I accepted an offer at a subcontractor at Gulfstream once. Crazy process, including them demanding I send all kinds of crazy info including SSN via email unencrypted.
Anyway, I spent several weeks asking them over and over when my start date was supposed to be, because eventually my soon-to-be employer's contract with GD was going to expire and I also wanted to give my current employer notice.
After a couple of months of this, I got fed up on a Friday and wrote an email telling them that I'm rescinding my offer and they went crazy and then kept calling me through the weekend and telling me I could start on Monday begging me to start...telling me I should just walk away from my current employer with no notice.
Walked away from that situation and never looked back. Glad I did it. My background check cost them nearly $500 and I imagine it hurt their relationship with General Dynamics. First clue should have been the fact their entire HR department was offshored.
The only thing that kept me going on this was excellent communication with both my new manager and HR. They guided me through the process and were very honest about where we stood and how I should answer ambiguous questions in the application. I was certain I would pass the background check but nonetheless it felt unnerving to let those other offers expire for something that was not really a sure thing.
Also some of the background checks can cost quite a bit more than $500. The preliminary ones are fast but the thorough federal one I'm undergoing now takes around 6 months.
I passed a similar one a few years ago which cost the employer more than 30k and took more than a year to compete.
Six months and $30,000 sounds about right or maybe even a little low for a US secret clearance. There's a reason they're estimated to be worth about $10,000 a year. Insanely expensive and time consuming to get.
(OP has mentioned in another thread that this was not a secret clearance, but very similar.)
Federal check for secret/top secret or a state check for someone with access to certain public safety stuff. It's painful enough that many police agencies find it easier and cheaper to train cops.
They validate your references and ask references for other references. Takes a lot of time.
(Even though this isn't OP's actual clearance level) you shouldn't be screaming out that a person has a certain level of US DoD security clearance (or DOE, DHS, etc).
Anyway, I spent several weeks asking them over and over when my start date was supposed to be, because eventually my soon-to-be employer's contract with GD was going to expire and I also wanted to give my current employer notice.
After a couple of months of this, I got fed up on a Friday and wrote an email telling them that I'm rescinding my offer and they went crazy and then kept calling me through the weekend and telling me I could start on Monday begging me to start...telling me I should just walk away from my current employer with no notice.
Walked away from that situation and never looked back. Glad I did it. My background check cost them nearly $500 and I imagine it hurt their relationship with General Dynamics. First clue should have been the fact their entire HR department was offshored.