
The process for obtaining a security clearance begins, after a provisional offer has been made and accepted, with the submission of the applicant’s completed SF form by the sponsoring agency to an investigative agency. The security clearance process typically includes a FBI reference check of former employers, coworkers, friends, neighbors, landlords, and schools along with a review of credit, tax, and police records. While the suitability review focuses on the individual’s personal conduct, the security clearance is more extensive and investigates the conduct of associates, relatives, and other contacts. A security clearance is designed to determine eligibility for access to classified national security information and entails an evaluation of whether an individual is a security threat (e.g., is the person likely to reveal classified information to a foreign government?). A suitability determination does not convey access to classified information.Ī security clearance is different than a suitability review. Neither volunteers nor summer interns are ordinarily required to have BIs.
#Secret government jobs free
Federal agencies are drug free workplaces and even paid summer interns will often be asked to undergo a urinalysis for drug testing drug testing for volunteers is discretionary with the agency and not typically required. The suitability review begins, once a conditional offer of employment has been accepted, with the candidate filling out a “Standard Form (SF)” as well as submitting to name and fingerprint checks and consenting to a credit report.
#Secret government jobs full
High Risk positions require a full Background Investigation (BI), which is a MBI plus a review of the candidate’s employment, residential, and educational history for the preceding five years with the possibility that some of the information sources will be interviewed in person. Moderate Risk positions require a Minimum Background Investigation (MBI), which is essentially a NACI plus a candidate interview. The minimum investigation required for a Low-Risk position is the National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI), which entails a National Agency Check, law enforcement check, records search, credit check, and written inquiries of pervious/current employers, education, residence, and references. The kind of investigation conducted for a suitability review varies with the level of risk. Both Moderate and High-Risk positions are designated as Public Trust positions. Moderate Risk positions have the potential for serious impact, while High Risk positions have the potential for exceptionally serious impact. Low Risk positions involve duties that have limited impact on the integrity and efficiency of the agency.

If it is non-sensitive, the agency then designates the position as Low, Moderate, or High Risk, depending on the position’s potential for adverse impact to the integrity and efficiency of that office. The agency first determines whether a position is sensitive or non-sensitive. The suitability review is an evaluation of a person’s character traits and conduct to decide whether that individual is likely to act with integrity and efficiency in their job (e.g., should an individual who violated the law by using drugs be allowed to work for an agency whose responsibility is to enforce the law?). Suitability differs from assessing whether a person is qualified for a federal job in terms of experience, education, knowledge, and skills. The more you know about the process, the less confusing it will be.Īll applicants for federal positions, including summer interns and volunteers, must undergo a suitability review. The vast majority of students will have no problems with these requirements and many of the issues other students have encountered can be avoided with a little advance preparation. The background investigations are only begun after the applicant has accepted the offer and completed the requisite forms.

It is important to realize that all offers of employment for federal positions are initially conditioned on successfully completing these processes. Applicants for the federal positions are required to complete a questionnaire and undergo some form of a background check, specifically a suitability review or, for some positions, a security clearance.

government, including the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Departments of Defense, Energy, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury. Every year, many Yale Law School students apply for summer, permanent, and volunteer legal positions with various agencies in the U.S.
