Federal job application vs. estranged family

June 28, 2010 6:16 PM

How does a U.S. government (NSA, CIA, FBI, etc.) job application background check work if you are estranged from your biological family?

Interested in applying for foreign language work with the government. The overviews of the background check process I've read all include parents/family members in the questioning process. I don't have anything to hide, but I have been estranged from my biological family over five years with no contact, and am part of a new family (but not legally-officially-adoptively so) and am wondering how this affects the process.

Will forms/interviews have a place to indicate this difference? Will I be able to chose between my estranged biological parents (who know little about me as an adult) and my new "parents" who can speak a lot about my adult years? (for example if a form just says "father" or "mother", can I put my non-biological equivalents down, or will that cause trouble?)

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (9 answers total)

When a friend went through this process, all of his listed contacts were questioned regarding where he lived and the duration. He dropped out before the entire background check was completed, though, and I don't know if they would have asked more elaborate questions had the process continued. Going by this (one, perhaps not representative) situation, they would probably contact your family to find out whatever addresses you had while living with them.
posted by phunniemee at 6:24 PM on June 28, 2010

Oh, and you should include both your biological and non biological families. They'll find out anyway; don't give them reason to think you're trying to hide something.
posted by phunniemee at 6:25 PM on June 28, 2010

A pal of mine went through a background check, and he had to list his immediate family, but none of them were contacted. A couple of neighbors, employers, and references were contacted, though -- which makes sense. Either way, family normally wouldn't be considered a very unbiased source of information, I would think. I think they more check family out for foreign ties, criminal backgrounds, etc. This was for top secret (SCI) clearance.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 6:28 PM on June 28, 2010

There's sections where you can "explain" stuff, particularly for just this sort of thing. Won't be an issue.
posted by Etrigan at 6:29 PM on June 28, 2010

Great link about the hiring process at the NSA posted here.
posted by mlis at 6:41 PM on June 28, 2010

Seconding that the background check generally just verifies the information written on the form and makes sure nothing obvious is wrong with the applicant. Obscuring/ignoring/hiding people who are in your background probably won't go well for the applicant.

I have no idea what they would do in that case, but it could vary from nothing to confirming those people exist to interviewing them.
posted by gjc at 7:19 PM on June 28, 2010

I think this depends on whether or not you are seeking any level of security clearance. The higher security clearance you need, the more likely they are to actually contact various of your contacts.

I think that the intent of the questions calls for you to put down your legal parents. If those are your bio parents, then you should put them down. If your new parents are not your legal parents (i.e. adoptive, or step, or custodial in any way) then don't put them down. Doing so may read as a shady attempt to conceal who your real parents are, or it may read as you failing to understand the intent of question (which isn't good for if you are seeking to be a translator).
posted by jabberjaw at 7:56 PM on June 28, 2010

You can also check this site to see cases that were appealed, and why they were eventually granted or denied clearance. This will give you a better sense as to what are red flags that investigators look for.

http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/doha/industrial/2010.html


Most of the cases deal with possible foreign ties (usually strong family ties with the Middle East or China) as well as financial issues (lots of debt is bad).
posted by jasonhong at 8:11 PM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Will forms/interviews have a place to indicate this difference? Will I be able to chose between my estranged biological parents (who know little about me as an adult) and my new "parents" who can speak a lot about my adult years? (for example if a form just says "father" or "mother", can I put my non-biological equivalents down, or will that cause trouble?)

I personally have been through this process. This is not from a website or a friend or a guess.

Record your biological parents as your parents. List your "parents" as "contacts." The investigators will then get in touch with your "contacts." I doubt they will go beyond verifying who you list as your biological parents are in fact who you say they are. Make sure you have current addresses and phone numbers for them.

Personally, I would not air complicated personal relationships in the forms they send you to fill out. You might explain the circumstances of your break with your biological parents during your face-to-face interview with the investigator.

However, if the drama-- excuse the assumptions loaded into that term-- of your past with your family is irrelevant to your life now, and happened when you were a teenager, or in your early twenties, I'd gloss over it, especially since it occurred more than five years ago.

You're way better off having your "parents" as "contacts" who can vouch for your character and details of your recent life.

Also, I'd avoid calling your new "parents" "parents" on the forms and certainly not in any interviews. It's kind of weird. Stick to mentor, close friends, something like that.

You want to convey that you're grounded and have what the state would consider vanilla relations with people around you. Don't use the interviews as a confessional. I'm not saying you would, but these things can get emotional, and are designed to get you emotional, and it's best to be prepared to avoid falling into that trap, so to speak.

Having said all that, if your natal family or "adopted family" comes from a foreign country, not just one in the Middle East or China, any foreign country, all bets are off. Expect the process to be long and drawn out.
posted by vincele at 6:59 AM on June 29, 2010