Share Your Experience
First-hand experiences can help candidates understand where official TSA hiring instructions are clear, where they are confusing and which parts of the process deserve better explanation.
You may share a TSA application, assessment, medical, background, training or employment experience by emailing:
Useful Topics to Share
Helpful submissions can explain:
- the TSA role or airport involved;
- the approximate month and year;
- which hiring stage you reached;
- how official communication was delivered;
- which documents were requested;
- what part of the process was difficult to understand;
- how long a stage took in your individual case;
- what you wish you had known earlier;
- how training or scheduling affected your decision;
- what information on this website should be corrected; or
- which official source helped resolve a question.
Personal timelines are useful when they are clearly presented as individual experiences, not nationwide guarantees.
Do Not Send Protected Test Content
Do not submit:
- live assessment questions;
- remembered answer choices;
- answer keys;
- screenshots or photographs from a testing platform;
- copied pages from paid preparation products;
- confidential candidate instructions;
- content obtained in violation of a testing agreement; or
- requests to reconstruct a protected examination.
You may describe the general experience of taking an assessment-for example, whether instructions were clear, whether breaks were available or which publicly identified skill area felt difficult-without reproducing protected items.
Do Not Send Sensitive Security Information
Do not submit Sensitive Security Information or operational details that could compromise transportation security.
Examples of material we cannot accept include:
- screening vulnerabilities;
- exact security procedures not already publicly authorized;
- checkpoint layouts intended to expose weaknesses;
- alarm-response details;
- covert or law-enforcement tactics;
- security-system configurations;
- restricted access procedures;
- confidential incident reports; or
- information marked SSI, classified, law-enforcement-sensitive or otherwise restricted.
When in doubt, leave the operational detail out and describe only the general career or hiring issue.
Do Not Send Confidential Personal Records
Do not email:
- Social Security numbers;
- passport or driver-license copies;
- fingerprints;
- complete medical records;
- drug-test records;
- SF-86 or other background forms;
- security-clearance documents;
- tax records;
- bank or payment information;
- unredacted offer letters;
- personnel files;
- disciplinary records containing identifying information; or
- private information about another applicant, employee or passenger.
A correction normally needs the disputed statement and a reliable source-not your complete personal file.
Protect Other People’s Privacy
Do not identify another person without permission.
Avoid sending:
- full names of TSA employees or applicants;
- personal email addresses;
- telephone numbers;
- employee identification numbers;
- photographs of people who did not consent;
- medical or disciplinary information about someone else; or
- accusations that cannot be supported responsibly.
You may use a role description such as “the recruiter,” “the medical contractor” or “my supervisor” when the person’s identity is not necessary.
What to Include in Your Email
A useful submission can follow this structure:
Role or process: TSO, SSA, Federal Air Marshal, Mission Support or another position
Location: Airport, city or region, if you are comfortable sharing it
Approximate date: Month and year
Stage reached: Application, test, interview, medical, background, ready pool, offer, training or employment
What happened: A factual description in your own words
What would help another candidate: The practical lesson
Publication preference: Anonymous, first name only or attributed by a name you authorize
Permission: Whether we may quote, paraphrase or contact you for clarification
Do not exaggerate or present assumptions as confirmed agency policy.
How We May Use a Submission
We may:
- respond with a follow-up question;
- compare the account with official sources;
- use it to identify an outdated or unclear page;
- paraphrase it for clarity;
- shorten it;
- remove identifying information;
- publish a limited excerpt with permission;
- combine recurring themes without identifying contributors; or
- decline to publish it.
Publication is not guaranteed.
A reader experience remains a personal account unless an official source independently confirms the rule described.
Editorial Review
We may reject or remove material that is:
- confidential;
- unsafe;
- defamatory;
- discriminatory;
- threatening;
- unlawfully obtained;
- commercially promotional;
- irrelevant;
- unverifiable in a way that creates a material risk;
- copied from another source without permission; or
- inconsistent with the contribution rules on this page.
We may contact an appropriate platform, rights holder or authority when material appears to involve a serious legal, security or safety concern.
Corrections Are Welcome
To report an error, include:
- the TSACareer.com page URL;
- the exact statement you believe is incorrect;
- the reason it is incorrect;
- an official or reliable supporting source; and
- the date you checked the source.
We will review the issue and may correct, qualify or date the statement.
Consent and Privacy
By submitting material, you confirm that:
- you have the right to send it;
- it does not knowingly violate another person’s rights;
- it does not contain prohibited confidential or protected content; and
- the publication preference you provide is accurate.
We will handle contact information and submissions according to the Privacy Policy. Sending an email does not automatically authorize publication under your real name.
Contact
Send a contribution or correction to:
Please read the Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions before submitting material.