In my youth and young adulthood, I was on a bad path. I hung out with the wrong group and got into trouble for theft. I think the charge was aggravated burglary but as it was close to 30 years ago when I was maybe 15 I do not remember. I went to court, had to pay off the property stolen and eventually had my record expunged. IN my college days I was an excessive party-er and got multiple DUIs (2 DUI and 2 reckless ops). I finally grew up, got my head on straight, and got away from that life style. I have been a federal employee for just over 18 years in a non-clearance job (just the standard HSPD-12). But then, a few years ago, I got totaly blindsided with a divorce and had some issues coping with it and went out got another DUI. I had to do 5 days and 1 year probation. Before I went to court I sent myself to a counselor and alcohol classes (the judge later ordered that I continue the class program). The counselor wrote a letter to my employer stating that I did not have an alcohol abuse issue and that it was an isolated issue.
I am in the running for a job that I just noticed is non-sensitive critical and I assume that I will have to go through the clearance process. Am I correct in assuming that that the issues with my youth and the more recent issue will prevent me from getting cleared? I know and my friends and family know that it’s not an issue, but then agency doing the investigation only sees what is on paper and even I admit, that it doesn’t look that good.
As for youth, That stuff has been mitigated with time but if any question asks of it (while in scope) put it down. Explaining that it has been over 30 years ago should be good enough to mitigate it. DUIs I am not going to say you are good to get cleared but there will be some extra leg work I believe. It sounds like you made good choices to fix the mistakes and you have proper paperwork explaining it was an isolated incident. Depends on the agency standards for the mitigation. It doesn’t hurt to try and go for it. If you don’t have a shot HR won’t even put you through the hellish wait. But I’d say that you have a chance for sure and you can go for it. Just be ready to explain.
No financial issues from a divorce or anything, correct?That is worse than the DUI from what I’ve been understanding on this site (anyone, correct me here if I am wrong). Wish you the best!
No financial issues from the divorce or anything else. Good-Excellent credit rating, no bankruptcies, foreclosures or even any late payments that I can recall.
Is your past going to haunt you? Absolutely. You will have to explain your mistakes in the clearance world. Will this prevent you from getting a job? Not necessarily, each case is different and you will have an opportunity to explain yourself.
Ill also add its stressful to think that someone is purposefully out there to find dirt on you. At least that’s what it feels like to me and I was 100% honest. So agreed that the past always comes back to haunt.
That is the biggest concern over all. Can’t stress enough, BE HONEST.
Agreed. I wasn’t trying to be rude either, i’ve just had to thoroughly explain all my mistakes multiple times, throughout multiple investigative processes. It is unfortunate, but in this sector we have to explain our mistakes. Often enough, we can just explain how we have learned from it, and what we will do in the future to prevent it from happening again.
You may not ever have the opportunity to explain yourself, with respect to incorrect, but derogatory information “developed” during the BI!
I was never given an opportunity to explain or defend myself against inaccurate allegations made by “developed informants” during my BI process!
I had perfect credit and no police record at the time of my BI. Still, I was cavalierly denied IC employment!