AlfredDreyfus, man where are you from?! You have a unique way of articulating yourself. You almost write/talk as if you aren't even from the U.S.! No offense, lol.
But I get what you are saying, though I would disagree somewhat. The CIA requires a very high security clearance level. So a COE only comes after you interview, just like in any job, and it means they like you and you are hired if you get through the security stuff. At my current job, I have a Secret clearance. I got hired before I had to turn in the forms and get my clearance. Now a secret clearance isn't hard to get, but I wonder what would have happened if my clearance was denied? I had an interim clearance for months when I started before my final clearance came through.
However the CIA doesn't do interim clearances I think, so you have to wait for your official Top Secret SCI Full Scope Poly clearance to come through before you can start.
Anyway, I will be pretty excited if I get a phone call for an interview/info-session and get a COE and receive that magical "thick packet" in the mail. All I can do now is wait and hope...
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On another note. check out these stats for FBI Special Agent Applicants in 2009:
http://www.clearancejobsblog.com/cleared-news/fbi-applicant-processing/ Surprised about the polygraph stats?
What I don't get is that according to these stats, 1,144 Special Agents applied in 2009, 838 were discontinued and 493 were hired. Hmmm... 838+493 = 1,331, not 1,144. And the average processing time is only 63 days, or 2 months? I thought the process took up to a year?! Am I misinterpreting these stats?