With a Little Help From My Friends

[cheerfulstoic]

No one gets into the Foreign Service by themselves. I couldn't have done it without the moral and material support my family and friends gave me. I couldn't have done it without the time, patience and constructive criticism of my study group. And now at least 20 of my friends, family members, employers and professors are giving up some of their

Comments

[marstheinfomage]

how *does* one get a security clearance? if all it takes is friends...

[cheerfulstoic]

First you need a federal agency keen enough to hire you that they'll think it's worth all the money and manpower it takes to clear you. Then you fill out some paperwork. LOTS of paperwork. Then you get fingerprinted. From there the procedure varies slightly depending on the level of clearance you need and the agency doing it.

There's always a credit check, criminal background check, that kind of thing. They make sure you've paid all your taxes. For mine they will be interviewing many people who have known me in various capacities, to make sure I've lived where I said I've lived and worked where I said I've worked, and haven't ever done or said anything that might make them question my judgment, integrity, or loyalty to the United States, and that I don't have any skeletons in my closet that might leave me vulnerable to blackmail. Then I take a polygraph. Then a review panel decides if I get cleared or not.

[marstheinfomage]

It made sense up until the polygraph - those things are barely more accurate than flipping a coin...