I am getting my full TS/SCI and I was given a interim lately.
I was granted full TS 08Sept2017
Congratulations. Its been several months since I have been active on this site.
My son had to respond to a question about his investigation, he responded. DOE told him he should know one way or the other soon. Itās been a long long process. Usopm lost his application. They figured it out, finally had the interview and was sent to the DOE for adjudication. We are on 2.5 years now. Heās a college grad with no bad marks on his record. We are quite shaken and discouraged. With them telling him one way or the other, then he said, and theyāll let him know what his next steps will be. What does that mean? What would the next steps be?
When did that part happen? Sometimes you get a question and it means that the file has finally reached an adjudicators desk and you should get an answer soon. But if this happened a long time ago, then it isnāt working out that way.
There have been some horror stories about DOE clearances taking years.
He replied to a question they sent him 60 working days ago it will be on the 19th of December. So when he called yesterday to see if there has been any progress, the person he spoke with said āHe will be hearing something soonā¦then added, one way or the other & and be let know what the next steps areā What in the world does that mean? What could the next steps possibly be? He has never done anything in his life. He is 24 years old. What in the world could cause them to deny him? This has been so long. They are ruining his chances for a career. This kid did everything right in college, had an awesome GPA, had an internship every year, one year even had two! Now it has been 3 years since his initial application, took them a year to discover that the USOPM messed up & lost his application & he had to reapply in April 2017. He started trying to get another jobā¦was told it would be 6-9 months for this processā¦kept telling him it was in process throughout the entire thing. I am so worried about him & this entire thing. He really just needs a job & this process to be finished. 
Been in adjudication since April. At the end of May they requested more info and I got that back to them within two weeks. Havenāt heard anything since.
DOE has scheduled a follow up interview. Has anyone ever had that? Does the time line start again? Will it be another 90 days before he hears anything again? It will be 60 working days on the 12/19/17 from the time he responded to the questionnaire they sent.
A follow-up interview is not that unusual. Somebody up the food chain (possibly the adjudicator, possibly somebody doing a quality check on the complete case file) saw something and has a couple of questions.
Itās frightening. Itās been a long haul. Now here he is, 2.5 years out of college at this point. He had the follow-up. They are saying a couple weeks and he will know if he has to see someone else or what the next step might be. Between the mess up at USOPM and the delays following. He has been waiting so long. My sonās only options after the year and a half with they USOPM delays he hasnāt been able to get another job. They originally told him 6-9 months after he graduated. Saying prayers
What has been stopping his from applying to/working at other jobs? Given that a job offer for a position requiring a security clearance is CONDITIONAL upon receiving a clearance, itās safer to assume not having that job and going forward with the job hunt. Postponing your professional career for a single potential job does not make sense to me. Am I not understanding something obviously here?
As uncle Sam has pointed out, one should not wait for a job based on conditional offer, because, as the name explicitly states, it is entirely conditional. This conditional isnāt even limited to whether the person is capable of getting a clearance. In my case, the paperwork explicitly states, conditional based on clearance eligibility, agency budget, organizational/mission needs, or anything else that might happen in the interim of waiting for full clearance eligibility, which can extend well beyond a year.
Thank you for your input. I wasnāt aware of the āconditional offerā. It never occurred to me. Several people I have spoken with have lost jobs they took while waiting for clearances because you have to state your current employer information, upon contact of the USOPM they get fired for not being āteam playersā. I sincerely appreciate your input. In hind sight he should have taken ācontractā positions to get his feet wet. He was afraid to take contract positions that has specific time constraints for fear he would get the ācallā and not be able to take the job for which he has been waiting.
What you can do at this point is to contact your congressional representatives and ask them to look into your sonās case. I should caution you not to expect too much out of the contact, but at least you will get a response and possibly maybe to grease the wheel a bit. I would advise that your son should take the lead on that as it is better that way coming from the subject/applicant.
I can understand his concerns or dilemma, but in honestyā¦ he should do what he sees fit and be mindful that the conditional job offer is not even a guarantee even with clearance being granted. That is the reality of it.
That is how he found out that USOPM had dropped the ball. We contacted our local rep & they put in a formal inquiry to USOPM. My son was one of 17 people that were dropped from the system without USOPM or DOE being notified. USOPM had used an outside contractor for the investigations of these people & USOPM then fired them for incompetence. Upon notification of said issue (which was brought about by the formal inquiry of the rep) the employer kick started the USOPM investigation. It is now with DOE. He had a follow up interview with them about two weeks ago. They did tell him it will move faster now that it is with them. It was very misleading. He was in constant contact with the employer, they just kept saying it should be any time now. Now, the waiting for the final. I wish we had known then what we know now.
Honestly, itās a little worrying that you, the āconcernedmomā is a little more proactive and worrying of the process than your son is.
I canāt speak for āconcernedmomā, but Iām in a similar situation with a different agency, and if anything changes to the SF86 I already submitted a year and a half ago, that will further delay the process, as the investigators will have to come back out to investigate. This was according to their HR. So if I get laid off from my current job, I canāt even get a new job without delaying the process further. And how would I navigate being honest with a prospective employer? Would I tell them to expect federal investigators to show up? Who would hire me knowing I have accepted a job elsewhere?
It is your choiceā¦
Generally, employers are aware of the risks of the employees leaving and vice versaā¦ it is the reality of it.
Legally, you are not obliged to tell them that they should expect a call from a background investigator; however, it is a courtesy. When should you tell them? It is up to you, really. Ultimately, the job that you accepted is a conditional job offer otherwise you would be working
for the company/agency while waiting for clearance. There is a possibility that you might not even get that job even when clearance is granted. Again, it is your choice.
the issue I have is if Iām not honest and upfront with a current or prospective employer, that could come back to bite me in the future when I use them as a reference on a future SF86 form, or when Iām being reinvestigated. I get that employees shouldnāt be loyal to employers, as employers certainly arenāt loyal to employees.
I just found this blog & started asking questions to try to find some insight to this process. To see what others are experiencing. My son is in contact with all the official people & he contacted the state representative, not once but twice during this process to get answers. He was being told by the employer, ājust be patientā. āItās all fineā āThis is normalā.