News + Career Advice

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Offer Contingent on Contract Award: Questions Before You Resign

“This position is contingent upon contract award” means the employer has not promised an unconditional start: the specified contract must be awarded to that employer before the stated condition is satisfied. It does not tell you whether the employer has won, whether work is f… more

NSA Clearance Appeals: How an Intelligence Agency Process Differs From DOHA

NSA clearance appeals are not automatically DOHA cases. DoD Directive 5220.6 excludes cases involving Sensitive Compartmented Information or a special access program. If an Intelligence Community element denies or revokes SCI or other controlled-access eligibility, ICPG 704.3 cov… more

Getting a Security Clearance After Being Denied: What a New Sponsor Can Actually Do

Getting a security clearance after being denied is possible only through an organization with a position-based need to sponsor the next action; you cannot file a new clearance application by yourself. In a DoD case, the exact route depends on whether the old result was final, app… more

Garnishments, Late Payments, and Delinquencies: How Patterns Affect Adjudication

Delinquencies can affect a security clearance reinvestigation, but a late payment, a collection account, and a wage garnishment do not carry identical facts. Adjudicators examine the pattern: what happened, how often it happened, why it happened, how you responded, and whether yo… more

Foreign Spouse and Clearance Screening: Relationships, Residences, and Family Ties

A security clearance foreign spouse is not an automatic disqualifier. Marriage changes the information an applicant or cleared employee may need to disclose: the spouse's identity, citizenship and residence, qualifying contacts, family ties, and certain shared foreign interests. … more