I was recently solicited for a job opening at ORNL as a senior software developer by someone (unknown by me) who actually works there (UT-Batelle) and found my resume online. I am very qualified for the position, but do not believe I will be able to obtain the clearance as stated in the position detail requirements:
"Successful candidate must be able to obtain a Q clearance."
1. In 1998, I was convicted of a federal felony for Bank Fraud. Actually I stole $5k while working as a teller; turned myself in, never went to jail but spent 4 years on supervised probation. I was 22 yrs old.
2. Same year (my life was a mess), discharged from the Army National Guard for failing a urinalysis (marijuana) with a General Dischatrge Under Honorable Conditions (in between an Honorable and Dishonorable).
3. No legal trouble since then (other than a few speeding tickets); returned to college and completed my B.S. Computer Science in 2002.
4. Recently divorced (2 yrs ago) - no children
5. Too much credit card debt ($28k) (not all my fault - from divorce). Credit scores range from 629-675 among the three bureaus.
6. Been in my industry now for 10 years currently employed by a major large construction corporation making $100k+.
7. Spent 4 years working on a DoD contract for PACOM and the Pentagon (clearance was never required for software developers as it was the data contained within the applications that was secret - not the applications themselves).
8. No illegal drug use in nearly 5 years now
What I'm wondering is whether or not I should even bother to apply for this position. I feel that my life has completely changed since my conviction and things are fine except for my debt load but have been paying it down for over a year now (more than 30% unsecured has been paid in the last 10 months).
"Successful candidate must be able to obtain a Q clearance." -- seems to indicate "please don't apply for this position if you're not sure you can get the clearance".
Thoughts anyone?
I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this question, but I hate seeing opportunities in my life locked out to me because of what I did when I was 22. Lots of growing up between then and 35.
Thanks for your time.