Hello everyone! I submitted my e-qip back in July for a background investigator position with SCIS and have just heard from a special agent with NBIB to schedule my interview. I am still not sure what level of clearance I will (hopefully) be receiving. I’m trying to prepare the best I can for this interview. Does anyone have any insights into what he may ask? Or information/documents I should bring with me to the interview?
Thanks!
Bring your ID card, your passport (if asked to do so), a list with names and current addresses/numbers for your friends, coworkers, and classmates (if you have been in school the last three years). Be upfront and don’t stall the conversation during the interview - this only extends the interview… If you are given homework, get the information back to your investigator quickly.
Why? All of that is in the SF86. Investigator is just confirming that it is correct and will have already done homework prior to meeting.
Because additional information is requested that is not on the form.
Fair. My point is the form asks for “people who know you well” and bringing it only would help if you need to update the info. The message shouldn’t be to bring your entire file of stuff.
Investigators need way more sources than the 3 people who know you well, 1 supervisor, etc. that you listed on the form. So you could come prepared with a list of leads with full contact info ready to go. Or you could wait till the interview, be assigned homework, spend days trying to contact everyone to collect their info, and then re-contact the investigator. Which is easier and most efficient?
SF86 is just the start of a conversation.
The SF 86 is only the start. Rarely do Subjects, especially those new to the form, fill out the form correctly. And the purpose of the Subject interview is not to confirm the information provided is correct - though in the past we spent too much time “correcting” the Subject’s errors, but to gather information to help with the case completion and give the Subject the chance to tell their side of any issues/stories.
Thanks so much for the info everyone. I will definitely bring additional references and their contact info typed out.
What about on the topic of the actual interview? What sort of things will I likely be asked? I lived in the UK for 1 year while I studied for my masters. I’m sure he’ll have questions about that. I also listed that I smoked pot 2 or 3 times during one week in the summer of 2016, but made it very clear that it is not something I continue to do or ever plan to do again. I do have a long history with marijuana and exstacy use in high school but i didn’t mention it because I was much younger than 18.
I imagine him inquiring about the summer of 2016 and asking if I have any other drug history. Do I simply say no? Or do I say yes but it was during high school as a kid?
Just answer what they want addressed. You’ll be fine.
I don’t think clearance holders should be responsible for fixing a broken process. Seems the inefficiency is in the investigation.
No one is implying that. The investigation itself is about as efficient as it can afford to be, and field work is completed in a very reasonable amount of time (counting business days). The backlog is the culmination of several things.
Clearance holders should be held responsible for their part of the process - completing the security questionnaire completely with accurate information and full-participation with the Subject Interview.
The requesting company/Agency shares responsibility with educating the clearance candidates about the questionnaires and process.
The process is broken at the outset. Form is ambiguous and instructions unclear. Everyone has their own interpretation. If it was all that easy then this forum wouldn’t need to exist
Try writing a form that doesn’t have any ambiguity. The problem isn’t the form as much a what people try to read into it. They aren’t trick questions. The form isn’t designed to trap you into anything. The investigators and the investigation process are NOT the issue. Lack of manpower at the adjudication level and the inability of adjudicators to apply the concept of stare decisis.
I recommend that you should prepare for the background interview as a job interview. With that said, bring relevant documents as mentioned above plus more. Admittedly, I am a thorough person. So, I would recommend you to bring credit report (by law, u r entitled to free credit report on annual basis), court docket summaries (most courts have Public Web dockets), write ups/documents on any derogatory information.
I am very thorough as well. I always have more documents than I end up needing 
I don’t have any court docs or anything so I should be good there. And I did print my credit report as well.