A few weeks later and still no news. When I passed my Oral Assessment in May of this year, the folks at the State Department that did my exit interview said they would be surprised if I had my security clearance by the end of the year, so this is expected. It doesn’t make waiting any easier though. I know of one individual that passed the OA the same time as me and is now on the register, but it sounds like their security background was as vanilla as it gets (no foreign contacts and limited travel).

It is sort of funny considering the need and ongoing openings they have for providers, but the government grinds at its own pace. Some rumblings within the State Department have called for increased and faster hiring, but I would imagine implementing that is going to take a few years unto itself, and by then it’s very possible a new administration takes over and changes course.

One interesting thing to note, is for the second month in a row I got an email on the 1st of the month letting me know where I am in the process, and what is left pending. This must be something new, and my guess is it tempers some of the emails the department gets about status.

I’ll keep trying to chime in monthly with a status update. It isn’t exciting, but I guess years from now, whether I get the job or not, it will be useful for potential candidates to see just how long it can take to make it through all of the hurdles. In a perfect world, I get on the register by the end of the year or early next year, and find myself in an orientation next summer. Here’s hoping.

On a final note, the site has started to get a bit more traffic and a few of you have reached out to me. Please feel free to comment or use the link to send me a question. If I get enough I’ll do a Q&A. Hope everyone is staying safe out there. –Nick