Despite improvements in security clearance processing times, employers strongly favor hiring cleared candidates. In a survey conducted by ClearanceJobs.com, 63% of recruiters said their hiring practices have not changed, despite improvements in clearance processing times.
This is good news for professionals who already have clearances, bad news for those who don’t or who are anticipating needing a higher-level clearance at some point in their career. Inconsistency in adjudication makes hiring an already-cleared candidate a savings of time and money for employers.
“Improved wait times must be accompanied by consistency to substantially change recruiting practices,” said Evan Lesser, founder and Managing Director of ClearanceJobs.com. “While we’ve seen advancements, Top Secret clearances are still taking two to three times as long as Secret clearances for end-to-end processing. Even within clearance levels, hiring managers tell us wait times are haphazard and without rhyme or reason.”
Security clearance processing times have improved since the Government Accountability Office put the program on its high risk list. Security clearance processing time was reduced to 47 days, on average, in Fiscal Year 2010, down from 153 days in FY 2007.
Despite overall improvements, lack of consistency is the critical issue, for both employers and job seekers. The ClearanceJobs.com 2012 Compensation Survey found a huge disparity in clearance adjudication times for respondents. While 24 percent said clearance processing time was just one or two months, the majority noted processing times of three months or longer and seven percent said their wait times were longer than a year.
Being able to obtain an interim security clearance can be a saving grace for many candidates, allowing them to perform work as they await final adjudication. But with no guarantee for whether or not a candidate will breeze through an interim clearance, employers will continue to favor already cleared candidates, and 17 percent of respondents in the ClearanceJobs survey said they only recruit individuals with a security clearance.
What causes delays in processing? The Defense Security Service notes that paperwork issues are still a major hang-up. Having a number of overseas connections or difficulty contacting references can also be a problem.
