At a recent Fort Meade job fair, ClearanceJobs learned from cleared recruiters that polygraphs still pose a big problem for the defense contracting industry. Even though recruiters are dealing with competitive salaries from the commercial market, remote work stealing their candidates to other industries, and a general burnout from those who have been serving the mission, the government and heads of programs need to really rework the way we retain top talent to serve in national security. And that may mean changing some of the processes.
The Type of Polygraph Matters
Recruiters at Fort Meade noted that even if they found a cleared candidate with a Counterintelligence (CI) polygraph that fit a particular role, not having the Full Scope (FS) polygraph would make them a disqualifier automatically.
To get some candidates in the docket to undergo the FS poly, it could take months to a year.
Even if a candidate has a FS poly, but it’s under a different agency, it’s a no-go from their agency heads, they said.
Reciprocity Issues Persist
Reciprocity has long been an issue for the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC). But if agencies do not acknowledge that they are shooting themselves in the foot when they have qualified candidates that just may not have their particular badge, programs and billets will continue to remain vacant. (*wink wink*, maybe it’s time to submit a proposal for a poly examiner staffing contract)
Like security clearances, you must be submitted into the queue by a security officer for a proposed position – and with the agency that position will be residing under. This takes not only the time to find a qualified candidate, but also the waiting game of getting them on the schedule, and eventually passing the polygraph exam.
Solving the Polygraph Problem
So, how do we solve these problems that arise from the government / industry partnership with policy that may seem outdated…and seriously affects DoD / IC recruiting success?
Join us at ClearanceJobs Connect 2022, where industry and government are coming together to talk about these hurdles and answer your own question on how we leap over them.
