Clearance Eligibility Assessment Report (CLEAR)

CLEAR gives employers more confidence in their hiring decisions when filling jobs that require eligibility for a national security clearance, public trust position, or HSPD-12 credentialing (clearance).  CLEAR evaluates a job applicant’s answers to a FEDCAS Eligibility Questionnaire and provides a simple rating of their probability of receiving a temporary (formerly interim) and a final Government clearance without revealing the nature of any underlying issues in the CLEAR or to the prospective employer.  This is like receiving a person’s credit score without information from the credit report.  This overcomes the restrictions imposed by many state and federal regulations that prohibit employers from asking job applicants certain pre-employment questions, the answers to which might negatively affect their ability to receive the clearance required for the job.

Employers can enter into an agreement to have FEDCAS prepare a CLEAR for their job applicants who are being considered for a position that requires a federal clearance and pay for the cost of the CLEAR.  Alternatively, employers can recommend that a job applicant purchase a CLEAR directly from FEDCAS and agree to reimburse the applicant for the cost of the CLEAR, provided the CLEAR meets their minimum requirements.

A job applicant completes a FEDCAS Eligibility Questionnaire and submits it directly to FEDCAS for evaluation.  FEDCAS evaluates the questionnaire, prepares a CLEAR, and provides it to the candidate.  If the CLEAR is unfavorable and it appears that it may be possible to improve the CLEAR rating, FEDCAS will offer the applicant a detailed report that identifies the potentially disqualifying conditions and possible ways of mitigating those conditions.  FEDCAS can issue a revised CLEAR, if the applicant identifies and articulates potentially mitigating conditions (with or without FEDCAS assistance) that were not in the FEDCAS Eligibility Questionnaire. The applicant decides whether to submit the CLEAR (or revised CLEAR) to the prospective employer.  The prospective employer uses the CLEAR for making an employment decision.

The CLEAR is written for a specific type and level of clearance.  If a prospective employer pays for the CLEAR, marking can be included in the CLEAR restricting its use.  If the applicant pays for the CLEAR, it will not contain any restrictive markings, and the applicant may present it to multiple prospective employers to improve their probability of receiving a job offer.