Tom Brady made headlines this week for announcing that – after already announcing his retirement – he was in fact coming ack for another season with the Tamp Bay Buccaneers. After checking a couple of times and confirming that it wasn’t April Fool’s Day, it was a reminder that yes, sometimes you put your career on hold – and in today’s job market, you can jump back again.
A frequent question from security clearance holders is if they jump out of a cleared career – how easy is it to jump back in? There are obviously two issues that matter – transitioning back into an employer and transitioning back into your clearance eligibility.
Can You Get Back with a Former Employer?
Employee retention is the buzzword across most organizations. With a limited cleared talent pool, many employers are poaching from one another in order to find the best cleared talent. It’s actually a key part of my off-ramping programs for defense employers to try to leave the door wide open when a candidate departs.
Download Rehiring, Why the Boomerang Employee is Sometimes Your Best Bet
There is currently a limited pool of cleared candidates. That means every candidate counts, and employers want to keep the cleared talent they can get. and that means that even if you leave an employer, you can (very likely) come back again.
Can You Get Your Clearance Back?
The other aspect to the process is if an individual can get their clearance back after a lapse in their cleared career. Unfortunately continuous vetting has made this question more confusing. As policy is currently, a clearance remains current for 2 years following departing a cleared position, if the investigation hasn’t expired. Now that clearances are under CV and periodic reinvestigations aren’t on the books, some individuals ask if those clearances will still remain for two years following a break in service.
DCSA has thus far said yes, a clearance will still remain current for two years following a break in service. But with CV on the books, applicants should keep track of the dates they’re read out of programs so they know their last date of eligibility. DCSA has also said they are looking into if a two-year break in service remains a relevant amount of time for determining clearance re-eligibility, and how to make the on and off ramp process for clearance holders easier.
If, like Tom Brady, you leave a cleared career and quickly have second thoughts, the good news is that it’s likely your employer – and your clearance – will still be waiting for you.
