So true, if I don’t have something written on a list somewhere I am not remembering it. My memory sucks.
I had one father tell me initially the Subject was born just 10 years earlier when the father provided the wrong birth year.
Okay, I’ve had dozens of parents to that very mistake during in person interviews.
how would you know if someone is lying or not or simply not recalling the information? Also if you believe they’re lying what are you able to do with that information?
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As someone who has been doing this job for 19 years, I can confidently say that it wouldn’t matter if the source was being interviewed in person or over the phone. You have to remember that sources have a hard time keeping up with their own lives let alone knowing exact dates and complete details of someone else’s life. This whole “sources must be interviewed in person unless their in the middle of a natural disaster” change is complete b.s. I can see making sure we try to interview someone in person that is in our area, but having to do a 150 mile round trip for a 15 minute interview is complete nonsense and a waste of time. And as investigators continue to leave this industry there will be more and more territory to cover for what small amount of investigators are left, so be prepared to live in your car.
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Since Covid as well as a huge amount of people, still working from their homes in the corporate world over the last year or so, realistically many leads are completely just simply to do better by telephone than trying to arrange an in person meeting. With sources that will easily do a 15 or 20 minute interview instead of trying to arrange an in person meeting especially when there are zero issues or clarifications that do not develop into issues. It’s actually not a bad idea to get rid of a lot of the backlog as well as just being smarter in this day and age. I’m all for this if it helps us with our workload.
Appreciate you feelings and if as spoken it’s time to go.
We don’t do anything. People are allowed to lie, forget, or remember things differently. We just report what they do or don’t say. Someone else adjudicates clearances,
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I was told we HAVE to do DCSA work in person and was then berated over my mileage when I am literally the only investigator in the southern half of the state (small state, but still) because everyone else left. Like what exactly did they think was going to happen when there is not a single other investigator within 75 miles of me in any direction?!?
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I’m in the same boat and I DO NOT get mileage reimbursement. As a contractor I get paid per item, and believe me it’s not that much. For instance, I get scheduled to interview a source that is a 125 mile round trip and between the time it takes driving, paying my own gas, doing the interview, typing the interview, and sending out my case messages, I average about $12 an hour for the item. Fast food workers get paid more!
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As a contractor don’t you get to pick which items you take? Can’t you pick items closer to you?
Not anymore. They assign our work for us now and they give the good work to the full-time employees. My contract agreement states my work is to be assigned within a 50 mile radius and every single assignment I get is at least 65 miles away from my home.
You can write off mileage when you file your taxes though, right?
You record it and file it but trust me it is no where near penny for penny what you spent. It lowers a percentage of your gross income.
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You can write off mileage but it makes no difference when it comes to taxes. I’ve been learning the hard way that being a contractor is not all it’s cracked up to be. All of the training they continuously make us do for DCSA is unpaid. I just had to renew my CAC card, which was a 150 mile round trip, time unpaid and mileage unpaid. You have to pay for all your own supplies and do not get reimbursed for your phone, internet, etc. When all is said and done I average about $15 per hour, which is very depressing considering I have been doing this job for nearly 20 years.
Why not go back to a company then?
Those are all business expenses. Do you have an accountant?
I left CACI because the stress was no longer worth it. It’s a shame because the job itself could be great, but the companies that DCSA uses to do the job are terrible companies.
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If your contract says 50 mile radius why do you accept conditions outside of your contract? Just say no! I think both companies are so desperately in need of experienced investigators at this point , that you do have some negotiating power. Perhaps an incentive amount for items outside 50 miles? If you allow yourself to be taken advantage of they will continue to do so.
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Exactly. I understand all the companies suck, but I certainly make way more than $15/hr and all my expenses are covered.
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@disillusioned which DCSA contractor do you work for? Peraton?
You should always be asking for a premium from a DCSA vendor when you take work. Never work a case that is outside of 30 miles from your home without asking for at least a 35% to 65% premium fee. That way you can recoup mileage and drive time that they don’t pay.
When you work cases outside of your area and at further distance from home, take a batch of cases at a premium and zone out your cases well for a couple of days to get done all of your field work. My days are long in the field but I try to avoid unnecessary trips and maximize profits to locations by staying out a long full day and even interviewing people in the evening hours. Try to always take either a TESI or Subject Interviews when taking cases far from home. Don’t allow the vendors to nickel and dime you on small piece work and records at great distances without giving you a Subject Interview or paying you for mileage and drive time.
You have to run this as a business and make business decisions in your best interests and not in the best interests of the vendor you work for. You follow my advice and I promise that you’ll actually make some money at this gig.
Now as far as unpaid training costs for IC’s, I have no suggestions for you. This has been a sore spot with me for years. Always has bothered me. It’s hard to believe with the millions of dollars of profits these vendors make that they can throw us a bone and pay us $35.00 an hour for training. It’s absolutely ridiculous. What’s even more ridiculous is that the agencies know the IC’s aren’t paying the vendors for required trainings and they do nothing about it.
Good luck out there. Being an IC isn’t easy but it’s ten times better than being owned by one of the vendors and having work shoved down your throat by them ad naseum and being treated like a red headed step child.
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