Interview coming up & I know I will be denied; how to cancel

So, I applied for a job and got it several months ago. I didn’t expect to need an interview for a clearance as I’ve had others in the past, but lo and behold, I got called by a special agent to schedule an in person interview for my public trust clearance.

Over the last year, I’ve taken on significant debt, tried gambling to get out of it, and ended up taking on tons of personal loans to keep myself afloat, which is why I took on this 2nd job. I’ve missed several payments due to the government shutdown, and at this point I don’t see any way in hell I get this clearance, even if I am honest.

My question in, what should I do? I’ve got a few interviews lined up, should I reschedule a few times, try to get a few extra days time billed and then quit? The job isn’t super critical, I am just wondering if I can get in trouble by going and being honest, or if I am just better off saying I found a better opportunity and don’t need the clearance.

Thoughts?

Also, after the interview, how long will the decision take? I’ve got a few weeks left on the contract, can I go-to the interview and survive until the contracts over?

You should be able to contact your POC and ask to withdrawl, or i think you tell the investgator at the meeting.

Any chance I get the clearance? Or an I done for?

My question is, if I go in and am completely honest about loans, gambling etc, how long will it take for a decision? I can be 100% honest and still finish my contract while they decide, or will it be quick?

I think you can count on it taking months. Nothing happens quickly. It will end up going into the slow lane at adjudication time and be a very slow process just to get a denial.

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I dont know, id say its a low chance of getting it espcially as these seem to be pretty recent. Someone else may have different opinions.

I dunno how long it takws, could be weeks, could be months.

So basically, I have 2 options.

  1. Let the agent know I am withdrawing my application, and put in my notice on the contract.
  2. Goto the interview, tell them everything about gambling, debt, etc, and lose my clearance eventually (weeks? months?)

My big hesitation going to the interview is that I will somehow get in trouble from it. There were some questions I technically told the truth but could go either way, and I am worried if I am 100% honest in the meeting, I will get in trouble. Are these concerns valid?

Another concern is that if I goto the interview and am denied a clearance, I will have to disclose that in the future, and also if I use this job on my resume, explain to future employers I was let go because I was unable to get a clearance, which may raise some red flags. If I voluntarily quit, I can just say I had some other leads or was sick of dealing with government shutdowns.

Public Trust is not clearance. I suggest you to research more about public trust. There are some information on this forum and on the internet. As for this topic, it has been discussed a lot here. So, look up and you might find answer(s) that you seek.

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I admit that I don’t know as much about Public Trusts as I do about clearance. But, my advice would be to go into the interview and be completely honest. It will take a few months to get to a denial and then, I believe, you can appeal that if you are still working.

In the meantime, get your $hit together and start taking care of your issues. If you are lucky, you might be able to get things together before your appeal and actually gain your Public Trust at that time.

You have answer most of your own questions. You’re going for an interview because you, “technically told the truth but could go either way” on your application. This is where you got their attention and they have decided that you need to be looked at closer.

Now . . . On the whole, I hesitated before answering this because you appear to be trying to “game the system” and just drag out a contract before you are denied for a Public Trust that you don’t seem to really want and don’t seem to really deserve.

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I appreciate the response.

I don’t want to “game the system”, I just want to determine if there is a chance I will get cleared, and if not, will I at least be able to finish the contract before I get denied. If not, there is no point in me going through an embarrassing meeting.

and I agree, I need to get it together. The reason I took this 2nd job that requires cleared was to devote 100% of the additional funds to pay off these debts. I had everything scheduled out and the government shutdown hit, and I missed payments on several loans. Now that I am back working, I have no plans to gamble ever again, I don’t enjoy it, it was a way to try and keep myself above water, but as it does, made things worse.

I plan on going, being completely honest, telling them my plan going forward and letting the process take care of itself, I’m just very nervous about the prospect of having to explain things even my wife doesn’t know to a special agent. I recently started therapy for my financial issues, and am working on my poor choices, but this interview comes at the absolute worst time financially in my life, so I am terrified.

Don’t worry, it will not help matters. A PT will take at least a year to complete and you will have time to pay off the debts by then. Get into payment arrangements and start paying off the little ones first. There mere fact that you took a second job to pay off these debts is looked favorably.

I doubt it will take a year now that the poster is working. Additionally, there were Inspector General investigations into this, which prompt agencies to move quicker with those who are working but waiting for “adjudication”. Point being, it CERTAINLY will not take at least a year… maybe weeks or months.

It would’ve been different if the poster was in position (working).

Anyway, I agree that having second job does mitigate the issue big time. However, I am not sure the reporting requirement for public trust position. With a security clearance position, this would be reportable, especially if there is a delinquent debt. Failure to report this will be frown upon.

We are doing all of our PR’s at Treasury and they are taking from 12 to 18 months.

Moderate Risk Public Trust (Tier 2) initial and PR investigations submitted in September or later are taking an average of 4 months to close, this is because they do not require an interview unless there is a flag or issue to resolve. Ones submitted before that got caught in the cycle and are slowly getting closed after a year or more. High Risk Public Trust (Tier 4) are taking up to a year.

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Best advice when in a hole…stop digging. Rescheduling interviews will only buy a few days. Nowhere near enough to make a large change in your finances. Gambling is a concern. Financial indebtedness is a concern. “technically telling the truth” is a concern. If I had to guess you implied one thing, and the records check said quite another. If you are currently working and your credit score is not entirely wrecked…and you are a member of a credit union, you could attempt to get a consolidation loan, wipe out the many debts for one loan, and stay on track. Reduce your lifestyle to work, sleep eat and pay. Showing numerous on time payments even if you fell behind is a good sign…but the gambling effort to beat the house in an effort to pay off bills is not recommended.

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