Showing results for: certification
SF-86 Section 13A: Reporting Employment Gaps and Unemployment Without Triggering a Flag
Key takeaways Section 13A covers 10 years and instructs that the entire period be accounted for without breaks. The version OPM serves as of July 2026 is the form revised November 2016. The 90-day exemption most applicants half-remember belongs to Section 11, residence. Section… more
What Investigators Actually Ask Your SF-86 References – and How to Prep Them
Section 16 of the SF-86 asks for three people who know you well. What the written-inquiry stage sends them is a two-page form, mailed from a post office box in Boyers, Pennsylvania, with nine numbered items on the back and a return envelope inside. The government estimates it tak… more
CMMC Assessor Jobs: The New Cleared Role, What It Pays, and How to Qualify
On 13 July 2026 the Department of War suspended the CMMC Phase II requirements due to take effect on 10 November 2026. Phase II would have made a third-party certification assessment a condition of contract award, and it was the entire commercial case for the CMMC Certified Asses… more
SF-86 Section 23: Disclosing Past Drug Use (and What Actually Happens If You Do Not)
Section 23 of the SF-86 is not one question with a seven-year window. It is seven questions, four of which turn on the word EVER, capitalised on the form. Most write-ups quote 23.1's seven-year line and stop.Key takeawaysSection 23 (SF-86, Rev. November 2016) holds seven question… more
Getting a Facility Clearance: FCL Sponsorship, the Timeline, and What You Cannot Do Without One
One sentence in 32 CFR 117.9(a)(10) decides whether your company can hire a cleared engineer this year: "A contractor or prospective contractor cannot apply for its own entity eligibility determination." Someone else has to ask, and until they do, no employee of yours may touch c… more