I’m just wondering, based on high turnover, and hiring problems, is there a big investigator shortage? I am continuously getting work assigned further and further away, to the point of having to do 300 mile round trips now.
It could be a shortage or Peraton and CACI are dealing with a bigger workload and don’t have enough investigators yet to deal with it. Both seem to be hiring like crazy.
Foolish mistake when DCSA went to 2 vendors.
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Currently going through clearance with CACI. I wonder how long it will take. I had a valid but inactive clearance, not sure if this will make the process any faster. Last I heard they are processing May/June right now, I got the offer in August.
Unless it was a Tier 5, that last investigation barely helps you,
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I should be good then, or at least a bit faster.
Thank you!
Not sure where you are located, but where I am, I am being assigned interviews where the SF86 was signed in March/April, so in my area at least, it’s slipping into a slight backlog again. For a while, I was getting assignments were the SF86 was signed within the last 30 days. That’s no longer the case here.
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During a team meeting last month our regional field director mentioned a backlog that was getting bigger.
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The backlog is getting larger every day since we went back in-person (for sources) in January. During COVID, there was no backlog since Sources were being interviewed via telephone. The drive time is what is causing the backlog.
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that must only be in certain areas. My org is very current, I was TDY to California this summer and my org still didn’t fall behind. I am a fed so they fill up our work load first.
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I’m in NJ and my backlog is dating back to March 2023 currently. The area definitely matters.
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I think it depends on your area IE whenever you have military bases, large federal contractors, large airport ect if you’re in the middle of no where, you’re area won’t be too busy. Just my thoughts.
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I’m an applicant, but I’ve heard there’s a significant backlog in my area. 
My interviewer (over 4 months ago) was from 500 miles away.
Area always matters. Sometimes areas are not very cooperative, sometimes there just are not enough/any investigators.
In general, very sparse areas and heavy populated areas with high turnover defense contractors tend to be the slowest.
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There is obviously some sort of shortage of investigators specifically credentialed. I’ve seen many cases creeping closer and closer to a new SD. The referral bonuses for hiring of credentialed investigators just jumped to $6000 and non credentialed $3.
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Interested in other’s thoughts on this: Instead of paying $6000 for referral of credentialed BIs (which is just moving people from Company A to Company B and does not increase the overall number of BIs working the field) why not raise the pay of each level?
Attract more newcomers to the industry, reduce overall stress (over time of course) and retain the good people who are in the field. More and more are leaving the industry all together due to a variety of reasons. More boots on the ground means more cases closing and hopefully less stress on the already stretched to the max field.
Just my .02
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It’s an idea and I do hate to be a naysayer but I don’t think it would make much difference. I don’t know the exact statistics but my belief is that a large percentage of us working in the field are retired from some other job and just working this job for the benefits (until medicare kicks in at 65) and/or don’t really need this income to live on just looking for some fun spending money or a 401K boost prepping for the golden 65 plus years. An extra 6 grand a year isn’t going to make much difference to individuals in that category and I do believe those individuals are the ones that do this job best and stick around the longest. It takes decades of “life experiences” to truly understand and interpret many of the life situations Subjects/Sources throw at us. Besides, we got the contract pay increase last year and the stingy corporate bosses are using that rationale for no more raises over and over again.
It feels like just a job to me, companies should try and make it feel more like a career.
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New to this, and just jumped in.
I have been hired by ADC, got my TS clearance, and am only waiting on the NTS/NIT training certification to get my credentials. The problem is that “they” are backlogged for the training and although I’m on the list, I still have a ways to go. I was told by ADC that I can get the training from any other vendor that has space available, as “we all work under the same NTS/NIT umbrella”.
I should also mention that I now have an FSO Certification as well. What can that get me?
I want to work. I’m in SoCal so I know that there is work to be done.
Does anyone have any ideas to get me trained up and on the job (contract only)?
Thanks
I am in California and currently waiting for a training start date.
I believe with the approaching holiday season it could be in the new year.
Having previously worked on the federal side of things I know everything slows down in Nov/Dec, not sure if it affects the training as well.
Does anyone know?
Thank you.