Background check - adjudication?

[Bill75]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post but I'm a long-term lurker.     Anyway, I have a question or two I'm hoping y'all can help me with. 

I applied for a position with SNC which requires UA.  I did physical, FFD, background and MMPI.  Today, someone called me and left a message saying that they needed to talk with me about a couple of companies that showed up on my credit report and that they need to adjudicate.  What the he%% does that mean?

I did have a bankruptcy five years ago but the security folks at the plant didn't think it would hurt me?  What could they want to adjudicate??  BTW - the call came from some outside firm - not SNC. 

So, if anyone can shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it. 

Also, does the outside company determine UA clearance or do they just supply info to SNC security who determines access?

Thanks so much!

Bill

[co60slr]

I applied for a position with SNC which requires UA.  I did physical, FFD, background and MMPI.  Today, someone called me and left a message saying that they needed to talk with me about a couple of companies that showed up on my credit report and that they need to adjudicate.  What the he%% does that mean?

I did have a bankruptcy five years ago but the security folks at the plant didn't think it would hurt me?  What could they want to adjudicate??  BTW - the call came from some outside firm - not SNC. 

I think Utilities do this differently; however, handing your clearance application off to a "security contractor" is certainly not uncommon.  I don't think any utility does the background check themselves.   So, that part sounds "as expected".

Getting called about your application after it's submitted is also expected.  If you have credit "red flags", which I'm sure you do, you can probably expect people to ask you to clarify (i.e., adjudicate) some things.  Also not unexpected.

You're entitled to one free credit report per year.   Go to one of the big 3 company's web sites and you can review your credit report for yourself.  You should be very familiar with your open accounts, any negative comments on your report, etc.

Personally, I subscribe to a monthly monitoring service (about $5/month) and I get an email saying that "there have been no adverse/negative comments on any of your credit reports".   Additionally, I can download a report anytime I choose to review it.

If you're able to intelligently discuss your own credit report with these people, it seems you should then be "one step ahead" of them....right?   Otherwise, if there are negative comments on your report that you're unaware of, then you'll have to catch up to the investigators and try to "tap dance" your way around the new information.

Don't let yourself be surprised during a security investigation...and more importantly, don't surprise the investigators!

In short, the fact that they're calling you doesn't mean anything...yet.

[tselby]

Bill

Co60 is right on, i dont know of any company that does their own security investigations,,,, additionally pay the extra for the credit report,,,,,,, and know it,, so if and when they call you will have the answer already in hand...........

Don't be alarmed this is normal and all apart of the process..........

count yourself lucky you're not going for a DOE "Q" or "L" clearance ,,, then you would be subject to a much more intense investigation and a lie detector test...............

my "Q" took 12months to get because of backlog

[Bill75]

Thanks,

The first thing that I did this evening was pull my credit reports.  No surprises.  I only have seven creditors right now for mortgage, student loans and credit cards.  No late payments for almost four years. 

This is too nerve-wracking!
Bill

[tselby]

Thanks,

The first thing that I did this evening was pull my credit reports.  No surprises.  I only have seven creditors right now for mortgage, student loans and credit cards.  No late payments for almost four years. 

This is too nerve-wracking!
Bill

Bill it is normal,,, dont let it get to you,,,, the process just takes time............... sit back put the game on and drink a beer..

it will all be fine

[Graphic]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post but I'm a long-term lurker.     Anyway, I have a question or two I'm hoping y'all can help me with. 

I applied for a position with SNC which requires UA.  I did physical, FFD, background and MMPI.  Today, someone called me and left a message saying that they needed to talk with me about a couple of companies that showed up on my credit report and that they need to adjudicate.  What the he%% does that mean?

I did have a bankruptcy five years ago but the security folks at the plant didn't think it would hurt me?  What could they want to adjudicate??  BTW - the call came from some outside firm - not SNC. 

So, if anyone can shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it. 

Also, does the outside company determine UA clearance or do they just supply info to SNC security who determines access?

Thanks so much!

Bill

Bill, I responded to your PM but I will respond here for you as well. Basically the reason they want to know about the companies that show up on your credit report is to see if they are companies that need to be verified if they are within the scope of their investigation. If you have never worked nuclear and have no criminal history then you have to do a 3 year background as far as work history goes. In other words if you hired in today you would have to go back to 11-19-2007. Every job within the past year has to be verified. The two years prior to that the longest claimed employment in each month has to be verified. (When you are dealing with craft workers such as boilermakers etc. these people work 2-3 day jobs a lot of times and might work for 5 different companies in one month)

So that's the reason they are asking just to make sure it is something you did not forget to list in your paperwork and it's something they dont need to verify, essentially covering their own tails. Addresses also show up on your credit that you may not have listed in your paperwork. They also will ask you about these if they are within the past 7 years only because it's required to ask. You would be surprised at what people don't realize on their credit.

As far as the credit goes the biggest thing they are looking for are current tax liens or judgments in large amounts. Everyone has financial difficulties at some point in their lives and they aren't going to deny you just because you've had difficulties. It all ties in together if you have a big criminal history and owe 50k in federal taxes then you probably will get denied. But if you have a pretty clean criminal background and you have just had a few difficulties along the way.. whether it is a repo or a bankruptcy .. that isn't going to get you denied.

Being honest and upfront is the best policy all the time.

[Graphic]

I think Utilities do this differently; however, handing your clearance application off to a "security contractor" is certainly not uncommon.  I don't think any utility does the background check themselves.   So, that part sounds "as expected".

Getting called about your application after it's submitted is also expected.  If you have credit "red flags", which I'm sure you do, you can probably expect people to ask you to clarify (i.e., adjudicate) some things.  Also not unexpected.

You're entitled to one free credit report per year.   Go to one of the big 3 company's web sites and you can review your credit report for yourself.  You should be very familiar with your open accounts, any negative comments on your report, etc.

Personally, I subscribe to a monthly monitoring service (about $5/month) and I get an email saying that "there have been no adverse/negative comments on any of your credit reports".   Additionally, I can download a report anytime I choose to review it.

If you're able to intelligently discuss your own credit report with these people, it seems you should then be "one step ahead" of them....right?   Otherwise, if there are negative comments on your report that you're unaware of, then you'll have to catch up to the investigators and try to "tap dance" your way around the new information.

Don't let yourself be surprised during a security investigation...and more importantly, don't surprise the investigators!

In short, the fact that they're calling you doesn't mean anything...yet.

You would be surprised a lot of utilities do their own backgrounds. A lot have the contractors do the backgrounds for their own workers I.E Williams Plant Services does all backgrounds for Craft hiring in to the SNC plants. But they don't do backgrounds for SNC workers the corporate office for SNC in Birmingham does their backgrounds. Williams background investigators do the backgrounds and send all findings to SNC Corporate Security who makes the final decision on whether or not they will be given UA or not. They also do not have the power to deny anyone based on their credit. Again, they just report the findings and a credit statement from applicant to corporate. If corporate deems it necessary to have their own interview with the guy they may. If it's bad enough they will deny him. However, I've only seen maybe 10-15 people get denied based on credit alone in  2 years working the field if that says anything. That's probably over 10k backgrounds in that time frame between 12-15 plants.

[Bill75]

Thanks everyone for your answers and support.  I was stressing for nothing I tell ya.  One of the companies that I worked for a few years ago changed their name and it didn't match with what I had put on the PHQ.  Just a short conversation to clear that up.   

I still haven't heard anything about the other parts of the backgroud but since I don't drink or do drugs and have never been arrested, I think the hard part is over.   

Thanks again everyone.  Y'all are the best!!!