John D.

5 things I see candidates doing wrong on ClearanceJobs (and how to fix them) 👇 I review profiles and applications on ClearanceJobs regularly. And the same mistakes keep showing up. If you’re in the defense, space, or cyber space and wondering why you’re not getting callbacks this might be why. 1. Your clearance level isn’t clearly listed. Hiring managers filter by clearance first. If yours isn’t visible, you’re being filtered out before anyone reads a single line of your resume. Make it the first thing they see. 2. You’re applying to roles outside your clearance scope. Know the difference between Secret, TS, and TS/SCI and search accordingly. Applying too broadly wastes your time and won’t get you far if the requirement doesn’t match what you hold. 3. Your profile reads like a job description, not an accomplishment list. “Responsible for managing IT systems” tells a recruiter nothing. “Reduced system downtime by 30% supporting a 500 person DOD installation” tells them everything. Quantify your impact wherever you can. 4. You left your availability status blank. Recruiters want to know if you’re actively looking or open to opportunities. If that field is empty, we move on. It takes 10 seconds to update, it’s worth it. 5. Your resume isn’t tailored to the cleared space. Reference contract vehicles, agencies you’ve supported, and programs you’ve worked on within what’s unclassified. Show that you understand this world because generic resumes don’t land cleared roles. The cleared job market is competitive, but a lot of it comes down to presentation. Small fixes can make a big difference. If this was helpful, share it with someone in your network who’s navigating the cleared job search right now. And if you have questions or want me to go deeper on any of these drop them in the comments. I’m happy to help. 🤍 #ClearedJobs #DefenseRecruiting #SecurityClearance #JobSearchTips #TalentAcquisition #ClearanceJobs #CareerAdvice #CyberSecurity #SpaceIndustry

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Just getting out of the military and working on your first resume? This YPN blog post has helpful tips to translate your experience and land that first civilian GIS job 🗺️ https://ow.ly/bIh350W3w1C

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INTERESTED IN A POSITION WITH THE STATE OF WA? Here’s what you should know about the state’s competency-based hiring approach: 🔍 Competency-Based Hiring Overview • Focus on Skills and Abilities: Washington State emphasizes evaluating candidates based on demonstrated skills and competencies rather than solely on formal education credentials. • Inclusive Recruitment: The approach aims to create a more inclusive workforce by recognizing diverse experiences and backgrounds. 📄 Job Application Insights • Degree Requirements: Agencies are instructed to remove degrees as the sole qualification for jobs unless legally mandated. Alternative qualifications, such as relevant experience or certifications, are considered. • Competency-Based Job Descriptions: Job postings focus on the essential skills and abilities required for the role, providing a clearer picture of job expectations. 🧠 Interview Process • Behavioral Interview Questions: Interviews are structured to assess how candidates have demonstrated key competencies in past experiences. • Diverse Interview Panels: To reduce bias, interview panels are composed of individuals with varied backgrounds and perspectives. 📚 Additional Resources • Competency-Based Hiring Resources: The state provides resources, including sample competencies and interview questions, to help candidates prepare. • Anti-Bias Training: Training is offered to ensure fair and equitable hiring practices across agencies. For more detailed information and resources, visit: https://lnkd.in/gqdn9c6N

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I grew up in Nevada, so it’s encouraging to see the State of Nevada, Governor's Technology Office move from inconsistent, “bespoke” data handling to a single statewide data classification policy built for today’s AI and cyber reality. The new framework sets four clear tiers—public, sensitive, confidential, restricted—so meeting notes aren’t protected like encryption keys, and resident data isn’t treated “with the same low level of security… as a press release.” The urgency is real: after last May’s ransomware incident, Nevada’s leaders put guardrails where they belong—up front—so agencies can set consistent vendor expectations and share data safely across government. As one official put it, “if you don’t know what’s sensitive, you can’t really protect it consistently,” and Nevada is positioning classification as the foundation for stronger safeguards like MFA, enhanced logging, encryption standards aligned with federal requirements, and broader security modernization. #Cybersecurity #DataGovernance #ResponsibleAI #GovTech #Nevada

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As a prior recruiter & someone that works with milspouses and transitioning military every day that are looking for employment, here 👇 are some recommendations: Do your research. 🔷 For milspouses overseas, connect with your installation employment program POC and inquire about a local contractor list. Look on USA Jobs. Have both a corporate and federal resume ready to go. 🔷 For service members, if you are planning to stay OCONUS, do the same. 🔷 Either way though – look up companies you’re interested in that have jobs in your desired field; learn more about their organizations, their culture; reach out to professionals in those organizations and try to secure some informational interviews. 👉 These interviews will really help you understand what the day-to-day life looks like, what the work/life balance is, what opportunities there are for growth, what certifications you can be working on now to help you be more marketable, etc. AND help you make a great impression with someone who may potentially be able to help you in the future (i.e. EMPLOYEE REFERRAL, which can help get you the INTERVIEW). Be prepared. 🔷 Research behavioral-based interview questions. 🔷 Think about scenarios and experiences you’ve had throughout your career that you can share to highlight your character. 🔷 Practice answering in the STAR format. 🔷 Use AI – paste the job posting into your favorite AI tool and ask for 10-20 possible interview questions you may get asked based on that job. 🔷 Use your resources – the #USOTransitions program has a free interview prep tool. Hire Heroes USA has Specialists that can do mock interviews with you. Your ACP mentor can conduct mock interviews with you and potentially have some of their peers or coworkers do the same. Have questions for them. 🔷 Show you’ve done your homework – have questions prepared for your interviewer(s). 🔷 People like talking about themselves, so even if you just ask them, “What do you love most about working for X organization?” that will work. 🔷 They’ll answer and share about their experience. It will give you insight into them and their organization. But you can also ask questions about what their ideal candidate looks like, what challenges someone will have coming on board in the organization, what training and onboarding looks like, what their leadership style is, how they would describe their culture, etc. Follow up. ‼️ Always thank people for their time and consideration. 🔷 I used to think this was a given until I was a recruiter and realized how many people don’t do this. 🔷 Sending a thank you note leaves a positive impression and, while it won’t make or break how you did in the interview, it can definitely seal the deal and confirm their decision. The fact is – that person or those people took the time to connect with you. Thank them. 

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Fail of Fame: ClearanceJobs.com 1. CSP set to “Please Hack Me” default-src * blob: data: 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval' • This is the CSP equivalent of leaving your front door open with a neon “WELCOME” sign. • Allows any script from anywhere, runs any inline code, and even executes arbitrary strings with eval(). • Impact: Any XSS bug instantly becomes full account compromise, data theft, or drive-by malware. No browser-side safety net at all. 2. CORS Misconfiguration From Hell Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *.clearancejobs.com + Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true • Wildcard origins aren’t valid with credentials — browsers should ignore it, but backend logic could still misapply it. • If improperly enforced server-side, this could let a malicious subdomain read authenticated API responses. • Impact: Potential data leakage of personal info, resumes, or job activity from logged-in users. 3. Permissions-Policy? Referrer-Policy? COOP/CORP? Nope. • Zero modern isolation headers to reduce the blast radius of a compromise. • Impact: Easy clickjacking, over-sharing of referral data, and no site isolation to contain injected code. 4. Audience Risk Profile Off the Charts • The user base isn’t random shoppers — it’s people with active or pending security clearances, working in defense, intel, and government. • Impact: An XSS or session theft here isn’t just personal inconvenience — it’s an espionage goldmine. 5. CloudFront Popcorn Machine • Sitting behind AWS CloudFront, so an attacker only needs one injection point in any origin server to serve malicious code globally in minutes. • Impact: Massive scale, instant reach, global compromise in one hit. 6. No Defense in Depth • No content isolation, no sandboxing, no enforced HTTPS beyond HSTS, and no selective resource loading. • Impact: Everything depends on backend code being flawless — and backend code is never flawless. Translation: Right now, any competent attacker who finds a small injection or misconfig on ClearanceJobs.com could: • Steal logins and personal data from people with active clearances. • Pivot to spear-phishing campaigns targeting high-value individuals. • Potentially harvest sensitive employment history that could be used for foreign intelligence targeting. Source:

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Federal professionals are not “overqualified.” They’re often highly situationally aware and experienced in complex environments. Decades in public service build judgment under scrutiny, compliance fluency, and crisis-tested decision-making. Those skills don’t disappear after a RIF. The challenge isn’t growth. It’s that many hiring systems aren’t designed to evaluate experience developed outside the private sector. This isn’t about shrinking to fit a box. It’s about translating capability so organizations can deploy it effectively. Federal workers shouldn’t carry that burden alone. Organizations also need better ways to assess and use this level of experience in decision-making roles. Let’s open the conversation: 🔹 Hiring leaders — what helps federally experienced professionals translate clearly in your organization? 🔹 Federal professionals — where has your experience been misunderstood or well used? #HiringManagers #FederalWorkforce #TalentStrategy #WorkforceTransition #CareerContinuity #HousingStability

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The federal government will only accept 2-page resumes starting in September to help streamline the job application and hiring processes. See below for more details.

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