How to get a Security Clearance (Without Joining the Military!)

In this video, I will give some tips on things you can do to improve your chances of getting a security clearance without having to join the military. I have worked in Japan and was able to obtain a clearance as a civilian.

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Intro
Hey everybody, today we're going to talk about Security Clearances.
We're going to cover
what a security clearance actually is,
why you might want one,
and how to go about getting one without having to join the military.
This video is a response to viewer comments

What is a clearance?
A security clearance allows a person doing a certain job
to have access to classified national security information
There three main levels of clearances and they will correspond to the work
that you're doing: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret (Sensitive Compartmentalized Information)
Clearances are commonly issued to military personal, though civilians
may be issued a clearance if they work for a company with a govt contract

Why you might want one?
There are a lot of overseas jobs that require clearances
Maybe you want to work in Korea, Qatar, or Japan like I did
This becomes much easier if you have a clearance.
There are potentially some really substantial tax benefits to working
Also, since most of the population doesn't have clearances,
there is typically less competition and you have the potential to land really decent jobs

How to get one
First, you have to be eligible (be a US Citizen with an "OK ENOUGH" record)
Most tech jobs that require a clearance will have a set of certification requirements
The cert requirements will be comprised of a "Baseline" (DOD 8570 or DOD 8140) requirement in conjunction with a Computing Environment (CE) requirement or Degree Requirement
Many jobs are classified on the DOD 8570 and 8140, and you'll have to get the relevant
Certification in order to work for any given job
I opted to get CISSP because it covers IAT III, IAM III, and IASAE II
And the CE cert depends on where you'll be working and depends on the job
If the job has a CE requirement, you can get hired contingent upon you getting certified
You can search for jobs individual contractor sites like Vectrus or SAIC, or even on Indeed or LinkedIn
Search terms:
"ability to obtain a Secret Clearance", or
"Must be able to obtain a Secret Clearance"
usually implies willing to sponsors
target jobs with lower level clearances like "secret", it's easier to go from secret to TS
vs straight to TS from no clearance
For me personally when I got hired to work in Japan, I already had CISSP

0:00 Intro
0:14 Overview
0:25 What is a Security Clearance
0:35 Security clearance levels
1:05 Why would you want a security clearance?
2:21 Why wouldn't you want a security clearance?
2:56 How do you get a security clearance?
5:00 How to find a job that will sponsor you for a security clearance
6:30 Application recommendations
7:09 My Japan experience
7:20 Outro

DISCLAIMER: This video description has some affiliate links and I may receive a small commission. I only share stuff that I use and believe in. Thanks so much for your support 🥺

[JoshMadakor]

🖥 Break into IT in ~3 Months with my Hands-On Practical Course! 🖥

[Shotzy]

Your recommendation of including “ability to obtain” on Indeed had hit me like such a speeding truck, and I’m baffled that doing so never occurred to me. I had just gotten an IAT 2 certification and was struggling to find jobs that didn’t require applicants to already have clearance, so thank you for this simple but amazing video!

[WithSandra]

I have a friend who got a security clearance and basically got an automatic bump in his salary, ik it can be a pretty lengthy process but worth it. Thanks for sharing these tips! 😁

[Mutrino]

Just in case people don't understand. First, whether you as an individual *want* a security clearance is irrelevant. The company you work for/government decides if you *need* a clearance for the job you are in. And *they* decide the level. Someone in the comments claimed that a secret clearance is no more than a regular background check. That is incorrect. A secret clearance investigation is much more thorough and takes much longer than a standard background check.

[trentegrant]

Thanks! I just want to say thank you big help

[ladariustaylor]

This is very helpful information. I was thinking about joining the military reserves just to obtain a clearance. Thanks a lot and keep up the great videos.

[MB-jzwq]

Hi Josh, Thank you so much for this valuable video. Your job search suggestion of "eligible for clearance.." literally opened up a treasure trove of opportunities for me. I never once considered plugging that in and once I did, it was a marvelous site to behold so many job opportunities. I am more interested in the Public Trust investigations versus National Security clearances, trust me, I know the inside reasons. Wishing you greater success/elevation in all your endeavors.

[tothedregsofficial]

In my experience, I was lucky enough to have a company sponsor me to get me a secret clearance. The clearance opened a lot of opportunities for me. I started off as a DoD contractor and now I'm working a GS job with cyber security. The cool thing for me is they know I smoke weed and all that and they don't even care. (I just love weed)

[intrnlstranger]

First of all, thanks for all the videos you make Josh, they're the most informative and interesting I've seen on this platform!
I'm from Australia, and the funny situation here is that companies that require a security clearance and ask if you are eligible for one prefer to take people with a security clearance instead of hiring you and applying on your behalf. It's not official, but I got the information from one of my acquaintances that worked in such an organisation, and from my experience of applying for a job. It seems that the only way for now is joining the military and getting the security clearance and then moving into Cyber Security.

[asell]

Hey Josh, I love your content and I have been watching you since your very first videos where you detailed having two jobs and how that affected you. Anyhow, I am AD Air Force, and I think it is super awesome you covered this topic. I bet you were one of the cool contractors.

[dannymartial]

I didn’t even know what a security clearance was until I started seeing them all over the place in job descriptions. The process seems too invasive and lengthy for me, so I won’t be pursuing it. But it was cool to learn about it anyway. Thanks

[techguyweebee]

This is the information I have been looking for since I got out of the info last year. I was stationed in Yokosuka Japan 😁and loved it, I have been trying to figure out how to get back. This is the perfect now I can set some goals to step by step qualify me for a tech position there. Thank you!

[Technie]

This is gold. In the process of separating the airforce and career changing from maintenance to cyber and upskilling/ getting all the basics such as sec+, c+ etc. I currently hold a secret, however was looking for a way to upgrade to the TS/SCI for the sweet income jump.

[spacewardenn]

2 seconds in and I'm already liking this because the topic alone is one of my biggest questions. Excited for this.

[johnnyperalta]

THANK YOU JOSH! this has weighed on my mind for awhile now.

[sodalines]

I work for blackwater in the early 2000s. i was a contractor so i had to have one. Then later in life i worked as a civilian drone pilot.

[takaogibson]

I spent 12yrs in the military. I didn't get anything out of it but 100% scd. So going contracting. Got my us citizenship, us passport, and dod/dos secret clearance. Now working on TS, its been a yr processing.

[JasonL_Hawaii]

Josh, by the way, congrats on hitting your 20K milestone!

[Lablank]

Can you do a video comparing the HCISSP and the CISSP and how each cred may enhance one’s resume? I’ve noticed that some people have both the HCISSP and CISSP.

[ls]

I held a TS/SCI clearance for about 12 years before walking away from cybersecurity/IT altogether 2+ years ago.

People need to understand that all the things that you discuss in your other video (as to why you disliked/regretted the various jobs in your linkedin resume) get ratcheted up to the max when you work in a position that requires a TS security clearance. "Secret" clearances are basically nothing more than a standard criminal background check. Most companies worth working at are going to require a background check, they simply don't go around giving it a fancy name to make you feel special because it doesn't serve them in any way.

Perhaps MOST important thing to consider is that if you think you want a TS (Top Secret) clearance....then you are handing over practically everything about you that there is to know in an electronic document file that is NOT at all secure. The OPM data breach proved this and I can say with total confidence that nothing has substantially changed since then. So understand that not only is everything about you going to be "out there", but also too much information about your loved ones, family members, neighbors, coworkers, friends, you getting the be dragged into "your file" as well, and they do a TERRIBLE job in their stewardship of that information.

I was one of the millions of TS clearance holders whose information was compromised in the OPM breach. So far, I have only had my bank accounts raided from people overseas and my banks thankfully caught it before it was too late. Let me repeat that...MY BANK caught it. Not the FBI, not the NSA, not any other government agency. MY BANK. God only knows who else has "my file" and what their purposes for it may be.

So think very long and hard about chasing a $$ amount by taking on the massive risk associated with TS clearances. In my honest opinion, no cybersecurity professional who actually believes what they preach should be taking on that risk...not for a paycheck anyway. That paycheck can easily be had by simply delivering value to a valuable organization/company. You won't find those in the government sector.