Did I hurt my career

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

by applying for a position that required a TS clearance? Currently, I hold a Secret. In December of 2017, I graduated college. I spent most of 2018 and 2019 applying for jobs, specifically for three letter agencies and the IC. While I was contracted at a company, I came across an NBIB investigator and I had expressed interest in investigations and what she does. She had me apply for the position and I was put in for a TS clearance. Eventually, I would receive a letter from OPM, stating that they would prohibit me from utilizing their facilities, due to answers on my SF-86 (I answered everything as truthful as possible to the best of my knowledge, and even if some dates were off, I still included them in there with my best estimate). I wanted to make sure that I answered everything as truthfully as possible (to what I could remember), so that nothing would come up and bite me in the behind when I am in investigations for my dream career.
Fast forward to now, I’m stuck on a tentative job offer with the federal government, because my investigation that closed in early 2019 is still being adjudicated, and the billet I am applying for is only for a Secret; my current position requires that I hold a Secret as well…

Background information;

Had a rough time in college and had too much to handle at the time.
Mental health issues exist, however, I have been seeing a psychiatrist regularly, and she has even cleared/recommended me for duty for three letter agencies. I’ve been completely truthful with that specialist about my progress. CAF did follow up with an eval.
I smoked weed like once or twice in my life, probably before high school, and decided it was dumb.
I had issues with abusing alcohol before, but have since then mitigated by extremely reducing consumption to 1-2 drinks per week, if even that, starting over 3 years ago.
I used a non-prescribed drug once in my life time, and have never touched any illegal substances since then, over 3 years ago.
I have one traffic infraction to my name.
Foreign travel in past 7 years listed; 1 for vacation, and 1 to fulfill my “international studies” requirement for my major.
Credit score was bad before, 630 around 3 years ago, now floating between 690-710 as I got a handle on making responsible financial decisions.
tl;dr- wasn’t doing so hot 3-4 years ago, did an about-face and took the proper steps needed to turn my life around for the career path that I want.

Would appreciate any input, advice, and what to expect; did I wound my career, am I wounding myself with the worrying of the situation, do I need to start seeking a career outside of the cleared community?

2

I’m honestly not seeing a lot here that would stand out for a denial from OPM so I’m not sure what advice to give. I suppose the amount of time since you had these activities came into play maybe. (Aka they were relatively recent issues?)

The alcohol abuse is probably the most concerning issue that you listed here. Especially saying that you still drink, even if you’ve reduced it.

The travel isn’t an issue.

The psych issues may be at play here… I don’t want to overstep as far as asking diagnoses, but it is a factor in terms of suitability. Did you mark yes to the question asking if you’d been diagnosed with any of the listed mental illnesses on the case papers?

I wouldn’t think you’ve blown your whole career but I think maybe finding jobs that provide career building skills that allow you to move further away from those issues in your past will help.

An issue from two years ago looks a lot different on the case papers than an issue from 10 years ago.

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Thank you, I appreciate your input.

4

Nobody on this forum can give you a solid answer, as every case is unique.

Your best course of action is to apply, wait, and see what happens.

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5

Your TS investigation and OPM denial were for an investigator position? If so, you were found unsuitable for an THAT position only. It doesn’t have anything to do with your clearance OR with your suitability for other positions.

I think that I can see where your issues might keep you out of investigations but some of the investigators here might have more to say about that.

I don’t know why they would be sitting and waiting on adjudication from the investigation that closed in January 2019. But, I can tell you that we have seen a number of posts here about employees losing their Secret clearance over things discovered during a TS investigation.

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Is “discovered” in a different context than “disclosed?”

Its now a little worrisome that I may lose my T-3 because of this…
Nevertheless, I appreciate your input and your honesty, Sir.

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No . . . Either discovered OR disclosed information can be an issue. But, you should prefer that it is “disclosed”.

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8

Roger that.
Thank you, Mr. Farmer.

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