Screening the Screeners

Step 1: Applicants hear about TSA jobs through the media and fill out applications on Monster.com. Monster.com has a database of applications.

Step 2: Relying on automated tools and and retired federal human resources specialists, NCS Pearson reviews Monster's database of applications. The HR specialists select potential candidates, and NCS Pearson call center personnel inform people they have been selected to undergo full-scale, in-person assessments. (People who aren't selected complain that no one ever lets them know.)

Step 3: Applicants appear at NCS Pearson assessment centers at hotels near airports across the country. NCS Pearson puts the applicants through a battery of tests developed by the National Skills Standards Board, a quasi-governmental agency attached to the Labor Department.

Step 4: Applicants also fill out federal forms, which U.S Investigative Services, a contractor, uses to conduct background investigations.

Step 5: If applicants pass the battery of tests, NCS Pearson's HR specialists conduct interviews to assess candidates' interpersonal skills.

Step 6: NCS Pearson call center personnel notify applicants that they have qualified for jobs and later let them know whether they will receive offers. Those who don't are placed in a "ready pool" from which future screeners can be hired.

Step 7: Hired candidates report to airports for 44 hours of classroom training conducted and run by Lockheed Martin.

Step 8: Candidates report for duty and on-the-job training. Lockheed Martin welcomes them to the airport, provides them with uniforms tailored by Vanity Fair Solutions and schedules them for work. Dealing with contractors the whole way, some new hires didn't meet a TSA employee until they were on the job.

Sources: TSA, NCS Pearson, Monster.com, Lockheed Martin