Author Archive

Marko Hakamaa

Marko Hakamaa served in various military police positions with the United States Army worldwide for 22 years before retiring in 2006 as a Master Sergeant. Afterwards, he transitioned into the civilian workforce as a contractor background investigator for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before entering civil service as a Security Specialist in 2009.

Security Clearance Process

Like the Intelligence Community (IC) agencies, the Department of State processes their own background investigations and security clearances by using the personnel security resources from their Bureau of Diplomatic Security, specifically, the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). The DSS also assist other federal agencies in processing their background investigations. According to

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Career Advice

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hiring process is arduous and lengthy, as evidenced by many who posted on this site about the long wait time to hear back. If selected as a candidate for a job, they will give you a conditional job offer. There are, however, some other things

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Career Advice

Most Intelligence Community (IC) agencies use in-house background investigators or another IC agency to conduct the background investigations on potential job candidates. Some smaller agencies like the National Reconnaissance Office or National Geospatial Intelligence Agency are very timely in getting them done and in front of an adjudicator. Other bigger

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Obtaining Security Clearance

This Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) from a few months ago case caught my eye due to the extensive criminal history of the applicant and how he thought he would be eligible for a security clearance. Considering his background, he was initially denied eligibility by the DoD based

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