It was an eventful year in the security clearance community. From a 20-million person breach to a nearly 20 percent reduction in the size of the cleared workforce, we could say 2015 was the year of cha-cha-changes. Here’s a round-up of some of our hottest news stories, those receiving the most views on our site this past year. What will 2016 bring? You’ll have to stay tuned to ClearanceJobs.com to find out.
What will my OPM Breach Notification Look Like?
Clearance Holders wondering what to expect from their OPM breach notification need wonder no longer: “With nearly 20 million breached individuals to notify, don’t expect a college admissions-sized envelope – OPM is looking to save on paper. The thin note gets straight to the details – offering a link to sign up for up to three years of credit monitoring and resolution services, along with a unique pin number that can be used to do so.”
Overseas Contracting Careers – Private Contracting Positions Currently Available
This video post offers insight into what fields are currently hot overseas. “Overseas contracting careers can be a great option for transitioning military, veterans or service minded civilians. Of the more than 8500 openings [that number is 13,500 today!] currently listed on the ClearanceJobs.com site, more than 150 are located OCONUS, in locations from Iraq and Afghanistan to Russia and the Netherlands.”
Failure to Launch – 5 Ways You’re Screwing Up Your Cleared Career
Not all advice is positive – sometimes it’s good to know where you’re screwing up. “Do you ever feel like your cleared career is stagnating? Like you’re a rocket preparing for a 5-day mission, but you never get off of the launch pad? You’ve heard of failure to launch – it applies to your career as well. It’s not uncommon to find your career at a standstill. What you do while you’re waiting makes a critical difference in whether your career takes off, or stays put.”
4 Travel Intensive Jobs for Road Warriors
Security clearance holders are often more likely than other professionals to embrace a career that also includes extensive travel. “There’s something incredibly tempting about living life as a rolling stone, and having contrails between airports form the backbone of your world. For some—maybe even you—this need not be a fantasy lived out only by characters on the silver screen. If you hold a security clearance, there’s a good chance you’ve done some traveling in your day, whether as a soldier, spy, consultant, or Foreign Service officer. If you’d like to put that clearance and experience to good use, here are four types of jobs that often advertise travel requirements of 75% or greater—more than enough to keep you on the road or in the air.”
Security Clearance Policy and Process Changes of 2014
Everything that happened in the security clearance community in 2014 – in one handy article: “What major changes of 2014 affected security clearance policy and processes? Learn all of the details in a month-by-month break-down of key security clearance events.”
Was Your SF-86 Stolen in the OPM Hack?
After weeks of speculation, OPM finally started opening up about the extent of the OPM hack. “After denying Chinese hackers had gained access to federal security clearance background data during a December hack, OPM officials acknowledged Friday the data stolen included background investigation data for current and former federal employees.”
Should Clearance Holders Affected by the OPM Breach Sign Up for Credit Monitoring?
The first question clearance holders affected by the OPM breach had was whether or not they should sign up for credit monitoring. Here, security experts weigh in. “This announcement and subsequent post followed OPM earlier announcement from June that the agency would offer credit report access, credit monitoring and even identity theft insurance along with recovery services to potentially affected individuals. The question following this and other breaches is whether those affected by one breach shouldn’t worry about being victims yet again, especially in light of another high profile breach.”
ODNI Releases Annual Report on Security Clearance Determinations
In addition to the OPM breach, the big clearance news of 2015 is the massive reduction in the size of the cleared workforce. “The government has cut the number of individuals holding federal security clearances by more than 635,000. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released their 2014 Report on Security Clearance Determinations this week. It’s the latest installment of an annual report required by the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act. The report includes data on the number of cleared employees and contractors, as well as current security clearance processing times.”
DoD Reduces Number of Clearances by 15 Percent
More figures are announced about the ever-shrinking security clearance workforce: “The Department of Defense has reduced the number of individuals with active federal security clearance by more than 700,000 in the past two years, according to data provided by the DoD to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and obtained by the website Secrecy News.”
The Creepy New Site That’s Culling LinkedIn for Your Resume
In a year of breaches, some clearance holders found themselves finding their data lifted by a more public source – LinkedIn. “A new website that can best be described as a privacy and national security disaster is culling LinkedIn and Google to create a database of professionals with access to America’s secrets. The new website called the Transparency Toolkit boasts that it has collected the resumes – including profile photos and personal data, in some cases – for more than 27,000 individuals who have previously or currently worked on classified government projects.
