Reply to: DV clearance benefits?

[stek]

I find it funny someone has mentioned a 5 hour non-stop interview that wasn't that bad. Just the length alone is bad enough! However if you've nothing to hide and are used to being open and honest it might not be so bad I suppose.

TBH I don't remember much of an interview, more mates telling me they'd met some blokes who'd interviewed them about me, ironically in the local boozer, though to be fair me and clientco were located in a bit of a one-horse-town - either there or public bogs...

This was mid-90's though and I'm sure it was PV (Positive Vetting) then not DV - did it change terms or are they different animals? I was young then, never paid much attention.

I certainly got access to stuff previously denied, ie PC's locked in massive steel-lined cupboards running NT and Digital PowerStation. If I ever saw any raw data it mean nowt to me.

One part of clientco's site was super-secret, ie no windows or glass at all, and I had to work on this one box, had a PROM password on it. I asked what it was, and at least five blokes shouted it out, and it was so obvious I should have guessed. Same as what the plant made did, and four letters long...

I think that's vague enough to keep me out of trouble otherwise, Spasibo Tvarishu Stalinu.....

[SuperZ]

I find it funny someone has mentioned a 5 hour non-stop interview that wasn't that bad. Just the length alone is bad enough! However if you've nothing to hide and are used to being open and honest it might not be so bad I suppose.

[pastalista]

Which considering what DV clearance potentially gives access to is perfectly understandable and desirable.

I agree, DV has to be a good probing. I have been through it and have acted as referees for two other candidates who have been through it as well.

Questions ranged from my taste in pornography (and did my wife know that I looked at it), to drinking and drug use, visits to foreign countries and so on.

They majored on the financial side though. Really probing questions about why I had used certain credit cards to pay for things and why I hadn't immediately paid them off - lots of that.

As others have said, they're just ensuring that you don't hide anything that could be used to blackmail you.

The rates aren't that much higher at the technical level but as a Programme Director the rates were 40 - 50% higher than in the rest of the public sector. Once you're in, there tend to be openings in other departments requiring that level of clearance that one wouldn't otherwise get to hear about.

All in all, very worth it so long as you don't mind a good probing!

Pastalista

[TykeMerc]

From recent experience I can tell you they delve a lot deeper than just your Facebook account. 3 1/2 hour "interview" wasn't actually too bad. I've had harder grillings from my wife to be honest

Which considering what DV clearance potentially gives access to is perfectly understandable and desirable.

[Normie]

I have heard a few stories about the DV clearance process. One chap who's been through it said they asked him about why he had certain individuals as friends on Facebook (his Facebook profile and that of said friends were all set to full privacy).

From recent experience I can tell you they delve a lot deeper than just your Facebook account. 3 1/2 hour "interview" wasn't actually too bad. I've had harder grillings from my wife to be honest

[Freamon]

I have heard a few stories about the DV clearance process. One chap who's been through it said they asked him about why he had certain individuals as friends on Facebook (his Facebook profile and that of said friends were all set to full privacy).

[Mr.Whippy]

Taking about 8 weeks at the moment.

What takes 8 week for 1 could take 8 months for another. There are so many variables that the "average" time or how long it took someone else are completely irrelevant.

The real benefit for me was that it turned an initial 3 month SC contract into just under 3 years at 35% more than the initial rate. So for me, it was definitely worth it... I just wish I could now get over the "no clearance, no CV submission" hurdle that I (and many others here) run into very regularly...

[Spoiler]

Had a look on jobswerve - there seemed a good quantity of roles on there, but nothing special about the rate.

Not sure I like the sound of my financials being delved into.

I understand the benefits of having it, but I've got by so far without it.

[Normie]

Considering how long it typically takes for a DV to be completed I'd imagine so. They can be done in a few weeks, but 6-12 months is far from uncommon.

Taking about 8 weeks at the moment.

[TykeMerc]

Jesus, just listen to yourselves. DV clearance means you have unlimited access to Top Secret material - not just where the atom bombs are stored but which MPs are suspect and where the terrorists are hiding. I rather hope the process is both invasive and rigorous, else it wouldn't be much use to anyone.

But hey, if you don't like it, don't apply. It's perfectly simple.

I have absolutely no issue with the process, however as I don't like it I have declined the opportunity to go through it (more importantly I've declined to subject some members of my family to it) on several occasions.
I have no envy for those that go through DV, I simply don't go for roles where it's a requirement.

[malvolio]

As a reference for someone who was getting cleared to work at a sensitive establishment I was "interviewed" for a bit under 3 hours. A more appropriate term is interrogated.

Jesus, just listen to yourselves. DV clearance means you have unlimited access to Top Secret material - not just where the atom bombs are stored but which MPs are suspect and where the terrorists are hiding. I rather hope the process is both invasive and rigorous, else it wouldn't be much use to anyone.

But hey, if you don't like it, don't apply. It's perfectly simple.

[TykeMerc]

As a reference for someone who was getting cleared to work at a sensitive establishment I was "interviewed" for a bit under 3 hours. A more appropriate term is interrogated.

[Mr.Whippy]

The word interview is far too limited a word too.

When I went through it a few years back, it lasted just over 5 hours non-stop and it wasn't all that bad really.

I found the stories you get of how horrendous the process is from other people that have already been through it are a touch exaggerated, so hopefully the OP won't be put off by them.

And they had my bank records without asking - not sure if they could do that now - reckon they can though...

I reckon they can too.... I expect most of the information you provide they already know, they're just checking you're not lying

[stek]

Indeed, not my cup of tea at all. The word interview is far too limited a word too.

Yeah, I had DV (or was it PV then?) at BNFL years ago, and they asked my refs how much alcohol I drank and if they ever saw bottles of drink about the house and stuff...

And they had my bank records without asking - not sure if they could do that now - reckon they can though...

[TykeMerc]

The vetting is quite invasive, the interview and interviews of your referees are pretty much guaranteed.

Not everyone likes the idea of someone digging around in their personal life.

Indeed, not my cup of tea at all. The word interview is far too limited a word too.