Pursuing Same Job at CIA After Being Denied Clearance From Them

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

I went through the process and received a conditional job offer from the CIA which was recently revoked due to being denied a clearance. I totally botched the poly and told them a ton of things which were outside of the scope of the questions asked. On the poly, one issue related to Guideline E came up (I brought it up before we started the poly) - but although it is weird, it is not illegal and not blackmail material.

The day after my poly I received the update on the denied clearance. I have not received a LOI/SOR yet, so I do not know the specific reasons but I bet it is related to the that issue. I am kind of surprised that the denial was so quick after the poly, but unsure if I should read into that.

If I were to reapply (in a year), is having been denied a clearance from that same agency a total non-starter? Additionally, if I were to reapply and get a conditional offer, how much information will the adjudicator have from my prior background investigation and poly (unsure if they will treat me as a clean/new applicant or if they will review the results of the prior poly).

Is it worth reapplying in a year or I should just consider this path no longer viable? Multiple Agency staff (Office of Security) stated that they have staff who were denied prior for whatever reason, reapplied, and later joined. Unsure if they are blowing smoke though.

2

sorry to hear that. Yes, that is a VERY quick denial.

I don’t know of anyone that was ever denied and then given a job later.
They are kinda a turd agency when it comes to clearances. They denied me for being written up at a job 8 years ago.

With you being rejected so quickly, i’m thinking it was something significant. Up to you if you want to share but i would not hold my breath on that agency. They are “holier than thou” and remember for future reference, the security ppl are not your friends. They absolutely want to fail you.

3

This is definitely the conventional wisdom. I’m sure there are some exceptions to this quasi-rule but I personally do not know of any. I do know of people who got rejected from CIA for security/suitability who did get hired at other IC agencies.