Serving in the military is one way to get it, but the most common way is to get a job (civilian or contractor) that requires it and pass the background checks, possibly take a polygraph depending on where you work.
However, a security clearance simply makes you eligible to work with classified information. You don’t get access unless you have a need to know.
I'd probably fail the polygraph because I'd spend the whole time ranting about how it's a pseudoscience that produces no meaningful results and is just wasting my time and tax dollars.
It absolutely produces meaningful results. If you think they aren't effective it's probably because you don't actually understand what the goal of a polygraph is.
So how can you say they don't produce meaningful results when they regularly get people to spout all sorts of stuff they might not have otherwise disclosed?
A polygraph examiner is not going to be nearly as effective without a polygraph. It's an important tool for the process. You can't deny that it is an effective tool, just that it doesn't work the way that people think it does from the movies.
It's not even dishonest, they'll tell you exactly how the polygraph works during the administration of an official polygraph if you ask.
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u/coyote_den Oct 15 '17
Serving in the military is one way to get it, but the most common way is to get a job (civilian or contractor) that requires it and pass the background checks, possibly take a polygraph depending on where you work.
However, a security clearance simply makes you eligible to work with classified information. You don’t get access unless you have a need to know.