Not so much anymore. Currently there is an 18 month delay in getting a TS clearance. Huge backlog. I suspect that the standards are much stricter now. Lots of job opening but they all require active TS/poly because DOD contractors simply can’t get new people cleared in a timely manner. There is a company a few miles from me that has many positions I am perfect fit for but alas... they can’t wait 18 months.
They said 18 months when I was going through the process. My screening started in February and I was in a TS seat in June. That being said, there were only 7 other people in the country doing what I did so maybe I got a fast track? No prior clearance, no military service, hell, I didn’t even have a college degree at the time.
And btw, I’m not discounting at all what you’re saying about things changing with clearances. I quit and went to college. When I was ready to graduate and was applying for jobs, I looked into going back into a TS job but decided the clearance hassle wasn’t worth it and I could make more in the private sector anyway.