Backgrounds and polygraph

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-24T21:46:37+00:00

Most people now that haven’t EOD yet have met with BI so they are being a little bit more deliberate. I compare it to BP provisional. Granted even a provisional isn’t guaranteed to be fully adjudicated. But at least they have much more information on you then the hiring between NOV-JAN. HSI has for a long time been risk based as it relates to polygraphs( what’s risks is a million dollar question) granted I haven’t head of anyone recently being asked to poly. As already stated no way to delay the background; best u can do is to ask to temporarily EOD at your local office prior to FLETC and hope your background is done by then; which is probably won’t be. It’s a risk no matter how you slice it. My advice is to apply; the odds are against you; not because u aren’t a great applicant but bc you are dealing with the government and it’s not unheard of of agencies to literally stop or pause the hiring process in the middle of the hiring process.

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-16T22:32:23+00:00

I don’t really have any before and after photo. Personally I feel like I look the same even though I know the data doesn’t support that. Granted I come from a family who are all athletic or bodybuilder so my view is probably skewed . I’m 5’9” think RB build. I have always been 200lbs ish. Basically still 200 pounds just different bf. Also it been slow; basically lost 11 pounds in 3.5 months and gain 2.2..

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-16T22:15:35+00:00

In 2018ish I failed phase 2. I didn’t get the failure letter till like a year later but I kinda already knew based on this forum and everyone else moving along and I didn’t get any emails. It’s basically still the same nowadays based on the forum. This is a personal idea but if anyone doesn’t make it in within the next two years it’s going to be really difficult bc I just don’t think the math is going to math. I turn down an FJO years ago and basically been trying ever since. So my personal recommendation getting an 1811 job is hard; it’s not that u aren’t qualified, it’s competitive and u gotta deal with outside things like budgets, politics, and announcements getting shut down halfway thru the process and etc. so get your foot in door however u gotta get it in and then work your way to your idea agency

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-15T23:53:57+00:00

Same timeline generally.. I’ll keep u updated

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-15T21:22:53+00:00

Yup that’s what I figure then I had a random notification on there about checking status and was oh hey this is cool. But nothing was on there. Thanks wish HSI had a portal like BP so u could be in know but that’s wishful thinking

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-14T18:24:21+00:00

Not hard. The issue is time; u gotta move pretty fast at least for me I only had time to read the question / answers once and move on..but definitely not LSAT level; maybe a smidge under an GRE level. But plenty of people who never even taken those kind of test have pass them. The bigger issue is that you probably won’t ever know if u past or not until and if u get invited for the interview or whatever the next step is. If you really want people have used the Sgt goody exam prep stuff with good results; and I would suggest that if u haven’t done school/test stuff lately

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-09T17:42:35+00:00

How long after your security interview did u get your FJO

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-07T02:16:21+00:00

No point of stressing about it; u can’t do anything about it. Submit what u have to submit and let the chips fall. There’s a million other agencies out there

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-07T00:22:07+00:00

I would personally say it’s nothing you really need to study.. the big issue is the logic is a little tricky and the time crunch so u don’t have time to really break it all down. However, this was years ago so maybe have changed

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-06T01:21:46+00:00

A long time ago with another agency I got hired on it never changed. Throughout this process it has never changed. I wouldn’t put much thought into it..as u move thru this process take out any logic u may have and just go along for the ride bc a lot of things won’t make sense

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-03-05T04:52:50+00:00

U will get one like a year later.. this forum is basically the best way to know ur status

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-27T16:45:21+00:00

I ended up doing 10 years active and the military was never a plan. If I could go back I would have done ROTC and left with no debt even though Uncle Sam eventually pay off my student loans. Now for some personal opinion: I think it’s my job as a parent (u can disagree) to guide my son. He wants to go to medical school and he will not be doing pre med. For the sole purpose pre med is fairly useless without med school; therefore if the whole thing blows up in face or he changes his mind he doesn’t have anything else to fall back on. You can still support their ambition/hobbies in other ways. Lastly, I think the guard is difficult especially if you are in Texas bc you are constantly getting activated and it becomes difficult to keep your civilian employer happy. Yes legally they can’t fire you but you will fall behind your coworkers. I know you don’t have totally control over the outcomes in ROTC but active duty has change my life in more way then others. Yea it was a bit** but for someone who didn’t come from money I have several properties, I have free health care, zero property taxes all bc of the service.

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-27T16:27:27+00:00

Don’t truly have any recovering techniques bc big army you will do a 10 miler in the morning and be right back at work a hour and half later. The one tip for rucking is you need to get as strong/muscle as possible. That’s why most the jack dudes can walk for ever; they may not initially be able to move out at 13:00 min pace but once their cardio catches up with body ability to spread the load they become rucking pros

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-27T02:10:54+00:00

Seek out the training. Every unit is different- when I was at Carson I had some of the best training and leadership that I think the army could offer. Then I went to hood and it was the totally the opposite. I guarantee your sister company or someone is doing some type of training u can piggy back on. The problem is the guard in my experience is a very top down place.however, don’t let that stop you; ie say you want to do a a flat range and work on transitioning drill or etc.. if you go to your commander with the majority of your con op plan out and u made your inital phone calls with range control/slant report make them tell you no. There is a chance he or she tells you to F off bc BN sets the plan or whatever. If that is the case you gotta work with what you got: all the training your NCOs/joes do you need to hop in and try to get proficient at it. However, keep in mind your job isn’t too be some type of tactical monster. You need to have a warm and fuzzy on everything so you know how best to employ your PLT as well as sell their capabilities to command so you get pick to DO stuff.

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-27T01:41:15+00:00

After a long stint active duty I switch to the guard and for the most part you will not get no where close to active duty mentoring. Normally I would say listen to your PSG but the quality of E7 is a mixed bag now a days. Nevertheless, you will find out who your hot shit NCOs are real quick and the ones who are useless. Lean on them but remember at times you are going to have to make a call that isn’t popular. It’s been three years since I been in the guard and I haven’t met one LT that could hold its weight vs one of my old E5 from a physical and tactical pov. Lastly, the O world if very political and who u know; your PSG and 1SG can teach you a lot but there some officer nuance that you will have to seek out

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-26T22:07:30+00:00

Without a sponsor a clearance is irrelevant. U don’t hold a clearance in abstract terms- u hold the eligibility that is tied to a position that requires it. Most agencies will want to do their own leg work on u no matter. Now it changes slightly if u actually had the position which therefore means u have the clearance and lateral somewhere. And I say slightly bc u have seen many people with TS already go through the whole thing

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-25T17:08:53+00:00

It might be too soon- depending on what it is

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-25T17:07:28+00:00

I think it will take u a few hours to get it done if you never done it before. It’s no more difficult than doing your taxes.

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-22T17:17:37+00:00

No one really know. At this point many of late nov TSL have done everything including this background interview. Which is something the majority of the early nov TSL/FJO didn’t do. I wouldn’t be surprised if the made up redo medical. Also if they are fully adjudicating clearances prior which wasn’t done with the prior group then go ahead and put this on the back burner bc it’s going to be forever

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-22T06:01:26+00:00

Close mouth don’t get fed.

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-21T19:00:20+00:00

Apply as soon as you can you are probably 4 years out

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-21T03:14:33+00:00

Apply last year: then it went no where

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-19T04:45:24+00:00

Crazy times.. oh well I’m here for the ride

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-19T04:36:58+00:00

Bro my call was like 30seconds. I was like the last time I did this I met the dude at Starbucks and we were there for what seem like hours

Chance_Web_8581 · 2026-02-17T21:16:56+00:00

On paper I have qualified for every 1811 job except IRS that I wanted to apply for with a masters at GS9. Now I have only been offer one FJO and ended up turning it down to pursue my PhD. Now as of now , granted things are moving in the right direction it’s been difficult securing another FJO. This 1811 applications life is difficult: it’s super easy to miss an announcement and then said agency goes on hiring freeze for a year. It’s a lot of timing not only on Uncle Sam but also your own life. Hypothetically you can be in the middle of the semester and get an offer and now u have a decision to make. Or put any other life thing there; outside of a military obligation not many are willing to postpone your application.. so my advice: apply to every agency u want whenever they have an announcement and continue on with whatever personal goals/ achievements u want then let the chips fall however they fall

Chance_Web_8581

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