Can the Clearance Process Deliver a Better Customer Experience?

Who are the 'customers' who are a part of the security clearance process? And does the government consider the stakeholders involved in the security clearance process in a way that could improve the security vetting enterprise? A recent report from the RAND Corporation dives into the candidate experience journey and how it applies to personnel vetting. David Stebbins, political scientist and Rich Girven, senior international defense researcher, chatted with ClearanceJobs about the process of getting a security clearance and best practices in candidate experience. Simple expectations like hearing back or having a status update on your security clearance are aspects of the process that aren't taking place today. Another obstacle is the disparity between the private sector and how quickly they're able to onboard, along with vast differences just between agencies in how they update (or ignore) applicants.