I have a client who has a need for a technical person with Top Secret Security Clearance. As for the technical, I have plenty of candidates I can share with my client, however, most of my candidates do not have clearance. I accepted the challenge and I did all the standard steps to find this candidate - advertised, engaged with clearance specific groups and job boards (cost my company a pretty penny), reached out to my current candidate base, searched the web and social sites, and nothing. Months of searching, networking, job fairs, and nothing. I am at a loss. Why are clearance candidates so hard to reach? Even those that have their resumes posted on cleared job sites don't return calls or emails. My client is not happy, nor am I; I will probably lose this client. I feel horrible I was unable to produce quality candidates for consideration. Can anyone help me shed some light on this?
Answers
May I suggest you look at professional organizations such as the Reserve officers association or similar for senior noncommissioned officers. TS clearances are few and far between for example in my brigade there were only the commander and deputy. TS clearances also only last for five years and then can only be renewed based on the needs of the position. You may have to widen your search to those who have had a TS clearance and then have them reapply for the clearance as a part of the job application. That process also takes months so be prepared. Would the company take a candidate with the technical background and help them get their clearance?
I do use other sites including all that you mentioned. I just don't put as much effort into making sure my resume is posted on them. My resume might be different on those sites though. So, you may want to revise your search method.
The reason: This career field encourages lowering your online profile. I would search myself often to see what I could find about myself, and I often omitted a lot of information from my resume when posting on a more public facing site. Many of my friends have nothing but a login and the most generic profile possible on LinkedIn. Prior to a few months ago that is how my profile was also.
Depending on circumstance some of the things I will almost always have on a public facing resume post:
Service but not necessarily the agency
Security clearance level
Military/contract job title
And the experience description may be much more generalized.
I may be wrong depending on what exactly you are looking for, but LinkedIn may not directly produce very much for you. A healthy network within LinkedIn could reap some rewards. Those with minimized profiles will likely search for postings on LinkedIn but not want any sort of connections. If you add your contact information in the job posting you may just increase your response rate. Or, I (personally) would likely feel safer if directed to the same job posting on Clearancejobs.com from any public facing posts.
I have had a TS/SCI clearance for my whole career. Clearancejobs.com is a go-to when I am looking for a job. Some areas will have a lot more candidates available like Virginia, Hawaii...etc. In some areas you may need to have a better lure. To start with, a TS/SCI is not terribly rare, but when coupled with a specific skillset it may become rare. I am a Chinese Linguist, in Hawaii this is not a rare combination. Here in Texas it is much more sought after if a contract exists with this requirement.
I get a lot of clearance-job solicitations that I know are not a good match based on the job description that I end up ignoring. Many recruiters have seen one item on my resume then assume I might be perfect for the job, but having worked with people that fill the said role (or similar) in the job description I know I am not a fit for the job. As a job seeker, job openings seem to be feast or famine. I think it would be logical if things were relatively the same for someone searching for talent too.
I know this doesn't solve your problem, but maybe it can help you redirect your efforts. You may have to put more effort into finding the passive job seekers. People are also getting out of the military every day and maybe their resume is deceptively incomplete. Luck may also play a large role if you search at a time, in the right area, at the end of a contract too. They are out there!
Hi Justin, Thank you so much for all your insight. Yes, filing this role will require good ole headhunting skills. Besides clearancejobs.com do you ever use CareerBuilder, Monster or LinkedIn? I have joined a few groups on LinkedIn but I think I am going to have to dig deeper.
I do understand your point about getting job solicitations from recruiters for a position you are not a match for. Unfortunately some recruiters are under the gun to get the submittals that they don't take the time to thoroughly research and understand the job, so they reach out to anyone who has the keywords on their resume that they are looking for. This is why I train my team to do the research, I want to submit quality and I am not worry about a high submittal rate.
Thank you again for your insight.
Thank you Paul your observation is absolutely correct. That is another challenge I am facing, finding a candidate with clearance on their resume but when I talk to them the clearance has expired. Unfortunately, this client is not willing to take candidates who are not currently active because of the nature of the job, the urgency of the assignment, and the clearance level.
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