Is it ethical to leave a position soon after getting TS/SCI clearance?

Question

I started a job a bit more than a year ago, and about 2 months in I begun my TS/SCI clearance process. I applied to a Masters program 6 months afterward. I found out I got accepted a few months after applying, around March or so. I was going to give my two weeks notice (I'm an at will employee) very soon to start my Masters, but my clearance just came through. Now I'm not sure what to do, as I feel leaving only a month after receiving a clearance is unethical.

Some notes and my thoughts:

• I am a software engineer. 99.9% of this job is unclassified, I don't even really understand why I was required to get my clearance. So during the past year and a half I have been able to contribute to the project with no problems. It's not like I sat around doing nothing while getting paid.
• I felt at first it doesn't matter if I leave because it's a similar situation to leaving after getting a bonus, and the clearance investigation only costs about $5000. But the clearance process took me almost 9 months, and I feel that is not fair to the company. I heard from coworkers that a big part of a clearance is ethics and character, and if I wanted to get a clearance again in the future this might not fare well.
• I do not want to get a masters while working, many people have suggested that but it's not something I am interested in. I have already been accepted to an in-person (well... hybrid due to COVID-19) program.
• Yes, I can reapply next year but would like to avoid that if possible, as I have been trying to get my masters for 4 years now but every year there is something new that prevents me from getting it.
• The school is a few thousand miles away from the job, so working while going to school is not possible

Answer 1

No, it is not unethical.

Do you think the company would have any qualms about firing you or laying you off if it were advantageous to them, even if it were very inconvenient for you? You could give up this chance to start your masters, tell them about it, and they might let you go tomorrow because that's what makes sense for them. They wouldn't think twice about it. Neither should you.

You owe your company work for the hours they pay you and anything else you agreed to in your contract (if anything). Nothing more, nothing less. Give your company notice so they can find a replacement (which is likely more than they'd do for you), then do what's best for you with a clear conscience. Chances are $5000 is a drop in the bucket compared to everything else they've spent on you anyway, and I'm sure they didn't have someone constantly working on it for nine months, that's just the government taking forever to do its part. Don't sweat it.

It is possible someone will be upset about this decision, and that person may block you from being hired again or might badmouth you in the future. Personally I wouldn't want to work with someone so petty anyway, but if you're concerned about this to the point where it might change your mind, you could try talking with your manager. It's a risk though, because if you do tell them then decide to postpone it, you are essentially telling them you'll be quitting in a year, which isn't going to be good for your career either. Maybe you meet regularly about career goals and you could float grad school as something you've been wanting to do and see if their reaction is generally supportive or not. I personally wouldn't worry about it though, you aren't doing anything wrong, so it's not likely to haunt you. It's not going to be a scandal that people gossip about across the industry or anything crazy like that.

Answer 2

I don't think ethics is the primary concern. You need to consider what you can get from your Master's degree compared to what you can get with a security clearance. An active security clearance is worth a lot in software engineering. As a 20 year professional, I have had one coworker with a Master's. As a former holder of a security clearance (TS/SCI) prior to being a software developer, I have never stopped kicking myself over letting it lapse.

Answer 3

As the others have said, no it is not unethical, however; you are likely short-changing yourself long-term if you don't maintain the clearance. Cleared professionals tend to make a premium over non-cleared professionals. Additionally, you basically have lifelong job security with this one credential. Ageism is a real thing, especially in tech. A clearance is a great insurance policy to have in that regard. You've mentioned you do not want to do the masters while working - maybe see if your company will let you work part time a small amount if only to maintain the clearance. They can bill for more than a regular worker and also you are a cleared (and better educated) resource for them still when you graduate - assuming you still would like to work with them.

Answer 4

I agree with the other answers that it is not unethical, however there is another tack you could consider.

Given the economic uncertainty with Covid 19, the company may welcome the opportunity not to pay you for a year while you do your masters, and then re-employ you as someone they already know and who already knows their systems as the economic situation improves. It is unlikely they would commit to this in writing, but if you intend to return to work rather than stay in academia then this approach may work out nicely for both you and the company. Probably the best you could hope for is a "get in contact with us when you have finished your Masters and we will see what the situation is" but at least it would leave a door open rather than burn bridges.

Of course this highly depends on your future intentions and the company's intentions and financial position, so you have to make a judgement, but if it looks plausible then I do not see what you have to lose by talking this through with your manager / HR department - you are going to leave anyway.

Answer 5

Short answer: No. Not unless there is a real or implied deal that if they got you your clearance, you'd continue to work for them.

More nuanced answer:

While not unethical, it may not be the wisest move either. Why leave a job to go for a masters for the possibility of a job later? See if there is a way for you to continue to work for them while pursuing your master's degree.

You may also consider that they may not take it well, and that you could end up blacklisted from that company, and if your industry is one where there are existing whisper networks, you could end up limiting yourself down the line.

Weigh the pros and cons, then make your decision

Answer 6

Now I'm not sure what to do, as I feel leaving only a month after receiving a clearance is unethical.

No it's not. Sometimes timing may not be the best, but surely not something unethical to do (it's your career anyways).

Furthermore, I see few chances that this could be seen negatively on your resume, if you decide to include this job, as you state that you have been there for more than a year (which, in the eyes of some recruiters, will not raise any flags or make you look like a job-hopper).

I also doubt this could affect you negatively if/when trying to get a clearance again in the future... (if any having already obtained one could help getting one in the future to be faster? I'm not an expert on this aspect though...so take this paragraph with a grain of salt).

Besides, you've already postponed your Master studies for 4 years now... getting a chance like this may not come again quite easily. After you complete your Masters you can always try to reapply to this company if you want to.

However, what I do recommend, is to check your contract if there is anything you should consider or have in mind regarding your Clearance, to be sure there is nothing legally or contractually binding you or some condition you agreed upon getting the clearance (for example, imagine that your contract stated that when you got clearance you compromise to stay for at least X months in the company).

Answer 7

I am a software engineer. 99.9% of this job is unclassified, I don't even really understand why I was required to get my clearance. So during the past year and a half I have been able to contribute to the project with no problems. It's not like I sat around doing nothing while getting paid.

In most cases the clearance is only because you're in an area that may have whatever security level you're cleared for. Generally speaking, I never heard of someone cleared actually working on something that is not unclassified. So your situation is not unique. Just note that you need a clearance and need-to-know requirement before you can access such material. So it's not like a TS guy can access any TS stuff.

Now I'm not sure what to do, as I feel leaving only a month after receiving a clearance is unethical.

Here's the problem: having the ability to get cleared for a TS/SCI clearance is somewhat of a demand item. At my company, there is a big referral bonus for people who can refer people and get them to clear a TS/SCI. The fact is your clearance is active for 5 years, if I remember right so that means from now until 5 years later, you can reactive your security clearance. When you leave somewhere, the company would request the government deactivate your clearance, then when you get a new job, and you're still before the activation date, the company can ask the government to reactive your clearance. So if you complete your masters in 2 years, you can come right back to where you work and get the clearance activated again. As a matter of fact, you'll probably find government type jobs much easier than most as a lot of places want you to get cleared.

As far as if it is ethical, I don't think so unless you signed some sort of contract that says you'll work someplace for X number of years. As I said earlier, you're a demand item so that works to their favor that you're kept there. That also means that they'll probably try to keep you around if you plan to leave. I'm betting since you feel guilty they'll go that route rather than throw more money at you.

With that in mind, I don't think the relationship between you and your employer is exactly one sided. They want you there because you passed a TS/SCI that is somewhat hard to come by, and you want to go elsewhere to pursue your goals. I recommend that you take the approach of your goals rather than sticking around to be used for a contract.

Plus it sounds like you didn't just stayed around for a month. The TS investigation probably took about a year and you probably worked with a interm clearance. So you still worked at your security level, just not fully cleared.

Answer 8

Re: Can this impact your ability to get a clearance in the future.

Here are some explanations from ClearedJobs.net (the full explanation is longer, but I am just pulling the most relevant parts):

The purpose of a polygraph is to determine, to the greatest extent possible, whether or not any given applicant can be trusted with sensitive information.

A Counter Intelligence polygraph asks the candidate questions limited to the subject’s allegiance to the United States. The questions are based on foreign contacts, foreign associations, etc.

A Lifestyle Polygraph asks the candidate questions that concern the individual’s personal life ... A Lifestyle polygraph attempts to look for issues in a person’s private life for that which he or she might be blackmailed.

So the first set of questions is basically will you actively give away secured information, for example if you were loyal to another country to the extent that you would give that other country secured information.

The second set of questions is if you can be pressured into giving secured information away. If you can be blackmailed or if your financial circumstances are so dire that you can be bribed.

Your situation does not directly fall into either of those categories, unless there is some other circumstance (for example, if becoming a student will cause financial hardship for you, or you intend to go to school in, e.g., North Korea).

There is a third way that this could possibly impact you: The only way to get a clearance investigation is for a company to first sponsor you for one (and they need to specifically have a cleared job that you will need it for). So if no company is willing to sponsor you, that would be a problem. But the contracting world is pretty understanding of job changes (especially if you show you can stick with your next thing for a longer time) and your previous ability to get a clearance is actually a good sign that you can get one again. Even better would be if you could find a minimum amount of work to keep your existing clearance current, because people with existing clearances are extremely useful (they can put you on a project right away instead of waiting).

Answer 9

I haven't confronted exactly this issue, and never interfaced with security clearances. But I'll recommend that you focus on your long-term goals.

It seems like the security clearance thing was foisted upon you without any desire on your part.

• You say you never understood why it was required.
• You've been successful at your engineering job for over a year without it.
• In comments you say you want to get out of your current industry.
• In other comments you say you're unconvinced of the economic value of the clearance.

On the other hand, the master's degree program is something that you've apparently desired for quite some time:

• You say you've been trying to get in for 4 years.
• You say every year there has been some problem blocking that.

First advantage: It's great that you have long-term goals (like the master's degree). That gives focus. Not everyone even has that, it's a huge advantage.

Now, plans can change, absolutely. If some opportunity came up that was clearly advantageous, like a multi-million-dollar opportunity when you're young (among other examples), one should absolutely weigh that and consider if one's priorities haven't changed. This is definitely a time when you should be evaluating the value of the security-clearance job security and whether that changes your long-term goals. Is the master's degree still important to you? Has your understanding of what that will do for you changed in the last few years?

But that having been said, it is way too easy in life to get misdirected off one's life goals for a short-term security, and never be able to get back. Speaking personally, all of my regrets in life revolve around not making concrete plans around a desired long-term goal like that. Arguably, the best we can do is to prepare ourselves to take advantage of opportunities in life when they pop up, at times that we can't predict. You have that opportunity now (for the master's degree).

So personally I would recommend that you run at your long-term goal as hard as possible, given the current opportunity. It's not unethical to do that. You know this was something you were pursuing even before the current job. Don't let the needs and environment of the current employer distract you from that. Either one of these opportunities may never come again (the master's program, and the security clearance). You need to clearly decide for yourself which is your higher priority. Then go after it, hard, right now.

Answer 10

You've been trying to get into a master's program for longer than you've been at this company, and now you've done it. Congratulations - go get your degree. You owe this company nothing. You've done their work for the past nearly-two-years, they've paid your salary the past past nearly-two-years. All debts are paid off and everyone's square.

Will they try to "guilt" you into staying? Almost certainly. Apparently this has worked with you in the past, as you say "...every year there is something new that prevents me from getting it". Stop giving in to these "other" pressures - whoever's doing this to you is behaving selfishly and just wants you to do whatever it is they want. Time for you to go do what you want.

There are always pressures for you to avoid doing things that you want. But "We just paid for a background investigation, and now that money will be wasted!" on the part of your employer is not a valid reason. That's a cost of doing business, and in the end it'll be a write-off on their taxes.

Go get your degree.

Answer 11

From a company's POV they don't owe you anything: Each time they pay you the slate is clean and all debts are paid off. To have a mutually respectful relationship you must adopt their thinking on that. Whatever of value they give you is for your past work. Not a reward for future work. So you are ethically free to leave anytime.

Now, if you signed a contract that says you owe them money for a certain time period that is different and you have to abide by the contract (or buy your way out of it with cash).