One of the most common questions about the hiring process I get, especially for folks that have passed the Oral Assessment, pertains to the security clearance process.
Unfortunately, it remains somewhat of an enigma.
In order to be hired for the State Department, just about everyone, Medical Providers included, need to be able to obtain a Top Secret Security Clearance.
After you pass your Oral Assessment, usually around the same time you get your Medical Clearance Paperwork, someone from HR will send you your link to start the security clearance process and fill out your e-QIP. The e-QIP is the electronically submitted version of a national security questionnaire (SF-86) just about every government agency uses for granting security clearances. You can take a peak at one here. This bad boy is over 120 pages of in depth questions asking you just about everything you can think of about yourself. Where have you lived? Where have you worked? Who have you been married to? Where have you travelled and on what specific dates? Have any foreign friends? Have any foreign assets? Trouble with drugs or alcohol? Any debt issues? Any criminal record? Who are your family members and where do they live? Can you give us some people we can call that have known you and knew you when you lived at so and so address? What about contacts at your previous jobs?
All of these things and more will be asked of you, and you have to be incredibly detailed, going back at least 7 years. It takes several hours to complete in one sitting, but most do it over the course of a few days.
Sometime after you submit this information (in my case a month), you’ll get a call from an investigator working with the State Department for an interview. There they basically go over what you said in your SF-86, and confirm what you put there lines up with what they ask you. They will also verify your travel history and make sure you didn’t omit anything (like a fun vacation in North Korea).
After that, it’s anyone’s guess how long it will take before you clearance is approved. Many of your contacts and former/current bosses will be contacted, with the largest variable seeming to be how quick it is to get ahold of them, and how efficient your investigator is.
The absolute fastest clearance I have ever hear is 3 months, with most taking 5-6 months, and some taking years. Mine was about 7 months from the time I submitted the SF-86 to when I learned I had gotten cleared.
Certain factors that can make a clearance take longer are living overseas, lots of foreign travel, lots of foreign contacts, trouble with previous employers, debt, and history of substance abuse. The specific countries you have travelled to can also be an important factor. A trip to Cuba will be investigated more thoroughly than a cruise to the Bahamas.
Basically, presume it will take at least 6 months to be cleared, but don’t be surprised if it happens faster….or slower. Clear as mud?
–Nick
