What is the value of a Secret security clearance in the software engineering job market?
My first job out of University involved weapons research, and Secret clearance was available simply by filling out an application. It was pretty straightforward as far as I recall, as long as you had passable credit / no convictions I believe that is almost a rubber stamp (problems, of course, would arise if you lied on the application). Based on my experience I wouldn’t expect a large difference in pay as Secret was fairly easy to get (it might have changed though). Now levels above Secret were a different matter with more involved clearance processes sometimes involving multiple interviews with yourself, family and neighbours (as an aside, if you’ve got a clearance above Secret you’re not supposed to tell anyone).
What is the value of a Secret security clearance in the software engineering job market? Huge. There’s more jobs that require clearances than there are people with them, meaning it’s a seller’s market. I could do exactly what I do now for 40% more if I had an active clearance. I could make what I make now for sitting in front of a monitor and watching a scroll if I had… etc. For example if two equally qualified candidates apply for a job, except one has the clearance, what difference in pay could that person expect? In this context it’s no benefit, or perhaps a negative one. If someone applied for a no-clearance-required job with us and they had an active clearance they would likely be viewed with skepticism. Why do you want this lower paying job, buddy? We certainly wouldn’t pay someone clearance wages for a non-clearance jobs. Or more accurately, we’d push them into one of our clearance jobs.
I have several govt clearances, and I’m not sure it’s correct to try and apply a monetary value to it. Think of it in terms of a skill: If you have it, you may be considered for a job that requires it over others who do not. As blag said, for a job that doesn’t require it, it will not be of any value, monetary or otherwise, unless perhaps it’s a consulting type gig where they may want to make use of that in the future for other contracts. That being said, a clearance does open up your job seeking opportunities in DC, and that is of some value by itself, IMO.
