3y ago

The background checks for agencies often include going back and talking to high school friends and neighbors. They will ask about drug use.

Scoundreller 3y ago
Having friends and neighbours that will lie for you (or be unaware of your gravest moments of joint smoking) seems like a good level of trustworthiness.
- dekhn 3y ago
  You can't predict who they will reach out to you. Also, lying during a federal background check is ... dangerous, to say the least. Remember, it's really hard to produce lies that stand up to repeated questioning, especially lies that span several people.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  if they're lying about weed they're lying about... what else? theft? fraud? violent crime? domestic abuse? the point is that there are no surprises about a candidate, not that some guy they've known since 3rd grade will cover for them. cuz their job won't involve talking to people they've known since 3rd grade

speed_spread 3y ago

They don't have to detect it, they'll ask as part of the security interview. The interview is very thorough and requires to be completely transparent and truthful in the given answer. The worse that may come out is that you don't get hired (unless you confess to murder, maybe?). Lying, hiding facts or getting whatever kind of crafty to get hired will lead one to MUCH MUCH bigger trouble if/when it gets discovered later on. Think _treason_. The main idea is to assess the ways in which an asset can get corrupted by outside influence. Agencies can work with people's various deficiencies and vices, after all it's what they do all day long. But they need to be able to qualify the risk represented by each of their people vs the other agencie's people.

dragonwriter 3y ago
> Lying, hiding facts or getting whatever kind of crafty to get hired will lead one to MUCH MUCH bigger trouble if/when it gets discovered later on. Think _treason_. No, don’t think “treason”, because lying on (even a national security related) job-related interview is nothing close to treason. OTOH, lying to government officials about a matter within the jurisdiction is a felony even without invoking weird flights of fancy about treason.
Spoom 3y ago
> Think _treason_. That's hyperbole. According to the United States Constitution, Article III, Section 3: > Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. It's narrowly defined for the very reason that prior history had tons of abuses of a much broader definition to silence political enemies. Granted, lying to federal officials is almost certainly a crime, and not one you'd like to have on your record. But treason it is not.

Scoundreller 3y ago

Depends how long your hair is.

pengaru 3y ago

I thought part of getting anything like a security clearance involves their interviewing people from your past. So all it takes is one of those people admitting they smoked pot with you under the bleachers in high school, for example.

cafard 3y ago
It really depends on the level of security clearance, I think. I had a secret clearance years ago, and never heard from friends or acquaintances that anyone had asked about me.
- momirlan 3y ago
  I agree with this. I got a security clearance with the Canadian government, and the only way they could have interviewed my friends was to find them across EU and the world. They relied on police check, including federal, and fingerprints.
- dgacmu 3y ago
  The investigation for S is pretty tame. But for TS they do a lot of interviews. I had a long conversation with an OPM investigator about one of my friends' past drug use (he got the clearance).