Reply to: Security Clearance

[malvolio]

You said you can't but is that a money problem? Can you pay a company for your SC?

Nope, not possible. Apart from anything else, the clearance is with the role, not the person.

SC these days costs a couple of hundred at tops, and takes two weeks on average starting from scratch. There is no reason at all to include it as a selection criterion for anything other than an urgent role for a post like a sysadmin where you can't oversee what they are doing and/or have high system privileges. That's around 5% of advertised roles and doesn't include coders.

[cojak]

I would wait a month and pay for the clearance myself if I could, but I can't, and it still remains a closed shop.

You said you can't but is that a money problem? Can you pay a company for your SC?

[malvolio]

The embedded market has been a bit of a desert for the last few weeks, but I was told by an agent today that they had a lot of defence work locally which he couldn't fill but couldn't put me forward as I don't have security clearance.

I would wait a month and pay for the clearance myself if I could, but I can't, and it still remains a closed shop.

Maybe I need look for a permanent job in defence to get clearance, then move back to contracting in a couple of years - how else can you do it

.. oh well I have a few months yet before I get desperate, I just wish the weather would cool off so I could get out on my mountain bike

You don't need clearance to apply (come to that you don't actually need clearance to work on site, with just a little effort from the client). So friend agent and whatever Human Remains wonk he's dealing with need to learnt the rules of their business.

Tell them you are being discriminated against and will take it to the ECHR, that might frighten them into doing some reading...

Tell them you can cut code without knowing the data it will be used against...

Tell them to read Security clearance in freelancing | PCG and the supporting material then explain why you can't be considered...

Then report them to the Cabinet Office...


HTH

[northernladuk]

The embedded market has been a bit of a desert for the last few weeks, but I was told by an agent today that they had a lot of defence work locally which he couldn't fill but couldn't put me forward as I don't have security clearance.

I would wait a month and pay for the clearance myself if I could, but I can't, and it still remains a closed shop.

Maybe I need look for a permanent job in defence to get clearance, then move back to contracting in a couple of years - how else can you do it

.. oh well I have a few months yet before I get desperate, I just wish the weather would cool off so I could get out on my mountain bike

Why wait a couple of years? Get a job, get clearance in 6 weeks then leave. Nothing to say it's just as closed for permies though.

[FarmerPalmer]

The embedded market has been a bit of a desert for the last few weeks, but I was told by an agent today that they had a lot of defence work locally which he couldn't fill but couldn't put me forward as I don't have security clearance.

I would wait a month and pay for the clearance myself if I could, but I can't, and it still remains a closed shop.

Maybe I need look for a permanent job in defence to get clearance, then move back to contracting in a couple of years - how else can you do it

.. oh well I have a few months yet before I get desperate, I just wish the weather would cool off so I could get out on my mountain bike

[malvolio]

We didn't see any data at all, just built the POWER7 frames, Oracle RAC, over to the DVLA staff themselves to load the data. As soon as we'd finished the frames where off our build network.

Similar at DWP.

At HMRC I had no access at all though that was an architecture role with access to docs that had topos in etc. but still nowhere near an actual tax record.

Doesn't actually matter that much. The clearance level is set by a formal risk analysis process that should (but rarely does) distinguish between various levels of data within a system (to be fair, they are a lot more rigorous with the high-value stuff above SC). Often the whole dataset will be classified since (a) it's easier and (b) everyone is cleared so what's the problem. ANother of the issues to be addressed...

[stek]

Just because you have no access to live doesn't mean that the data you are looking at in the build isn't classified in some way. How good are the scrambling algorithms to generate dummy data for build?

Does DVLA not store an address or any other information about the car and the owner? If the title field for the owner name allows things like "General" and then links to an address, I can understand why that would be information that you don't want to get out.

We didn't see any data at all, just built the POWER7 frames, Oracle RAC, over to the DVLA staff themselves to load the data. As soon as we'd finished the frames where off our build network.

Similar at DWP.

At HMRC I had no access at all though that was an architecture role with access to docs that had topos in etc. but still nowhere near an actual tax record.

[TheFaQQer]

DVLA

I was on project build, no access to live, plus it's car number plates and tax discs...

DWP

Build again, no access to live

Just because you have no access to live doesn't mean that the data you are looking at in the build isn't classified in some way. How good are the scrambling algorithms to generate dummy data for build?

Does DVLA not store an address or any other information about the car and the owner? If the title field for the owner name allows things like "General" and then links to an address, I can understand why that would be information that you don't want to get out.

[SueEllen]

One occassion about 2 years ago I was rung up about a permanent job.

The reason I entertained the call was because the agent stated that the person who took the job on needed security clearance already.

As the company was one that had approached me directly and I had turned it down as it was permanent I told the agent that he was talking tulip.

I explained to him that due to the length of time it takes to hire a permanent employee it doesn't matter if they don't have it at the start they just need to fulfil certain criteria i.e. not be born and brought up in China.

[malvolio]

Obviously there are roles where some sort of vetting is necessary.

As I understand it the argument is that by requiring clearance, the range of bidders for contracts is reduced pushing up the price for the government.

So to make this a story I'd need examples of where clearance was required for no good reason ?

To make this a story have a read of this article first, then look through the reference material. There has been a huge amount of work (going back to 2003) and some serious academic research to explain why the Catch-22 is a commercial disaster for both client and contractor. For example, one reason so many HMG projects fail is because they use the same pool of senior staff rather than bring in people with some experience of the real world.


There is nothing wrong with the clearance process or rulebase. No more than 5% of roles demand justifiable pre-clearance and the parameters for those are clearly stated. You don't even need clearance to be on site (that's why there's a strict clear desk policy, so you don't need SC-cleared cleaners) and can access classified material under supervision if there is judged to be little risk. SC is now 2-3 weeks in most cases, and can be fast tracked.

Agencies and prime-contractor clients are 10 years behind the times. That's the real problem.

[northernladuk]

Obviously there are roles where some sort of vetting is necessary.

As I understand it the argument is that by requiring clearance, the range of bidders for contracts is reduced pushing up the price for the government.

So to make this a story I'd need examples of where clearance was required for no good reason ?

You may need clearance just to be on site even if you don't have any direct access to sensitive information. It isn't necessarily needed for the role but for the environment as well.

Here is a role for an SC cleared cleaner....

Cleaner : Another job on . Security Cleared Jobs | DV & SC Cleared Jobs in Security Clearance

Requirements for the role seem pretty simple

* Candidates must have experience in cleaning
* Must be able to be Security Cleared

And they are really going to put someone through SC for two weeks work? I don't think so lol.

[eek]

DVLA

I was on project build, no access to live, plus it's car number plates and tax discs...

DWP

Build again, no access to live

Environment Agency

data entry system for farmers. project build no access to live

[stek]

Obviously there are roles where some sort of vetting is necessary.

As I understand it the argument is that by requiring clearance, the range of bidders for contracts is reduced pushing up the price for the government.

So to make this a story I'd need examples of where clearance was required for no good reason ?

DVLA

I was on project build, no access to live, plus it's car number plates and tax discs...

DWP

Build again, no access to live

[Dominic Connor]

Trying to understand this...

Obviously there are roles where some sort of vetting is necessary.

As I understand it the argument is that by requiring clearance, the range of bidders for contracts is reduced pushing up the price for the government.

So to make this a story I'd need examples of where clearance was required for no good reason ?

[malvolio]

I saw one on Jobserve today that demanded pre-existing BCCP... From a Company that recruits into a range of serious HMG suppliers...

FFS, that takes three days and costs a fiver. Faced with ignorance of that magnitude, it's no wonder we can't get anything done.