NSA no investigator reaches out

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hello,

I received a CJO from the NSA and had my questionnaire approved about three months ago. Now, no investigator has ever reached out to me nor my contacts. Is this normal? Is the average timeline of 9-12 months, per the recruiter said, true? This is a crazily long process and waiting in the void is leaving me in a bad financial situation.

Can anyone please enlighten me on the current hiring situation with the NSA? Are they on a hiring freeze, and does that affect me? Are they so backlogged? Are NSA investigators now reaching out to you?

Thank you for your replies.

2

Yes, that is normal. If they finish in less than a year, consider yourself lucky.

3

I do not know specifically what NSA’s waiting time is, but no one should be waiting around, unemployed, for their background to be completed. Most people are told not to quit their current jobs or not to count on the potential income until the background is completed and a start date is established. 3 months isn’t that long in the background industry.

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4

Is this normal?

Yes

Is the average timeline of 9-12 months, per the recruiter said, true?

Yes

Can anyone please enlighten me on the current hiring situation with the NSA?

Nobody knows

Are they on a hiring freeze, and does that affect me?

I will say, I have seen way less available jobs on their site in recent weeks

Are they so backlogged?

More than likely

Are NSA investigators now reaching out to you?

Yes, my CJO was at the beginning of January, and I heard from the investigator at the end of April.

5

That 9-12 months figure is for the fastest 90% of applicants. You could very well become part of the slowest 10% of applicants.

6

Welp better start job hunting again.

7

Yep, and don’t quit your next job until you have been indoctrinated, EOD (or at least are within 2 weeks of the start date).

8

Government positions, especially cleared positions, are historically long processes. I am also waiting for the NSA right now. If you aren’t working and need to then I would highly recommend getting another job to have income until the position goes through. There could be bumps in the road during the process that pushes your timeline further than 12 months.

9

How long have you been waiting already?

10

It has only been about a month since I received my CJO. However, I have had a clearance for awhile. The first time I did my clearance for the DoD it took about 6 months. This was before the OPM hack and the delays that caused that we still seem to be suffering from. My first poly (CT only) took about a month to adjudicate after it was completed.

11

NSA has been on a hiring spree as of late. If Are you saying you haven’t even been given a security interview yet?

3 months isn’t that long. If you haven’t been even given a security interview yet, you have a LONG way to go. Atleast a year. You gotta find something to hold you over.

12

What is going on? How can you be so sure that it will take up to a year? And yes, I haven’t been given a security interview yet.

13

He’s saying that’s how long it typically takes. If it goes faster for someone, then bully for them. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

14

I am not sure if you were replying to me or not, but the estimates from recruiters say 6-12 months. There are also past timelines for people and an average timeline for a clearance to be processed.

Here is the thing though, everyone has different life experiences and different factors that can lead to longer wait times. I saw someone wait almost 3 years for their clearance because they changed an answer from their SF-86 and had to go through the process. Most people are sure it could take up to a year because that is average, but it could be less if the stars align for you.