Active vs. Current TS

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

I’m currently in the process of getting a TS clearance for an internship with DoS (which is questionable considering they only have five months to complete it but say the process is “expedited”). I was looking at different job opportunities after the internship with the assumption that I’ll become more marketable with a clearance.

Many employers have stated that they are looking for an “Active” clearance as opposed to “Current.” Is there a difference between the active/current regarding another company’s ability to reciprocate the clearance? I’m worried I’ll only have a short three-month window when the clearance is active to possibly obtain a position after the internship.

TIA!

2

Yes it is usually easier to transfer or cross over an “active” clearance, but if the investigation is less than two years old, that can be picked up as well. Employers are trying to make it easy on themselves, looking for candidates that have the best chance of getting cleared quickly.

State can be difficult to work with when it comes to clearance reciprocity, but from what I’ve heard it is easier for another agency to pick up a State Dept clearance than the other way around. Just make sure you get the date that your investigation completed, that’s useful bit of info.

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