Start Date for DOD Contractor?

All,

I recently was told that I was favorably adjudicated and that I was granted full secret last week.

With this said, how long does it usually take a DOD Contractor to give you a start date? I know this could vary wildly depending on the individual contractor, but does anyone have any input? Thanks!

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It depends on the contractor, the project, the need for your skills . . . Too many variables. I would be asking your contact at the company AND I would be looking at other jobs in the area.

Really? Would you expect them to pull the plug on my offer? I checked in with them ~4 months ago and everything seemed to be A-Okay, no idea why they wouldn’t just email me beforehand if it were taking too long.

No . . . I don’t think that they will not have a position for you. Although that does happen. In this business, contracts, funding and needs can shift quickly. They might be in a position where they really don’t need you until December. If that’s the case, they might try to push your start date to November. I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just trying to explain why we can’t answer your question.

You asked how quickly they will bring you in.

The reason that I suggested that you explore the market is that you now have a valuable commodity. A current clearance. This means that another company could start you next week if they have a need.

That’s a good point, I didn’t think about that. The only reason I asked was due to most other people I know personally being hired at this company got their start dates very quickly once they were cleared.

Through perusing this forum however, it seems as though some people can wait months for their start date. The language my FSO used made it seem like it wouldn’t be a while to wait, but I didn’t know that there were other concerns outside of budget as well.