News + Career Advice
Stay current on security-cleared job search tips, trends, and news.
FOCI and the SF-328: What Foreign Ownership Does to Your Ability to Hire Cleared Staff
One sentence on the Standard Form 328 tells a defense contractor where it stands: your entity's eligibility determination, "e.g., a facility security clearance," cannot be decided if you do not complete and update the form. Nine questions sit above that line in the February 2026 … more
Intelligence Analyst Salary: What Cleared Analysts Earn at Agencies vs. Contractors
The position classification standard that tells the federal government how to grade an intelligence analyst job was issued in June 1960. Designated TS-28, it is still the published standard in July 2026, defining the GS-0132 Intelligence Series as work in "the collection, analysi… more
Where to Post Cleared Jobs: What Actually Reaches a Clearance Holder
Read 32 CFR 117.9(a)(9) before you write your next cleared job ad. A contractor, it says, "will not use its favorable entity eligibility determination for advertising or promotional purposes." Your facility clearance is not a credential you are permitted to market. The same provi… more
What a Cleared Hire Really Costs: Time-to-Fill, Agency Fees, and the Job-Board Math
In the third quarter of FY2025, a Top Secret background investigation took an average of 163 days. Three quarters later it took 57. That figure comes from the Security, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council's Trusted Workforce 2.0 report for FY2026 Q2.… more
How to Sponsor an Employee for a Clearance: What Your FSO Actually Submits to DCSA
A Secret-level case closed in 109 days end to end in the fourth quarter of FY2025, against a government target of 40. Top Secret ran 220 days against 75. If you are holding an unfilled cleared seat and an uncleared candidate, that gap is not something you can paperwork your way o… more