A potential HR job in recruiting for IT positions states “must be comfortable asking for clearance information”. Why would someone not be comfortable asking for this? What could be so hard about asking this?
Sounds like a euphemism for “This job requires a criminal background check so don’t bother applying if you just got out of the hoosegow.”
It could also mean that you’ll be asking applicants questions of a personal or potentially embarassing nature.
I remember going through my first interview for a gov’t clearance. They ask lots of question about finances, criminal background, drugs, sexual past, etc.
It could be very difficult for many people to go through an interview of that sort, from both sides of the desk.
I could also imagine you would have to be able not only to ask the questions, but to hear the answers and do it in a professional manner without embarassing yourself or your subject.
-Just my .02
It could also be simply that the position will be one where you will have to “demand” documentation to ensure the person you are talking to has a legitimate right to access the info they are trying to access.
If those individuals who are being questioned as to their access level are “higher ups” (either in actual rank or importance or in their own minds), it could result in quite a few hostile, “Don’t you know who I am? I’m don’t have to show you any documentation. I happen to be…” situations and you’d have to be prepared to stand your ground and still insist on the documentation.
Some people crumble under that pressure and can’t handle the abuse they will receive in the course of just doing their jobs. I deal with a little of that in my job and there are plenty of folks who just don’t have what it takes to stand up to that.
The OP was not specific about the position but in my experience, it is never HR that asks the kinds of questions you describe for a government clearance; it is an agency investigator. HR does not prescreen for clearances other than possibly to ask, “Is there any reason that you would not be qualified to be granted a security clearance?”
Now, granted, the answer to such a question could be “Yes” (which is enough info, as far as HR is concerned) or it could be “Well, it might be a problem if they found the heroin I keep in the trunk of my car.”
I agree that it’s unlikely HR is actually asking the official clearance questions. Is the position perhaps with a recruiting agency? Here’s a possible scenario: the recruiting agency or client company will sponsor the employee’s clearance process, but wants to make sure the odds are good the employee will pass, so asks a lot of questions up front before recommending the employee to the client.
Let me elaborate on this just a little. A lot of questions that an investigator might ask could be illegal if an employer asked them. The employer can make it a condition of employment to obtain a Top Secret clearance, but probably cannot ask, “Do you have sex with animals?” An investigator could ask that, though. (A friend of mine had a polygraph examiner ask that question for a TS polygraph.)
Actually, if you ask a question of all applicants, there is pretty much nothing you can’t ask. (There is an exception based on the ADA that prohibits asking about disability.) The legal risk to employers is largely from only asking questions of certain applicants, such as only asking women “does your husband mind you traveling?” or “do you plan to have children?” There would also be a legal risk if the answers are used in a way that discriminates against a protected class. Note that these questions create a legal risk to the employer, but are not in and of themselves illegal to ask. They would, however, serve as evidence against the company if a woman brought a discrimination suit. Speaking as someone who has a lot of training and experience conducting interviews, there is not much you can’t ask if it is job relevant and asked of all applicants.
Under what law are you assuming those who have sex with animals are protected? If someone asked you that in an interview, and you didn’t get the job, and you thought it was because of how you answered that question, what law would you sue under?