Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I agree with Brian’s answer - check the posting carefully and be clear about your clearance or lack of clearance when you apply. Many companies will bring you on and help you get the needed clearance if you have right skills, attitude and proven results. Good luck.

Chris McFarland ⋅ Toms River, NJ Veteran Engineering ⋅ 30 years experience

If you go for a job that requires a clearance, and you don't have the clearance, they may hire you and you'll wind up doing the most odd tasks while you wait for your clearance to make its way to you.
Also, Raytheon is now owned by UTC, and I used to work for UTC, in a cleared job, and the jobs will certainly be odd while you wait. You'll wonder why you were given this task or that task, and after you get the clearance, you'll instantly understand why they had you checking this thing or that thing while you waited.
I think the guy who was chairman of UTC back then retired with about 18mil severance, and he wasn't even a US Citizen and couldn't ever even hope to be cleared for some programs, so, hey, don't let citizenship or clearance hold you back, no way, go for it.
So rest assured, your clearance will go thru just fine, heck, you may even qualify to become President or CEO, you know! Exciting! You'll do great!

Brian Reed ⋅ Elgin, OK Raytheon Technologies ⋅ 4 years experience

Brandon,

Look at the requirements for the job posting. Some say "able to obtain a *** clearance" and some say "have a *** clearance".

Eric Kaltenberger ⋅ Ault, CO Microsoft ⋅ 22 years experience

Brandon: Completely agree with what has been stated here - your current security clearance and military service should be a big asset where you are located. If you have a resonable level of skill related to the target position, then by all means apply for it and state that you are willing to go through the higher-level investigation. It is a generally easier to get someone through to TS/SCI who already has a lower clearance than it is to start from a scratch screening. Many companies are willing to overlook skills gaps in the meantime, those can be learned (especially if you can demonstrate a history of learning new things).

Brandon Mansur ⋅ Arlington, VA U.S. Army Reserve, Captain ⋅ 9 years served

Thank you everyone for your responses.