How easy is it to request a security clearance for a government project? Currently on public trust clearance.
I just talked to a recruiter who said it takes months. I had Secret early in my career and it was a breeze, post 9/11 it’s gotten a lot harder. I did a public trust 3 years ago that was way worse that Secret in early 90s
I assume you mean applying for a role that would cause LEIDOS to sponsor you for a clearance. You as an individual can't directly request a clearance, but your employer can sponsor an application. The costs are low, but the timeline can be a few months so companies shy away from it sometimes and look for folks with existing clearances. It wasn't easy or hard; it's just something that comes as a consequence of a particular job. I've heard it is easier to get sponsored as an internal applicant though because the company "knows" you (i.e., knows you will stay with them while your clearance is being processed), so the real deciding factor for you is probably how easy it is to move internally.
My current role only requires public trust clearance. I want them to sponsor me for a security clearance. Just want to know how liberal they are about it.
The answer is there's no flexibility at all. Either you're in a role that needs it, or your not. Their careers page lists what clearances are needed to apply and/or needed for roles, similar to USAjobs for federal roles. They may shuffle people internally when projects finish to keep them in cleared roles but literally nobody is going to sponsor a clearance for a role that doesn't need it. So the answer is you would have to apply for a role that specifies that they don't need a prior clearance (i.e., public trust means you filled out an SF-85 which is the questionnaire for non-sensitive positions. They probably only care about recent prior SF-86), and one that specifies that they will sponsor for a clearance. Either that or join in a different role and then move internally, which is how some companies effectively work. In order to answer that, you would need a LEIDOS employee to speak to that, so I can't help you there.
What level? Not at Leidos but it took me 15 months start to finish to get TS/SCI with polygraph in 2019-2020
I don't know which one to get. I just know it's valuable to get one and want to get one. I'm going to start working at Leidos soon.