I wanted to get some advice from folks familiar with the clearance process and government job offers.
Right after graduating college last year, I received a Conditional Job Offer from a three-letter intelligence agency. The offer was for $55k/year, but it required me to go through the TS/SCI clearance process with polygraph. I accepted and have been in the clearance process for about a year.
Just last month, I was notified that I entered adjudication—so it’s clearly moving forward. However, I recently got a new offer from a private company (defense contractor) paying $80k/year, and they are willing to sponsor me for a Secret clearance only, not TS/SCI.
Now I’m getting cold feet. It feels wrong to walk away from the agency after they’ve invested a whole year into my clearance, but the financial jump is significant. I’m wrestling with this choice, and I’d appreciate your insight on a couple things:
What are the potential repercussions of voluntarily withdrawing from the clearance process at this stage? Would it affect me down the line if I ever want to reapply to the IC or elsewhere requiring TS/SCI?
Can I use my current clearance status (in adjudication for TS/SCI + poly) as a bargaining chip when negotiating salary or positioning myself with the private company?
Any advice, experiences, or thoughts would be really appreciated. Thanks for reading!
“It feels wrong to walk away from the agency after they’ve invested a whole year into my clearance, but the financial jump is significant. I’m wrestling with this choice…”
Ultimately, you’ll have to weigh what’s going to be most important to you, pay, benefits, perks, etc. Everyone’s going to have different life experiences that will influence what they’d do.
“What are the potential repercussions…”
Likely none.
“Would it affect me down the line if I…”
Very doubtful.
“Can I use my current clearance status (in adjudication for TS/SCI + poly) as a bargaining chip…”
It won’t hurt to ask.
You’re young, plenty of time in front of you, prioritize what’s important to you and weigh others’ experience and insight but don’t let it ‘completely direct’ your decisions, as we all live different lives. Nothing wrong with having two offers to choose from.
I dont think most agencies will care if you back out. I only pause for the VA one, as I have heard they take it personally, but thats just hearsay. But I have heard it from more than a couple officers since joining. So it might impact your chances from that one agency, if thats the one you would be turning down.
Hmmm…Are you working either job already? Based on your original post it looks like you have not started the Federal job yet.
Entering the adjudication process does not necessarily mean you have the clearance yet. If you are working before the process was completed you may have been granted an interim clearance.
With the defense contractor sponsoring you for secret that means you will fill out the SF-85P now instead of the SF-86 you already completed, which means an entirely new and different investigation.
If it were me, I would take the new offer from the defense contractor. I would ask them if you can start working immediately or have to wait until their clearance is completed. Besides the mass elimination of Federal positions going on currently, if you have not started already, you just do not know when you might start. With it already being a year gone by one would hope it would not be much longer, but I know people who waited over a year to get started.
That said, what potentially could happen is you take the private gig, start that job, and after you start the private gig, the federal job comes through. To me it would be better to have a job already and then decide if I want to switch, instead of waiting on a Federal job that may or may not materialize.
Whoever is telling you to back away from the TS/SCI doesn’t understand the market. Get that fully adjudicated, then job hunt. There are so many unfilled job reqs that require FSP that will pay a complete idiot with no job experience $120k min in the DC area. Just target the boutique contractors and not the big names.
IC agencies are more than willing to walk away from you; many hire several people for the same position, then give the final job offer to the first one who clears.