Background: 140k TC, 26 years old, 4 YOE in cyber, Bachelors in Cyber, TS/SCI, all experience at a prime contractor on extremely technical work and have AI dev knowledge.

I see a ton of people with a similar background to me posting online and various job postings looking for my exact background all making 200k+.

The main benefit of my job is I woke 40 hours and go home, but I am fine working more if it means I’m making 300k.

Am I living in a fairy tale where people aren’t actually making 200-400k with my background, and these postings just aren’t real or something?

Timeline:
July 29: Accepted job

July 30: SF-86 submitted

July 31: Fingerprints submitted

Aug 18: NBIS Portal showed submitted for processing

Aug 28: Investigator interview

Aug 31: Follow-up call

Sept 22: I checked with FSO and was told I was in adjudication

TS/SCI granted: October 20

Held no clearance before

Never was notified of interim for some reason. When I checked in on the 22nd I was told I had a secret clearance granted so far. Couldn’t start work with interim or secret so it didn’t matter much to me.

No real red flags. A few trips abroad for tourism and dual citizen in-laws.

Honestly, thought I was gonna be waiting a lot longer, but the whole thing took about 12 weeks.

Anyone take a poly and have high blood pressure, a stroke or TIA in the past? Did you have to get medically cleared or a modified screening?

From roughly 2020 into 2021 I worked remotely and moved between short-term Airbnb rentals around the U.S. (stays ranging from a couple of weeks to a couple of months). I kept a permanent mailing address the whole time but wasn’t physically living there. From late 2021 to mid-2022 I also spent several months abroad, moving between countries.

I want to report this accurately without making the residence section unreadable. For those who’ve dealt with similar situations (especially COVID-era remote work):

1. Did you list every short-term rental as a separate residence, or only stays above 90 days?
2. Did anyone list their permanent mailing address for the period and explain the temporary stays in the comments, and did that hold up in the investigation?
3. For extended time abroad, did you report it as a residence, as foreign travel, or both?

I have complete records of every stay, so I can list them all if that’s the expectation. I’m just trying to understand what investigators actually want.

I got a job offer contingent that i can obtain and maintain a security clearance, its not required to start. The issue here is that this position i would have to relocate, find a apartment etc..

My fear is that i have an extensive criminal record, i was arrested 4 times by the time i was 18 for various drug use and intent to sell. Also in the past 2 years I had a medical maryjuanna card. I am 25 now, have not had any criminal record since and really changed my life. But i will plan on being honest filing out the form. But i guess im afraid of accepting the job, moving to another city and then i lose my job because the clearance was denied and now i'm stuck in a lease in a city with no job. Should i just not accept it so i dont risk uprooting my life?

Hi guys, I used the search bar in the sub but couldn’t quite find a direct answer. My clearance was revoked some time ago (maybe 2023-24?). I didn’t find out until I was working at a RAPIDS station when certain accesses were being held and the contracting company wasn’t telling me anything. I have no idea how to find out exactly why other than maybe because I was terminated while holding a secret clearance previously. Is there a way to find out specifically WHY it was terminated? Who to contact? And what time lapse would be for it to either be reinstated or apply for a job to reactivate it?

Any guidance helps!

Context: US Citizen for 10 years +, Born in Vietnam, No debt, and No medical issues.

I was booked a job for the Air Force and it was a TS/SCI job. I went through two DCSA investigator the first one was for the SF86 information and the second one was for a TS. I was supposed to ship out to BMT in couple weeks but I received a call two days ago from a Sergeant in San Antonio TX saying this call was to confirm some stuff before I ship out to BMT especially since my job is TS. It was a basic call asking about like "Whether I am in debt" and etc. However when it got to the last two questions it was about whether I have foreign relatives and If I had travel to that country. I answered Yes because I do have family in Vietnam and traveled there. The Sergeant said that Vietnam has been moved up to a high risk country and since I traveled there a year ago I was deemed associated with Vietnam therefore they had to rescind my job offer. Furthermore, I am basically disqualified for any TS adjacent jobs in the AF in the future. I asked my recruiter about the situation and he said that it was a weird situation for him as well since I was deemed eligible for TS on profile and already did my investigation through DCSA with no issues. He also said that there a bunch of recent changes within the last three months so he unsure what is happening.

My questions are:

Is this situation going to permanently disqualified me for all TS adjacent jobs in the military?

Is there anything I can do?

Is this more on my ability to obtain a TS due to my background or military policies?

Diss status is “Adjudication Suspended, awaiting SMO response”

DCSA stated RFI was sent February of this year.

No SOR received

No LOI received

CE RAPBACK was conducted April this year

What happens if RFI goes unanswered

This is for T5R, SF-86 submitted March 2025

Any thoughts???

And my cat was being quite annoying. He was off camera but his tail kept popping into view since he was rubbing all over me. She asked to see him, so I lifted him up. Then she did the same with her cat. Our cats had an official Top Secret Zoom Government meeting. It was just extremely goofy and I needed to share.

Between roughly 2018 and 2025, there were allegations that he repeatedly harassed an ex-partner and members of the ex-partner's family. Police were reportedly involved at some stage and his phone was confiscated, although I don't know the full details or the final outcome.

I'm wondering whether this kind of history would be a significant concern for security clearance purposes, even if there wasn't ultimately a conviction.

My understanding is that vetting isn't just about convictions, but also about judgement, conduct, reliability, and any history that might raise concerns about future behaviour.

Has anyone here been through SC vetting or worked in a role requiring it? Would a long-running history of alleged harassment be likely to raise red flags, or would the outcome depend mainly on whether there were charges/convictions and how the applicant disclosed it?

Interested in hearing from people familiar with the process.

A little context, an apartment I leased sent me to collections over a bogus $150 in "damages" that never happened. I disputed it and was able to get it removed from my credit file. I'm coming up on renewal for my clearance soon and not too sure if this is something I should disclose or not, since on the SF-86 it asks "In the last seven (7) years, you had bills or debts turned over to a collection agency?". Technically I have, but it was disputed and removed. Any suggestions?

I got a concern. I was in the military over in Europe and I traveled only in Europe and once to the UK but I don't remember the days/time of when I went to/left those countries. I had a TS clearance when I was in but I didn't fill out any forms because the liberty range for us was Europe & UK. I'm having to reapply since I've been out for so long, how can I identify the dates and where? Like I have an expected date range and I only traveled for tourism.

Basically what the title says. Based on what I’ve read, 99% of the time an investigator will contact my supervisor. I’m afraid that this will cause issues with my current job and I cannot afford to lose it. My company has had questionable HR practices in the past that they’ve gotten away with. So I’m scared that this will put a target on my back especially since I was promoted several months ago. I pay for over half of our bills and it would be financially devastating for my family if I lose my job. I’m also not completely confident about getting granted a clearance because of my current finances (currently in a debt management plan and have smaller accounts in collections I’m trying to pay off). It’s 2 am where I am and I can’t sleep because I’m seriously contemplating on rescinding my acceptance over this.

Any advice on how to navigate this? I added in the comments that I’d rather not have them contact my current supervisor and I can provide contact information for other coworkers, but from what I’ve read this is almost never honored.

Hi all. I'm a software engineer in the Providence area, recently laid off after 10+ years building Android and iOS apps (Kotlin, Java, Swift). I'm self-taught, and my bachelor's is in a non-technical field, not CS.

I'm seriously interested in Electric Boat. The stability and the mission appeal to me, and I'm within driving distance of Quonset, the Newport Engineering Office in Middletown, and Groton. My concern is, most EB software postings I've seen list a BS in CS or Computer Engineering as required.

For anyone in EB software/IT, or who's been through the hiring process:

1. Do hiring managers ever accept experience in place of a CS degree for software roles, or is the degree a hard HR filter?

2. Which groups or roles are most realistic for someone with my background, and would my years of experience count toward level, or would I start at the bottom?

3. Does a referral from someone inside actually move the needle compared with applying online?

Thanks in advance. Any honest perspective helps, including "don't bother without the degree."

I just received a job offer and need TSC. I had secret clearance about 15 years ago. I have a question about filling out my sf86. I am a current federal employee with public trust clearance.

In 2024 and 2025 while working for my current agency and future employer if I pass my background check I lived in my car Sunday-Thursday. I had a place 3.5 hours away for weekends. Should I just use that address during that time period? I received my mail, had vehicle repairs, and considered that my home. While living in my car I never had any issues or police interactions. No one at work knew I lived in my car. Do I need to disclose this living arrangement? Will it negatively impact my ability to get clearance? The only people who know I lived in my car are my mom and one friend.

Also, just being cheeky but if I can keep secret I lived in my car whether it was 107 or 15 degrees and not tell anyone at work I think it shows I can keep a secret. Also I know it is not the same thing…

Hello everyone. I just wanted some advice on foreign contacts (like 75% of all people on here). I have a close foreign contact whom I listed, but there's a few people I have continuing contact with, but whom I do not consider particularly close (no affection, influence, common interest, or obligation as defined on the form). When I was filling out the form, I was operating under the assumption that unless they are as close as my best friends or family with whom I have close bonds as defined, it would not be necessary to put them on. Having searched this subreddit, it seems the consensus is that you should overshare (wish I had seen this at the time).

Fast forward to the interview process, one of my references from a co-worker/friend was asked to give out another reference and he apparently gave out a foreign national who is a mutual friend, again not someone I considered a best friend or someone with whom I have affection, obligation, common interest, or influence.

My main worry now is that my investigator will find it concerning that my references are giving out foreign nationals, and I'm worried there's going to be a misunderstanding about how I interpreted foreign contacts. I don't want to conceal anything but I'm scared this might be interpreted as such. Any advice or is this a wait and see if the interviewer asks you to clarify situation? I think the reference I'm going for is a TS and this is for joining the air force.

This is my first time getting a clearance and the anxiety is killing me lol

Thank you all!

I'm planning on giving notice to my current job tomorrow for a cleared job i got offered. Before I do that, im a little anxious about getting denied the interim.

The job listing said effectively, secret obtainable in a reasonable time.

I know I can probably ask my manager/hr directly but im also leery because I dont want them to think i wouldnt be granted full clearance. Pretty clean record, so i dont think id be denied full.

Are listings like that generally fine with not getting an interim?

Losing the job would be financially crippling for my family so im just looking for a little advice/insight here.

During the clearance process, is there ever a situation where you might have to present your original birth certificate. If so, and it is written in a language other than English, do you need a professional, notarized translation?

Thank you

Hey guys. Happy news! I recently got my final clearance! I have since signed the sf 312 and I'm waiting on my sponsor to reach back to me about a start date. It's been several days since I have made them aware of this. It may different from company to company, but on average, how long does it usually take for you to get your start date? And is there any possibility they drop you even after you get the clearance? I would think it would basically be guaranteed since they invested so much. But I'm still wondering.

So 2 different consulting jobs for different parts of federal. The first job pays a bit better with a bit better bonuses, but currently unemployed and I'm reading public trust process can take 2 months to 6+ to finish (ive had public trust before with no issues and global entry, no clue if any of that helps lol). I still got bills to pay and I hear financial woes can lead to issues here too which is great! Other gig is similar to one I had before where I can start working while the public trust is processing.

1. Is there anything I can ask for job A in this situation in terms of negotiations? Public trust process is out of their control I assume.

2. public trust t1 vs t2 I assume doesn't matter much for my resume because its not clearance so i'd have to get them again for future gigs as well?

3. Anything else worth thinking about here? the pay difference ain't that much vs potentially 6+ months not making money. Just wonder if there are any other factors to think about. First firm is more well known but the other isn't a no-name either.

I'm just kind of confused in general how any company can hire for a role that requires so much time for the background processing before start date unless its like an internal hire/promotion, just seems risky for both sides?

Hello! I’m a new grad who is currently filling out the SF86 for secret clearance. So I naturally don’t have much official job experience. Most of my “experience” has been in the form of research projects where I along with a few other undergrads would be mentored by a graduate student in doing a project in their research area, presenting our results at the end of the semester to the other groups. All unpaid and additional to coursework, but they were good experiences for me and relevant to my field so I listed them on my resume.

However, I would feel weird calling it a job since it was very informal and of course unpaid and I’d have no idea how they would verify. Furthermore, one of the graduate students who mentored me has changed universities and I no longer have his updated contact, so I don’t want to list what I do have just for him to be uncontactable and make it seem like I made the whole thing up.

Other than this, I think(?) I have no red flags. No dual citizenship (although my dad does), no criminal history, financial problems, drugs, etc. I feel almost silly even asking this because it was so informal it would be almost like listing a senior thesis for a class as a job experience and putting the professor as the supervisor but I’m worried it might look like I’m lying or trying to hide something when I’m not.

Appreciate it in advance.

My ship date is next week, and I admitted things to background investigator that weren’t on my clearance form but now being told to answer no to these things during polygraph test. Would they not have the investigators notes and see I’m lying or is this not the case? I’ve brought this up and asked if the boss recruiters have heard what I said to investigator but I’ve just been told I’m good and don’t worry. My concern is being kicked out for fraudulent enlistment or jailed because things weren’t documented correctly.

For anyone who currently works at Peraton or has worked there before, how has your experience been? I’m curious about the training, workload, management, and overall work environment. Is it a good company to work for, and would you recommend it?