Ask HN: How to apply for positions that require government clearance?

Usually, the company/agency hiring you would sponsor your clearance and they'd ask you to start if they're interested in you. Once it starts, expect it to take 5 months to a year.

edit: see http://www.opm.gov/Forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf

Well, if Lockheed's in the US, they you better be a US citizen. Better have a clean criminal record, and be comfortable with having your past prodded and poked. And you'll be pissing in a bottle, probably as a condition of employment, maybe more often. Probably good to not have connections with "unusual groups of people", and you might think of sanitizing your net footprint as much as possible.

I don't know whether TS is high enough, but there's a chance you'll be "on the box" as well. I assume you're aware of all this up front, before even considering such a job?

Clearance takes about 6-9 months. Foreign associations and illegal activities get a lot of attention.

They'll ask about drug use. Don't lie. Any illegal drug use in the past 12 months is disqualifying, but it's better to fail on this and get the clearance a year later than to get caught in a lie and have that on your record. (I doubt they'd throw you in jail, but a lifetime ban isn't unlikely, from what I've heard; whereas it's unlikely that you'd be turned down for smoking pot 3 years ago.)

Underage drinking (even within past 12 months) won't lock you out but you'll be expected to be sober during your time of active clearance, up to your 21st birthday.

A lot of people will be interviewed whom you didn't supply. For example, your hall director if you're a college student, and possibly a professor or two. Your references will all be asked for references.

Based on what I've heard, I'd guess that the acceptance rate for born US citizen without criminal records or recent drug use is 60-75%, but that's just a wild guess.

Actually, Top Secret is not very high (e.g. well below DOE Q or of course TS/SCI).

Basically, you just have to be honest in your application, and of course you have to be a reasonably trustworthy person (and not black-mailable; e.g. it's OK to be GLBT, but not in the closet).

As noted elsewhere in the comments, you'll have to fill out a long form, people you know will be interviewed (my knowledge of all this is mostly from supplying interviews for a couple of friends), and as noted it will take some time. You won't be able to work on your actual project until you get the clearance, which many find annoying, but for this sort of job perhaps they'll have you learn the development environment, work on tools, etc. (I had one friend give up on a LLNL sysadmin job because he couldn't do anything to speak of.)

If you're concerned about accepting a job that you might end up being let go from because you didn't get your clearance, check out this page: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/individualsales.html and the general web site of LeRoy A. Stone: http://home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/home.html.

He provides a service that will give you an estimate of how likely it is you'll get a clearance. I used him back in 2003, although his assessment became moot when my job offer essentially went poof.

One really important aspect of this job: it's a two-fer in terms of having a long career in software. The embedded community has more respect for gray hairs than any other, and work that requires a clearance by definition can't be outsourced overseas or given to H-1B or L-1 visa holders.

I was recently hired for an IT position that required a Secret clearance. I had read a great deal about obtaining the clearance and had help from my prospective employer that made the process much easier. The best advice (as an earlier poster noted) is to tell the complete truth. Leave nothing out, no matter how embarrassing, because the people doing the background checks and interviews will check out everything. Also, make sure that you check your credit report and be aware of any criminal records that may be hanging around from your past. Secret level checks go back seven to ten years, and top secret will be at least ten. The security officer at your firm should be able to answer any and all questions you have. I was told that interim approval would take 2 to 14 days and full approval could take up to 6 months. With no criminal record or associations with foreign nationals, and a fair credit score my full approval happened within a month. It can seem daunting, but the end result is worth the effort. I hope this helps.