News + Career Advice
Stay current on security-cleared job search tips, trends, and news.
GS-13 vs. Contractor: What the Same Cleared Job Pays on Each Side
GS-13 step 1 pays $121,785 a year in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington locality and $106,437 across the Rest of U.S. Same grade, same step, same position description. The $15,348 between them is settled entirely by a zip code, and no negotiation touches it. Key takeaways Four … more
The Internet Applicant Rule: Why Where You Post a Cleared Job Changes Who Counts as an Applicant
The only definition of a job applicant OFCCP ever wrote into 41 CFR chapter 60 sits in the one part it has proposed to delete. Internet Applicant has been codified at 41 CFR 60-1.3 since 6 February 2006, and its sole authority, Executive Order 11246, was revoked on 21 January 202… more
Section 503: The Disability Hiring Obligation Nobody Reads Until the Audit
Key takeaways Section 503 reaches federal contracts over $20,000, the inflation-adjusted figure at FAR 22.1402(a), not the $10,000 still printed in the statute and the CFR. The written program, the CC-305 invitation, the 7 percent analysis and the applicant-data counts all sit … more
Contingent Offers on an Unawarded Contract: Building a Cleared Bench Without Overpromising
One sentence in the NISPOM disposes of this headline. "Requests for determinations of eligibility for access to classified information will not be used to establish a cache of cleared employees." That is 32 CFR 117.10(a)(5), CFR edition revised as of July 1, 2025. You cannot spon… more
Why a Cleared Req Sits Open for 90 Days – and What That Costs You Per Day
DCSA's published price for a Tier 5 background investigation in fiscal 2026 is $5,890 on the non-DoD schedule, $6,240 on the DoD one that bundles adjudication. Your company will never see either invoice; it goes to the agency that ordered the investigation. What lands on your boo… more