It was a busy year in the world of background investigations. The processing times may have been slow, but the news came fast. Both initial background investigations and reinvestigations were affected, the SF86 was updated, new security clearance policy was issued, and in an end of the year twist, the Department of Defense made a power move to take back over control of its own investigations.
What headlines caught the most interest this year? Here’s a round-up.
1.) Four Changes Coming to the Background Investigations Process
While it may seem impossible, and improbable, there are some major changes coming to the background investigations process in the upcoming months. If you have one, are battling to get one, or think you may ever need one, here are the changes you need to be aware of…
2.) 7 Meaningless Resume Words
Creating a resume is hard work. Updating one is challenging. And tailoring your resume is annoying. But this single document is instrumental in opening or locking doors. Words are powerful or weak, depending on how you use them. Your resume is often the first professional view of you. Don’t waste your words. If you’re not sure what to look for, start with these seven meaningless words or phrases. Toss them out and never use them again…
3.) Security Clearance Salary Trends
The last time ClearanceJobs conducted a compensation survey it was 2013 – cleared professionals were reeling from a government shutdown, furloughs and budget cuts. Salaries were flat after previous decline, and clearance holders were urged ‘flat is the new up.’ Today it’s 2017. Defense industry employers are reeling from the backlog in security clearance investigations, and when it comes to cleared compensation – up is the new up…
4.) Top Secret Reinvestigations Pushed Back to Every 6 Years
The Defense Security Service announced Friday all Tier 5 Periodic Reinvestigations (PRs) will be submitted six years after the date of the previous investigation rather than five years. This is the newly launched Nationa Background Investigation Bureau’s latest effort to reduce the 500,000 case backlog in investigations…
5.) Three Ways to Abuse Your Position as a CIA Program Officer
An investigation showed the extent to which this individual leveraged her trusted position within the intelligence community and inappropriately used her access to closed government systems for personal gain.
- Moonlight as an FSO or NISPOM/DCID advisor to 14 separate companies.
- Search the JPAS system for information on Edward Snowden or herself.
- Spend four to six hours a day playing games, cruising Facebook or engaging in cybersex with a colleague…
6.) DoD Clearance Processing Time and its effects
What are the current clearance processing times for the Department of Defense (DoD) and associated industries (including defense contractors) falling under its purview?
7.) What’s On the New SF86
The good news is all of the changes are designed to make the form – which has been largely unchanged over the past decade – easier to fill out. Incomplete security clearance applications are still a major issue and one aspect of the myriad reasons for today’s epic delays in processing security clearance applications…
8.) 5 Sexual Behaviors That Resulted in Clearance Denial
Think your sex life is nobody’s business? Think again. If it demonstrates risk taking behavior or puts you at risk for blackmail or coercion, it could result in clearance denial…
9.) Top Reasons for Clearance Denial
The Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) Board held 1,142 security clearance or federal suitability and placement hearings in 2016. Financial issues top the list of reasons for a clearance denial…
10.) New Clearance Criteria Released in SEAD 4
Newly released adjudicative guidelines provide guidance on topics of foreign preference, the polygraph, and the Bond Amendment…
