[ejcx]

Quite frankly if you're a spook you don't leave your job until you retire, or you go to the public sector where the bar is "this person has a clearance"

Hiring is not very competitive for government work. They are usually hiring warm bodies with clearances rather than talent.

If you're going from government cleared work to something completely different it's still fine to get a reference from people you worked with, just there are some pieces that are filtered