Top Clearance and Polygraph Questions of 2023

Much about the clearance process resembles the Pirate’s Code: “more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” For this reason, we maintain ClearanceJobsBlog.com – a forum where clearance holders and applicants can ask the cleared community for advice on their specific security concerns.

Ask CJ is a weekly series that explores questions posed on the ClearanceJobs Blog forum and and comments received. We always recommend consulting an attorney regarding your specific situation, but some recent Ask CJ questions that were answered include how to renounce your citizenship for security clearance purposes, what protective or restraining orders can do to your clearance, or should you appeal your CIA security clearance denial decision.

Top Security Clearance and Polygraph Trends to Launch Your Career in 2024

Here are the most-viewed Ask CJ articles. Check them out to get extra insight into your own security clearance problems and issues.

What Crimes Get Reported if they are Revealed in a Polygraph?

Nobody on the ClearanceJobsBlog should be telling you what specific crimes examiners are required to report, but generally, if there’s imminent threat to life, limb, and safety, you should expect someone to have to report it if they become aware. Then there’s insider threat indications that they report and crimes of a “seriousness” nature.

How Much Does a Background Investigator Make?

Salaries are very important to supporting you, your lifestyle, or family. Background investigator careers can be an excellent steppingstone into a national security career or obtaining an initial security clearance, as well as a great career opportunity for veterans looking to put their security clearance to work with a flexible and autonomous career. How much do they make? Find out here.

You Were Honest on the SF-86, But the Polygraph Trips You Up

Answering honestly on the SF-86 is always the best policy. But even if you were honest on the form, undergoing a polygraph prompts questions that can slip up security clearance applicants.

Keeping Time with An Escort or Porn Star

‘Porn’ and ‘Pornhub’ are keywords in some of the highest viewed articles at news.clearancejobs.com. Popular articles like “Pornhub Viewer Worried Big Brother is Watching Google Searches” went viral at the height of the pandemic, as more people were working from home, and wondering what the government could and couldn’t see. Porn star and escort questions are back as the second highest viewed Ask CJ article for 2023.

You Still Have to Complete a New SF-86 Every 5 Years Under CE

Standard Form (SF)-86 is used by the federal government to conduct background investigations for eligibility to access classified information. Previously, SF-86 data had to be updated for a periodic reinvestigation. With PRs replaced by continuous evaluation, many security clearance holders have falsely assumed the need to update the SF-86 was similarly shelved.