I was contacted today by a previous client. Theyre trying to find someone who can fill as position in Arlington, VA. From the sounds of it, they need to find the right person right away.
Heres the description she sent me.
I am looking for a ColdFuson developer with an active secret clearance to fill a full time employee position with full benefits available. The employee will be working on a long term government contract that has already been won and awarded. The position is at government site in Arlington VA and is accessible by Metro. The developer will be responsible for converting legacy systems to ColdFusion. The position requires analytical skills and the developer must be database oriented, not user interface oriented.
By Database Oriented, I presume she means that the developer will be working on the model, data and service portions of an application, not the presentation tier. I dont know that for a fact, but it seems logical.
Send resumes to me at doug@doughughes.net. Ill forward them on to her for you and she will contact you back at her own discretion.
Just a note: Im not involved with this position at all. Im not making the hiring decisions and Im not going to filter the resumes I send on to her. If you dont hear back from her, please dont email me about it. Its not that Im trying to be rude, but I wont reply back to you.
UPDATE: This position has been filled.
DougHughes.net 
Comments on: "Got an Active Secret Security Clearance? Want to Work In Arlington?" (7)
Might want to include what type of clearance they’re looking for… IE: Secret, TS, or TS/SCI etc.
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Doug,
Something you might want to discuss on your blog that I have long wondered…how does a normal rank and file citizen programmer GET a clearance?
It seems like there are lots of contract & perm openings for people who already have a clearance. However, they always demand you have one. But no one seems to want to hire you and help you get one. Kind of a catch-22. Only those few lucky enough to be on a project with a vendor who has both clearance & non clearance requirements will hire you and maybe help you get it.
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Jared – It actually says that they need a Secret clearance. I italicized it to draw focus to it.
Ryan – First off, I dont have one so Im no expert. However, youre right, you have to find a company who doesnt mind sponsoring you. The process (so Im told) takes many months and costs quite a lot of money. So you just have to get lucky. Maybe you start as a normal employee for a company that does work that requires clearance. If you seem like a strong employee then maybe theyll decide to sponsor you.
I think its that catch-22 that helps cleared employees to make so much money. Supply and demand.
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Ryan,
If you want to get a clearance the easiest and fastest way is to usually join a consulting firm that is placing people on cleared positions. Secret clearances are actually pretty quick and easy to get. You might be surprised at how many clearances there are out there. Most consulting companies of any size (even smaller ones like Aboutweb) in the D.C. area will be able to get you a Secret clearance in short time. Often vendors like consulting companies can process your clearance and get you working that government agencies which might seem odd since everyone has to go through the same various agencies that hold or grant the clearances.
It starts becoming a total pain when you get above Top Secret and then you can expect clearances, even expedited, to take longer than 12 months. I had one clearance take me 14 months and that was expedited. Also clearances stay active for various amounts of time then they have to be renewed or they become inactive. Lower level clearances like Secret clearances can stay active for like 5 or 10 years (I forget) while some clearances are constantly reviewed even on a yearly basis.
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test
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For those interested in security clearance obtaining, the following information may be of some value. There has been developed a psychological type ‘test’ that very accurately predicts success/failure to be eventually granted high-level security clearance status for persons who are being (or plan to be) processed/adjudicated by the federal government regarding potential granting of such status. The Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ)was developed by a very senior psychologist while he was the Chief Research Psychologist in the USA’s then largest intelligence agency. Information regarding the PSSPQ and how to make arrangements to ‘take’ it can be found at:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html
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I did apply for a job at Northrop Grumman, I met all the requirements they want except an active TS/SCI clearance.
I never had an security clearance before, how and where I can get these kind of clearace? Anyone knows about it?
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