I read a lot here about contractors and how the process allegedly moves more quickly for Feds, so let me offer this to everyone. I am a Fed. A new clearance request (not an update) was submitted in Feb '17 for a higher level clearance, contact with employers started in APR '17, I was interviewed in MAY '17, and the investigation was closed in late JAN '18. More than 5 months have passed and the most the DODCAF will disclose is that it’s still awaiting assignment to an adjudicator.
One colleague got his TS in MAR '18 and said it took 15.5 months, which was supposedly very fast. Another colleague got his TS in about DEC '17, and that apparently took 20 months, which included the CAF requiring the investigator to ask follow-up questions before the CAF granted it about a month after receiving the responses.
I have a tentative offer on the table for another federal position that I think I’m about to lose it because I doubt if they’ll wait more than a few months. I’m deeply troubled by the failure of the CAF to provide any truthful data regarding timelines or make more detailed data available regarding where one sits in the process relative to norms/averages. We, the ones who voluntarily disclose everything about ourselves, should receive some sort of courtesy so that we can make informed decisions about our lives. If the issue is one of resources, then those who run the CAF should say the backlog is x months or years because of a lack of resources.
The process has problems, but the system, to include all of those running it, is materially broken. People are treated so poorly that one has to start asking if it’s worth working for the government. I very much doubt that we’ll ever see this problem fixed until there’s a total collapse, to include companies saying they’ve had enough and Feds simply walking-away. Communication is usually the first step to fixing this type of problem, but DoD has elected to engage in secrecy and subterfuge. It’s sad. Ironically, one has to question the trustworthiness of those who are in-charge of the process to assess the trustworthiness of everyone else.