State Department - Vetting Process

Parent Cafe
1

<p>D is a senior in college, 22 yrs old. She got a call a while back from an old high school friend asking if she could put D’s name down as a reference on an application for a summer internship with the State Department. D said yes. Friend mentioned how the application required her to list the name of every person she knew; D and friend had a chuckle.</p>

<p>Yesterday D had a voice mail on her phone from a man who identified himself as a State Department employee doing a background check on friend and asked if he could meet her at her place of employment. D was driving at time and intended to return the call when she got back to her apartment, around lunchtime.</p>

<p>When D got home she saw a person putting fliers on the doors of each apartment in her complex (there are 8 units in this complex.) D thought nothing of it since she frequently receives fliers for pizza coupons. When D got out of the car the person, an older man, approached her and asked if he knew <em>D’s name</em>. D responded that she was <em>D’s name</em> and saw that the fliers he was placing on her neighbor’s doors basically said “The U.S. Department of State is trying to contact <em>D’s name</em>. Please call <em>phone number</em> if you know how to contact this person.”</p>

<p>D was highly embarrassed at the fliers being distributed with her name on them, but also felt uncomfortable at the man’s pushiness. He did show his State Department I.D. then asked where they could visit. Thank goodness it was a warm enough day for them to sit outside, where the State Department employee questioned her for 30 minutes about her friend. D said the questions ranged from general info – “What hobbies does your friend have?” to those of a personal nature – “How much debt does your friend have?” And then, “Does your friend have any contact with terrorists or individuals involved in terrorist organizations?”</p>

<p>D felt she answered the questions as honestly as she knew how – “I am not aware of any contact friend has with terrorists, but of course I cannot be 100% sure. But friend has always been honest and a person of integrity since I have known her so I believe she would do a good job for you.”</p>

<p>We talked afterwards about how you never really KNOW someone, even though this was her best friend in high school. But the fact is that D gets together twice a year with her and keeps up on Facebook. Other than that, D doesn’t really know what kinds of people friend hangs out with. I assured D that she did a great job and, as long as she was honest, not to worry.</p>

<p>I, OTOH, have mixed feelings about all of this. Angry that anyone would post fliers around with D’s name on it, that he basically stalked her apartment complex looking for her, couldn’t wait an hour for a return phone call from her, put her in a position where she had to answer questions at HIS convenience, not hers, and asked questions of an uncomfortably personal nature about her friend. The whole thing seemed inappropriate, although D is an adult now and the most we can do is offer advice and role-play for future situations.</p>

<p>And I get that the State Dept. has to do their due diligence in vetting persons working with classified information, but all of this for a summer internship???</p>

2

<p>I find the flyer posting VERY strange, especially if he had made only one attempt to reach your D, but I certainly do not think that any of the questions he asked were inappropriate for a security clearance, especially since she was cited as a personal reference. As for his convenience, vs hers, I don’t see it. He has to get it done in a limited amount of time, she was available, what’s the big deal? Speaking as a person who has to contact and interview people for the Census Bureau, it is a hell of a lot easier for all concerned to just get it done on the spot than spend days or weeks playing telephone tag or annoying people with repeated phone calls when they don’t simply call back.</p>

<p>Both my H and my S were vetted in this way, H as a potential foreign service officer, and S as an intern. I know that they talked to at least some of our neighbors, for example.</p>

<p>A key point is that this is a security clearance, not a job reference. Of course the questions are going to be personal. Apparently she didn’t realize that in advance–which is understandable.</p>

3

<p>All I can say is that she got off easy if they only talked for 30 minutes…:D</p>

<p>I find it odd that he was putting fliers up so soon after leaving a message for her though.</p>

4

<p>I find the poster thing very odd. If it were me I would call the State Department and file a complaint.</p>

5

<p>My son-in-law had an internship with the Defense Information Agency. That agency (DOD) operated the very same way. It’s not just a reference–as someone said above–this is a security clearance and it is very thorough.</p>

6

<p>I have heard it can take a full year to complete a background check for some of these US govt jobs. Posting flyers with a person’s name on it is way out of line.</p>

7

<p>I would love for her to file a complaint about the flyers, but I doubt she will. Never one to make waves.</p>

<p>And I get it that the State Department people are busy and have an important job, but if that is how they do things I don’t have much respect.</p>

8

<p>I’ve been contacted about friends’ or acquaintances’ background checks a few times. Only the flyer part of this strikes me as odd. But it strikes me as wildly inappropriate–the kind of thing [Phillip</a> Sheppard - Survivor Wiki](<a href=“http://survivor.wikia.com/wiki/Phillip_Sheppard]Phillip”>Phillip Sheppard | Survivor Wiki | Fandom) would do.</p>

9

<p>H was a reference for a friend undergoing a DOD security background check and other than the flier, the process was much the same.</p>

10

<p>I can’t speak to the flier thing, since after an hour that seems over the top (was it only an hour, really?). As for the rest, I’m not clear why asking personal questions about her friend is at all surprising. Personal info is what a background check is all about, after all. They are not interviewing about whether a prospective employee would do a good job or show up on time. They’re interviewing about whether once this person has access to a state department computer and premises, they can be trusted not to sell secrets, be blackmailed into snooping in senior people’s desks, etc.</p>

11

<p>A friend’s D works for the dept of defense. She had to go through security clearance and they asked her neighbors about her. I had employed her, and a man showed up at my office and interviewed me about her. And yes, the questions were more personal in nature, including - did she date guys from other countries.</p>

12

<p>I also find the flyer thing outrageous. Somebody should seriously complain about this.</p>

<p>Having said that, my son works for the DOD and the process he had to go through to get the job made me glad that our Defense Department did such a good job in screening their employees.</p>

13

<p>^ Some of the questions are pretty intrusive and funny. My S had to go through two background checks. The first was a “regular” government job and the background check was cursory, and done by staff types. The second was the full background check done by the FBI people, and it sounds like the same one the OP’s D’s friend is having. He said on the questionnaire that his grandmother was born abroad and was not a US citizen, so that opened up a whole new set of questions that held up clearance for another month or so! </p>

<p>These checks really are intrusive, there’s no getting around that. It’s unfortunate, too, because they don’t bother the actual candidate or his family much, since they assume we’d all lie; they really bother friends and employers a lot more. Not sure if there’s any way to do it differently, though (although the flier thing does seem wrong).</p>

14

<p>I do not know your D and I would never make an assumption about any ones children so I will comment about my slugs of offspring. I love them but they do not answer phone numbers they don’t know, they rarely listen to their voice mails. They will tell me half truths, like some one called once an hour ago, when actually it was 7 times over a couple of weeks. </p>

<p>Oh and they hate talking on the phone and will avoid doing so unless coerced.</p>

15

<p>It’s a government security clearance and I’ve gone through those when I was younger as friends and family members were getting security clearances. Some easier than others. They came to our little town and knocked on neighbors door when the family member went through it for an SCI. I got grilled big time when a college roommate was traipsing around the middle east with a current job while in the process for a state department job shortly after college and I’m pretty certain she was asked to “list” her college and current roommates. I’ve always answered the questions asked as I always thought it was important for those involved in the clearance.</p>

16

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<p>D contacted me from a local car dealership, where DH had just dropped her off over his lunch break to pick up her new car – an early graduation gift from us. From there she was headed back to her apartment to pick up laundry and drive to our house which is about 25-30 minutes away. She texted me from the dealership, and apparently the guy had called while the salesperson was showing her the features of her new car so, no, she didn’t pick up. Wanted to make the call from home instead of getting distracted while driving the new car in Friday traffic. Pulled up to her apartment within an hour and shared the story with me after arriving at our house an hour later.</p>

<p>D has always been very good about organizational stuff and returning phone calls. My S would be a different story.</p>

17

<p>My son-in-law had an internship with the Defense Information Agency. The security clearance interviews were similar to the one described–interviewers asking very personal questions.</p>

18

<p>I guess the point is the applicant-friend should have warned her about the process, and what expectations are. D is obviously young and not well-versed in expectations for security clearance. Had I known ahead of time I would have encouraged her to get more information before agreeing to be a reference. But, as I stated, she is an adult and needs to figure these things out.</p>

<p>I am more concerned that he was stalking her apartment complex looking for her and putting fliers out about her.</p>

19

<p>I have never heard of fliers being used. I know many, many family, friends and neighbors who have had to pass high level DOD, CIA, NSA, FBI security checks. I have never heard of fliers being used. They don’t need to post paper fliers to find anyone. Nobody in any of those agencies is in such a hurry to clear anyone for a security clearance that they would post fliers looking for an acquaintance of the subject. I sort of doubt the whole story. </p>

<p>I don’t doubt that your daughter was contacted by somebody who flashed some identification, but I doubt the gentleman was actually from the state department.</p>

20

<p>Fliers seem ridiculous and unlikely. But the question don’t seem to be terribly out of line. Years ago I had to vouch for a friend of mine. We had both attended the same gap year program in France, but hadn’t seen a lot of each other in the intervening 8 or 9 years. I mostly remember being asked if she used drugs. The applicant friend doesn’t necessarily know enough about the process to warn anyone about how intrusive the questions will be.</p>