Customer Reviews

Security Clearance Manual: How To Reduce The Time It Takes To Get Your Government Clearance

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having been involved for the past 40 years as an field investigator in the Federal Security Clearance Program for many Governmental agencies, I rated this Manual "five star" for its masterful and professional presentation of the Federal Security Clearance Program. It also covers many agencies and the idiosyncracies of adjudicative processess by DOD, DOJ, DOS, OPM, etc.
Mr Henderson's Security Clearance Manual is a professional approach to explain the Federal Security Clearance process to the individual who has been nominated for a Security Clearance and for security managers who process these requests. It is thoroughly detailed and addresses various misunderstanding involved with completing the SF86 and the much used e-QIP for today's submissions.
Basically, it takes the imposed mystery out of the process, helps the individual understand what is requested and provides mitigating circumstances to help negate any fears of not being eligible for a Top Secret Clearance due to past mistakes.
Mr. Henderson, I give you a Naval "Bravo Zulu" or "Well Done" for this much needed manual. It is a must read category for candidates and professionals in the Program. It will definitely shorten the process (time) for granting access.

This book is timely and a gem. As an FSO, I find the information very helpful for answering security clearance related questions. Mr. Henderson's experience and know how give great insight in how the investigations work and what the subjects should expect. The persons undergoing background checks now have a clearer picture of what they can do to help get faster results. I highly recommend this book both to security specialists and to those obtaining security clearances.

Author of:

ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual or How to Prepare for and Pass the Industrial Security Professional Certification Exam

Insider's Guide to Security Clearances

This book is a must have for anyone thinking about getting security clearance or, more importantly, someone just about to start the process. The reference material is amazing. It will be the best $20 you spend on trying to get the ever valuable security clearance. $20 for a book that can help you get a position that has unlimited job security-how can you not buy the book? The author is not some guy who researched the material and put it in a book- he is a lifelong investigator who provides valuable insight into one of the greatest impediments to getting a job in the intelligence community.

I really can't say enough about the book.....Great gift for the college student who is thinking about a career in the intelligence community. The mistakes we make in college can certainly affect you getting clearance. Writing a bad check? Underage drinking? Overextending on your credit cards? Overseas travel? Getting arrested? Read about all the barriers to getting clearance and how you can navigate them.

Buy the book you will not be sorry...

If you aren't concerned about how to fill out one of these forms, you haven't been paying attention. Jobs are tough to come by these days. Screw up a government security clearance and a placement firm might have second thoughts about placing you in a non-government job. The older you are, the more likely you have run into things that might not look so great. The younger you are, the more likely you may have a youthful indiscretion or you aren't experienced enough to understand this is way different than filling out a job application. I mentioned we were doing this task to more than one person. Each said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about anything, you need to understand that employers can't ask about 'blah blah blah." I would shoot back... "This isn't about an employment application... think HOMELAND SECURITY." If these answers set off flags to investigators, they have the right to go out to your neighborhood, show a federal badge and ask your neighbors questions! It may be unlikely, but the government has the right. This book clarified how much detail to use so you don't write too much or too little.

The REALLY BIG HELP was that this book was also available on line. We paid for it and started reading right away. We were on a deadline to get this form turned in and we could not have waited for it to be mailed to us. We did also have a hard copy mailed to us. This was so valuable, we will keep the hard copy in case Amazon ever decides not to have it online and we could not access it online.

This book was recommended by a friend who does the security checks for a living. This book tells you what's going on and why. It's not a manual on how to pass but rather what they are doing and why. It takes some of the mystery away but lets you know about the process.

This book could use a lot more editing, particularly in the format. I found the book hard to use and hard to understand. It was difficult to penetrate the government legalese. I understand that this topic is difficult, but the author's job is to explain these difficult issues in terms that anyone can understand. Unfortunately, this author appears to just be another policy wonk speaking wonkish. A good editor could have helped make this a lot better.
Large portions of the text appeared to just be text that the author had copied and pasted from Federal Websites.
That said, if you are getting a Security Clearance, there is some decent information contained in this text, so it might be your only choice, even if it is hard to understand.

This book is a good source of information and education about the process. It gives the reader an understanding of the process that will help streamline your efforts when applying for clearances.