Get a security clearance: the SF-86 and the issues that actually sink one

This step produces a one-line specification — clearance level, exact form, investigating agency, and the person who confirmed it — that every later step in this playbook checks against. It looks simple and is not: offer letters routinely say only “must be able to obtain a clearance,” and the level you assume decides which form you fill, how deep the investigation goes, and roughly how many months it runs.

What to do.

1. Read your offer letter and hiring package for the level — Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret; federal job announcements print it under “Security clearance required.”
2. Fix the form: national security positions use the SF-86. Public-trust positions use the SF-85P — a suitability process, out of scope here.
3. For cleared-contractor work, have the Facility Security Officer (FSO) read the level from the contract’s DD 254 — that document, not a recruiter’s memory, is authoritative.
4. If the letter is vague, get the definitive answer in writing from the FSO or agency security office, and note the person’s name and date.
5. Write the one-line spec and file it with the offer letter: “Secret · SF-86 · initiated by DCSA · confirmed by [name] on [date].”