An extra security clearance precaution I'm taking
A few months ago I was supposed to start a project with a different agency that required a security clearance.
I received an indoc date, and at that point I let the program manager on my current project know I was leaving.
Then I received news that my clearance crossover was denied and then I had to go back with my tail tugged beneath my legs to the program I thought I was leaving.
Embarassing!
I have another opportunity at a different agency that requires a clearance and I'm nervous about that happening that again.
To mitigate the risk, I have decided to wait until I actually get badged at the new client agency before leaving my current one.
This way when I quit my current project I know for sure I can start the other one because I will have already started!
The downside is that there will be a period of time when I have two projects as I transition. This might be slightly sucky for the current project but oh well.
I recommend you follow a similar procedure. Don't quit your current gig until you have a badge or access or whatever. If you are in a W2 job now, just take a vacation day to indoc and let the new program manager that you can indoc but then will need a week or two to actually start.
If you are switching between one 1099 gig and another, it's a bit easier because there is nothing stopping you from having two gigs at once as a 1099, but obviously if they're both full time you can't break the laws of physics and be in two places at once.
Cleared 1099 gigs require extra risk management. In my book I talk about how I lost out on around $200k in revenue because of my own failures to mitigate risk. The best 1099 lessons are expensive, but you can pay the much reduced cost of reading my e-mails and reading the security clearance chapter of my book, included below.