I am currently a Computer Forensics student that will be graduating at the beginning of May 2011. I am also a Canadian citizen that has been living in the US for 18 years and I have just recently applied for US citizenship. In the past few weeks, I have been browsing job applications and have thrown my hat into the ring on a few openings that don't require US Citizenship.
My question is whether or not I should be applying for jobs that require US citizenship and if they ask, I can simply tell them that the application is in the final stages, which it is. I would prefer not to hold off as all the other upcoming graduates are currently applying for jobs, as well, and I don't want to be the last one to the party, so to speak. I have my citizenship interview coming up soon and should definitely have it before February.
My current thought process is that I am applying for jobs that require a degree and I don't have that yet either. Would citizenship not be a similar situation?
Is it just citizenship, or does it require a clearance also? You may want to check the period of time after you acquire citizenship before you're eligible to get a clearance.
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I'm not sure how long the process is, but I have heard it can take a while. If you choose to do so then Welcome aboard. We could use a few more people earning an honest living and throwing something back into the kitty.
Some may disagree, but I don't believe you can hurt yourself by getting your resume out there even if you are waiting to finish your degree. Best of luck!
[removed by mod]
This statement is inappropriate and has no place in a forensics forum, or any other type of forum.
This statement is inappropriate and has no place in a forensics forum, or any other type of forum.
Agreed.
@hcso1510 - first and final warning.
I don't see any reason not to apply for jobs that require citizenship so long as you are reasonably sure it will happen at a certain point in time.
You can explain the citizenship situation in a cover letter and I'd also put something on your resume that says something to the effect that you expect to obtain citizenship at X date.
Tony brings up a good point also. I have no idea how security clearances work with naturalized citizens, but that would be something you'd want to explore since there are a lot of nifty cleared jobs in digital forensics here in the United States. No reason to shut yourself out of them if you can quality for a clearance at some point in the future.
Maybe the US government is concerned about you helping the ravaging Canadian hordes stream across the border for a War of 1812 redo. )
I have no idea how security clearances work with naturalized citizens…
Legally, naturalized citizens are citizens and treated just as any other citizen with respect to security clearances, however, many of the issues raised in a security clearance background check involve relationships to foreign nationals, undue influences, statements or actions taken against the US, recent lifestyle changes, etc. These issues are no different that those which face natural born citizens but they can be problematic, especially for newly naturalized citizens.
Also, there is the issue of the chicken and the egg. As an individual, one can't apply for security clearance. Instead, you apply and are granted clearance via a sponsoring organization. Those organizations, public and private, may have the need for someone who either has clearance or who can be cleared, quickly, which might put you at a disadvantage.
I guess my advice would be that if you want to become a US citizen and work in the US, then go ahead and start the process. But don't base your decision primarily on the notion that getting a security clearance and/or working in one of the jobs that requires this is going to be easy or even possible. With the job market being what it is in the US, especially with the emphasis on shrinking the deficit, there is going to be a lot of competition for a relatively few jobs.
Thanks for all the feedback. I think I will start sending out my resume now as it will at least get my name out there.
Thanks,
Tyler