DOJ/FBI background checks Forum

[A'nold]

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[pirouette]

They will also do a credit check.

I am not an attorney but I had one done for my position here.

Credit is a huge deal. I know several coworkers and friends who have been denied positions with the FBI and DOJ due to bad credit. I've been with DOJ for several years now, and I've had to fill out that SF-86 a few times. They normally give you a week or so to do it. Keep a copy of it forever, that way if you move around or apply for a more extensive clearance, you don't have to start from scratch.

Most FBI positions (even low level support staff) require the polygraph, but the majority in DOJ do not. I know that AUSAs and other DOJ attorneys do not get polygraphed...

[sbalive]

Do they make you list every job you've ever had? If so, I'd be listing over 20 less than 3 month jobs.....

Just wait until you have to find someone to act as a reference for each of those jobs and for each of your addresses.

[noquieromas]

I swear I haven't been smoking anything, but this thread is making me seriously paranoid.

Anyone know if similar background checks are done for clerkships?

[pirouette]

I swear I haven't been smoking anything, but this thread is making me seriously paranoid.

Anyone know if similar background checks are done for clerkships?

Yes, federal clerks have to get a clearance as well. I think it may be a lower level clearance than is required for permanent employees, but you will have to fill out the tiresome SF-86.

[linquest]

So what would arrive in my mailbox today but my security clearance forms? SF-85 instead of an SF-86 this time, but it's substantially the same info. Definitely less info required than my C&F app though, so I'll probably just cut and paste into the online forms here- http://www.opm.gov/forms/

[wreckem]

Do they make you list every job you've ever had? If so, I'd be listing over 20 less than 3 month jobs.....

Just wait until you have to find someone to act as a reference for each of those jobs and for each of your addresses.

How far back do you have to report? And what do you report

When I was 18 I had two jobs, hurt my back(from exhaustion, I was working 90-100 hrs per week of manual labor. I quit one then quit the other one. I worked one for 3 months and one for 6 months.

I started college at 21, and finally got another job where I worked for 9 months. 6 months into that I got another job. I worked my way up to manager there in 9 months, worked for another 6 months then was transfering schools and quit.

Between quiting and starting at the new school I worked for Wal Mart for a week. After six months I got a job which I worked at for one day because I got a job a student assistant job at the school the very next day. I was in that position for 11 months. Quit because I was again working two jobs(the other a Congressional Internship). I was in the Congressional Internship for 9 months and then went back to the school job and quickly went from student assistant to full time staff in a supervisory position. Ive been at that job now for a year Friday and will continue to have that job until I start law school. Ive never been written up in any job Ive had.

Will they have an issue with the three year gap in employment from 18-21? Will they have a problem with the one week at Wal Mart or the one day at a fastfood resturant?

How exactly do you track down references for say a place that went out of buisness(Albertsons?) Would they need referenses for the one week at Wal Mart of the fastfood resturant?

[linquest]

wreckem- it always depends on what security level you need for the particular job. Most only require SF-85 or 86, which only requests the last seven years. Employment gaps before you finish college generally don't matter much, as long as you weren't fired for some illegal conduct or bad performance.

[patentlaw]

I swear I haven't been smoking anything, but this thread is making me seriously paranoid.

Anyone know if similar background checks are done for clerkships?

Yes, federal clerks have to get a clearance as well. I think it may be a lower level clearance than is required for permanent employees, but you will have to fill out the tiresome SF-86.

No, you don't fill out a SF-86 there's some form, but it's not quite as extensive as the SF-86.

[pirouette]

I swear I haven't been smoking anything, but this thread is making me seriously paranoid.

Anyone know if similar background checks are done for clerkships?

Yes, federal clerks have to get a clearance as well. I think it may be a lower level clearance than is required for permanent employees, but you will have to fill out the tiresome SF-86.

No, you don't fill out a SF-86 there's some form, but it's not quite as extensive as the SF-86.

Is it possible that this varies by location? I've spoken with several clerks, all of whom remembered having to complete the SF-86 or SF-85.

[patentlaw]

Is it possible that this varies by location? I've spoken with several clerks, all of whom remembered having to complete the SF-86 or SF-85.

I guess it's possible.

[linquest]

SF85 is shorter than SF86, though they gave me so many addendum forms that they could've just asked me to fill out one SF86 for all the same info. This is for two different but related jobs, same agency, different branches.

[seveoneanon]

Admit any drugs you've done. They're fairly lenient if you're honest

For clarity, fairly lenient meaning occasional drug use beyond marijuana in the past would be acceptable at a federal agency like the SEC, assuming drug use was not recent?

"occasional drug use beyond marijuana" means hard drug use, be it opiates, amphetamines, hallucinogens, prescription abuse, or designer drugs (ecstasy). let me explain the "background check."

the background check consists of 2 parts: security and suitability. the security check is only concerned with one thing: your ability to safeguard sensitive information. you are considered unable to safeguard information if you are susceptible to blackmail. if you have gambling debt, deep foreign interests, or are involved in drug use, it better a) not be recent and b) there better be a lot of people that you've told about it (that way you can't be blackmailed. if it's a deep dark secret you don't want anyone to find out about, this isn't good and you might give up classified information to keep it a secret).

the suitability check basically takes a "whole person" approach and tries to determine if, based upon a totality of the circumstances, your past conduct makes you (or at least does not preclude you from) suitable for the position. both things will be decided by an agency adjudicator who does nothing but look at applicants files all day and, using established guidelines, determines yea or nay. Whether or not your drug use constituted some sort of pattern, whether or not you kept using drugs despite negative consequences (losing jobs, family, etc, etc) will all be taken into account.

DoJ standards will be higher than other government agencies, probably, since the DoJ houses the nation's 5 main law enforcement agencies (DEA, FBI, US Marshals, BoP, and I forget who else).

Stop with the drug shit. I guess it's job security for me though.

<----Employee of a DoJ law enforcement agency, so I know what I'm talking about.

[belligerentfuture]

How does employment in a foreign country (<1 year) and holding a dual citizenship with a European Union country play into the "deep foreign ties"?

[sbalive]

How does employment in a foreign country (<1 year) and holding a dual citizenship with a European Union country play into the "deep foreign ties"?

Depending on the job / clearance, you may have to renounce your other citizenship. As for "deep foreign ties", that really means being politically active in other countries, owning property, many relatives, etc., and it depends on the country. It's easiest to think about it this way - how would your loyalty be compromised? So, financial issues, ethical issues that could lead you to be blackmailed (that's why they used to be so strict about sexual orientation, and even now they really would like you to come out - they also don't like affairs and such), the ability of a foreign government to influence you by threatening your family or confiscating property, etc. It's really common sense stuff.

[belligerentfuture]

thanks for the replies. i think it will be ok because its a super friendly country (Ireland), and while I have a lot of relatives there, it's just cause of enormous Catholic family sizes also don't own property and never voted, just paid taxes. good to know!

[enygma]

nevermind

[Merriweather]

i don't get how they would know if someone actually used drugs or not, absent convictions, etc.

[etudiantededroit]

Do they make you list every job you've ever had? If so, I'd be listing over 20 less than 3 month jobs.....

Just wait until you have to find someone to act as a reference for each of those jobs and for each of your addresses.

And then they ask each of those people for someone you two knew in common...and any foreign nationals that you've had the audacity to become friends with (or, gasp, happen to be related to) over the course of your lifetime.

I had my background investigation interview about 2 weeks after starting a paralegal job with the DOJ, and the questions were ridiculous ("Have you ever plotted to overthrow the US government?") The bulk of the interview ended up being a conversation about where I'd traveled and whether I was still in touch with any foreigners, but others in my office had questions about whether they had any photos/other materials online that would potentially embarrass the government.

[pirouette]

i don't get how they would know if someone actually used drugs or not, absent convictions, etc.

You may get polygraphed. And it's probably not a good idea to lie anyway....

[enygma]

do they do as rigorous a background check if you're just doing a summer internship or whatever it might be called?

[seveoneanon]

i don't get how they would know if someone actually used drugs or not, absent convictions, etc.

easy. they interview people who know you (NOT just those you listed as references) and build from there. if anyone but you knows about your drug use, they'll find out. or, you may be polygraphed, in which case, checkmate.

the investigators are agents of the us office of personnel management. They will make you swear to truth, right hand in the air and all, and go over each section of your application with you to verify the information. Knowingly providing materially false information on the application is a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001 and carries severe penalties.

just fucking list it. it's probably not a big deal.

[MDLR3]

To seveoneanon or anyone with inside experience with the FBI, could you please let me know if there are any exceptions made on a case by case basis to the rule regarding using marijuana in the past 3 years? To explain my situation, I am up for Phase II testing and was told that anyone who experimented will be considered based on their overall situation. My personal situation that I plan on being completely truthful of just as I have with some other federal organizations I have interviewed with is that I have used about 7 times in my life, all of which were during college that were more than 3 years ago, with exception to twice overseas (in Amsterdam and in West Africa) the last being 2 years ago. I have also never tried anything beyond marijuana, purchased it (always just offered a puff on a friend's joint) and have never sold or possessed it.

I know what the FBI's website says, but in addition to what I have heard I find it strange that at all the orientations and info. sessions we have never been told "if you have touched anything in the past 3 years you can leave now". Is there any chance that my honesty and particular situation could be given an exception? Thanks.