The background check process is involved (taking ~3-24 months), and since clearance is condition of employment, employees are sometimes let go if they fail to obtain a clearance. For anyone interested, clearedjobs[1] has a good faq about how clearances are obtained and adjudicated. Before applying, it's worth asking yourself if you want to go through the process and possibly risk having to leave the job if you fail to obtain a clearance.
As far as compensation goes, government pay will always be a little lower. Our new grad pay is notoriously low (GS 5-9), but we'll pay for your background check and a Masters/PHD if you're interested. For engineers with ~5-10 years experience GS-13 pay ($95k-$120k) is pretty competitive when you consider the cost of living in Sacramento (A nice 4bed/2bath house, in a great neighborhood is ~$400k). Additionally, we have management and technical promotions tracks within the organization of which both go up to GS-15 (non-management GS-15 jobs are pretty rare within the federal government).
As far as compensation goes, government pay will always be a little lower. Our new grad pay is notoriously low (GS 5-9), but we'll pay for your background check and a Masters/PHD if you're interested. For engineers with ~5-10 years experience GS-13 pay ($95k-$120k) is pretty competitive when you consider the cost of living in Sacramento (A nice 4bed/2bath house, in a great neighborhood is ~$400k). Additionally, we have management and technical promotions tracks within the organization of which both go up to GS-15 (non-management GS-15 jobs are pretty rare within the federal government).
[1] https://clearedjobs.net/security-clearance-faqs