Where are you located? I don’t know your situation but you’d have better luck getting some of those positions if you’re willing to relocate, especially to the DC metro area.
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Good Luck! I left a few weeks ago from being a CI to now being an Admin for a DOE contractor, its a start and even thought the paycheck is much less at least there is a paycheck. I have 7 plus years in investigations and I just hate what happened and the uncertainty of the future. Maybe one day…
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I too left the BI world and became a personnel security specialist, while I do miss the flexibility that comes with BI work, the job is cool thus far. They also offer telework
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PERSEC is a good gig.
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Yes, I agree with everyone that the BI world is a sinking ship. I have been doing this for 13 years. I have been applying for jobs and cannot seem to go something else to save my life! It’s so frustrating!!
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I am told that there are several agencies who have not signed on to the CE and the “no face to face” Reinvestigations. The NDAA does not REQUIRE every federal agency to follow these guidelines. This is only my personal knowledge of being in the business for over 30 years.
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That makes sense. I have no other background in this industry other than being a BI (as I am only 1 year out of college). If you can or will (I do not want to be pushy) any advice fore someone like me? I am looking to go government in intell analyst or governemtn security. It has just been tough finding things. Thanks!
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Your issue is you will be competing with military who have separated or retired who are already trained to do those type of jobs.
I was lucky, I did my year and bailed. I have my military retirement and VA disability and was lucky to find a nice job to top off the other checks. There are lots of jobs being created according to the job reports, but it sill seems like the who you know to be able to land one of them. At least one that pays well, especially if it is your only source of income.
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The job was definitely fun while it lasted, the ships seems to be stinking fast. It’s the holiday season and I only have about 5 cases. The last two years I had a more than full workload around Christmas time, but that’s definitely not the case this year. I work other contracts but unfortunately I’m in an area where there isn’t a huge demand for those cases.
I figured this experience would look real good on a resume but I haven’t had much luck finding something else over the last 2 - 3 months. I’ve tried applying for assistant FSO and personnel security type positions but haven’t made it beyond the “Thank you for your application” stage.
I’m trying to transition into the IT field by getting a couple of certs, so hopefully that will open some doors up
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Create a profile at clearancejobs.com, look for analyst resume samples and search job descriptions to learn the lingo and to modify your resume. Look for analyst positions with defense contractors, you might have a better luck getting your foot in the door there. Find those types of contractors in your area, follow them in social media and go to their jobs fairs and career events. Meet people, just be friendly and nice, express your interest, show your resume and ask for feedback (what would make me a better candidate? Any courses you would recommend? etc). If they remember you, you’re more likely to get a call back.
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You’d do well in personnel security. You’ll start as a personnel security assistant (PSA), maybe even as a personnel security specialist. Then you can work in any of the aspects of PERSEC - investigations, EOD, or even adjudications. The latter is primarily a federal role, though there are many contractor roles in adjudications as well. Some friends of mine recently got on in PERSEC roles at DHS. Apparently they have a rather large PERSEC program.
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I have not made any money as an IC in several months. Oddly enough I occasionally receive federal reopens due to the quality tool, SMH. It really upsets me to feel like I am working on cases from three months ago for free.
I am jumping ship and completely changing industries. I wish everyone good luck. Please don’t let these companies give you false hope about BI industry.
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I am jumping ship for a different position/industry. Good luck, everyone.
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Yeah after 4 months and only 6 cases, I’m bailing out. This is what “they” want. Everyone to bail so they can downsize the industry after people start starving. I seriously doubt DCSA renews any contracts when the prime contracts expire later this year or set new guidelines that will set the industry at the manpower levels they want.
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Is it later this year or is it in April. Remember they had to fix their agreements last April??
Good for you! I am in hopes of abandoning the sinking ship soon. I even acquired a Master’s degree so that I could be of more value after I allowed this job suck the life out of me for many years. I worked for all of the Contractors on the OPM/NBIB/DCSA contract and they are ALL the same. The workload is unbearable, the reopens are stressful, managers are asked to push push and push FIs to work even harder in a 40-hour work week. Working multiple TESIs (full of issues) and ESIS, full T5 cases with only a matter of days to work them. I am curious to know if the Special agents are treated this way by the government. I do not know any personally. When I first started working in this industry, I thought that the job’s mission was “National Security”; which is why I wanted to work in this field. Although “I” personally focus on National Security being of importance, I doubt the CEOs, Directors on the Contract, or the shareholders care much about WHY we do what we do. It’s 3:21 a.m. and unable to sleep knowing what I will endure with the current caseload I have. And due to events out of your control, no ACD changes! You must answer for it during metrics time. This causes a lot of undue stress. I speak with several investigators and they are also looking for different employment opportunities. I care about my quality of work, but some CROs reopen much of the work based on “Subjective” opinions (although some are warranted). But I will not bash the CROs, they are under just as much pressure and are concerned about getting the case returned. For anyone looking to get into this field - run away, fast and don’t look back! The companies you will work for will suck the life out of you. You are constantly stressed and when Sunday comes, you know what you will endure. What kept me going all these years is I did and still feel that our job is important. To me, quality is better than quantity. A quality investigation keeps our country safer. But the contracting companies only care about being #1 and the millions that come with the contract bids. All of these companies keep the same people in leadership positions and bounced them around. Obviously, it’s not working. I believe the industry needs some new blood in leadership. Again, I am in hopes of leaving this job sooner than later. I am not disgruntled; just being honest. I will continue to work with honest and integrity because that is my work ethic and what we do is important; I never lost sight of that throughout all the stress, the workloads, the reopens, the metrics (although mine are good). I will serve my country another way and in another position; away from the BI world.
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This may be a moot point (as the BI industry descends into darkness), however, one of the things that drives me crazy is: The Fed Special Agents ask less questions, have lighter workloads and less re-opens. I know 5 of them (2 retired now - all left USIS back in the day). Sure, they complain about “changes” to reporting requirements, but live in a different world than us working for contractors.
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It wasn’t always like this. It devolved into a bureaucratic mess with zero investigative worth.
Artificial (and dubious) metrics were introduced by OPM bureautards which, combined with the quick-profit private equity firms owning the BI companies (e.g., KeyPoint, etc), meant the field was soon made up of inexperienced investigators willing to work for lower pay than that of a UPS driver or security guard— with ten times the busy work and stress.
80% of reports are made up worthless, non-adjudicative minutiae like explanation of how a subject can work concurrent part-time employments or have a residence in Jacksonville, NC while deployed overseas with an APO address. Or why a subject didn’t list a prior secret DoD clearance from 1982 or an “Unk, other” clearance from 1987. But when it comes to an adjudicative issue, well, they have a standard issue resolution checklist for that where you ask questions perfunctorily whether or not they make sense. Through-the-Looking-Glass questions like, “Do you intend to renew that [long-] expired passport [to the country you are no longer a citizen of]?”
This job used to be gig for former LEOs or S/As but turned into a low-paying, flesh-eating job for 20-somethings willing to have their blood drained because they think they’re doing NATSEC, cloak & dagger work for which they will be respected and compensated once it seen the high quality of their work and how many extra miles they’re willing to go each and every day. Ain’t gonna happen. I was an employee who did over 200% of expectations and once went a whole quarter with 0% re-opens. Still, I would get constant critiques via email, would fear being fired, and get the integrity assurance department contacting me to say there was an integrity issue with my work because I listed a record provider’s first name as Cindy and an QA recontact found the record provider’s first name was Cindi.
I’ve worked about 10 jobs in my long life. The contractor BI job was orders of magnitude worse the the very worst parts of all those other jobs combined.
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When you think about it, the whole process is really stupid and you are right, they try really hard to find fault in the way the BI does the job. Very very nit picky over minor trivial things it’s ridiculous. My prediction is when the prime contracts expire later this year, DCSA will make major changes and maybe even do away with contract investigators. DCSA after all is really DSS and DSS doesn’t like the contracts…
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Fault in everything you do is right. I would love for those who make the policies and chastise you for a typo take on a full work load for a month. I can assure you, anyone in upper leadership who performs as a BI would quit!
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