(This show originally aired on November 10, 2017)

This week on “Fed Access”, Evan Lesser, founder and president of ClearanceJobs.com, joins host Derrick Dortch to talk about the security clearance backlog and how delays in the process are impacting the ability of federal agencies to fill open positions.

Lesser says it currently takes 501 days for a job seeker to get a top secret security clearance. The process for secret clearances is 260 days. Currently there are about 700,000 people awaiting a security clearance.

According to Lesser, moving the process to the National Background Investigations Bureau, hasn’t cut down on the delays which he says are hampering the government’s ability to hire highly in-demand security talent.

He says federal agencies are having to compete with the private sector for these workers and are losing them because of the backlog.

Lesser also talks about insider threats and what the government is doing to stop them. One proposal he says would involve the continuous monitoring of cleared workers.

Finally he explains how your social media account can affect your chances of getting a security clearance.