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CIA Careers
By Phil Tufano
With the economy in the toilet and with many large and small companies imposing a hiring freeze until there is a better understanding on what the economic future holds for them, there  seems to be little opportunity for young people just finishing college; that is unless they are considering a career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). From personal experience (I served with the CIA for seven years) it is a great place to work and one of the most exciting careers one could wish for. The downside is the difficultly of living a ‘normal’ life if you are posted overseas, not seeing family and friends much and having to perform tasks that you might not totally be comfortable with. The rewards of serving your country and meeting interesting and extremely intelligent people outweighed the negatives for me.
The almost ten year old ‘war on terror’ has meant a boom for some US Government agencies, such as the CIA. The need for a diversity of people with many different types of skills is in great demand at CIA and many young people may be overlooking the opportunities available to them in the government employment sector. Many people may hold the notion that working for the US Government is a boring and unfulfilling career path (and in some government agencies this is in fact true) but this is not the case for working at the CIA.
The CIA or the ‘Agency’ (as many people in the intelligence community call it) is an independent US Government Agency responsible for gathering and providing intelligence necessary for national security. Raw intelligence is gathered in many different ways, including through the National Clandestine Service through running human intelligence assets HUMINT), agents or spies. The raw intelligence goes through a process of analysis and then winds-up in the hands of senior US policymakers who use this intelligence (and additional information and factors) as part of the decision making process on the direction to take towards a specific country or region of the world. The main mission, however, is to provide national security for the citizens of the United States.
The CIA is separated into four basic components called directorates and depending on your interests, education, abilities and personal convictions, the opportunities that exist at each directorate are as diverse as the people who work for them. The four directorates include:
The Directorate of Intelligence
The National Clandestine Service
Directorate of Science & Technology
The Directorate of Support.
In addition to the four directorates listed above the CIA also employs staff that deal with human resources, legal issues, public affairs, internal operation oversight, information management, mission innovation, accounting and congressional affairs.
About CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the DCI, with a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The function of the Central Intelligence Agency is to assist the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out the responsibilities outlined above.
To accomplish its mission, the CIA engages in research, development, and deployment of high-leverage technology for intelligence purposes. As a separate agency, CIA serves as an independent source of analysis on topics of concern and also works closely with the other organizations in the Intelligence Community to ensure that the intelligence consumer—whether Washington policymaker or battlefield commander—receives the best intelligence possible.
As changing global realities have reordered the national security agenda, CIA has met these challenges by:
Creating special, multidisciplinary centers to address such high-priority issues such as nonproliferation, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, international organized crime and narcotics trafficking, environment, and arms control intelligence.
Forging stronger partnerships between the several intelligence collection disciplines and all-source analysis.
Taking an active part in Intelligence Community analytical efforts and producing all-source analysis on the full range of topics that affect national security.
Contributing to the effectiveness of the overall Intelligence Community by managing services of common concern in imagery analysis and open-source collection and participating in partnerships with other intelligence agencies in the areas of research and development and technical collection.
By emphasizing adaptability in its approach to intelligence collection, the CIA can tailor its support to key intelligence consumers and help them meet their needs as they face the issues of the post-Cold War World.
How to Apply
In order to apply for a job or career path at CIA, such as the Career Trainee Program or CT Program, you must have a minimum of a four-year college degree; a master’s degree is preferred. If you speak a second language, such as Arabic, your chances of at least getting an initial interview go up substantially. The CIA is extremely picky in hiring new employees. The employment process takes about one year and includes several interviews with director level people at the different directorates, a psychological and drug screening, a medical exam and if all goes well a polygraph that includes a security and personal life screening.
If accepted into the CT Program you will get a year of training at Camp Perry (AKA, The Farm) while the security people perform a background check for a security clearance. It is a long process and extremely tedious, but if you make it in it will be the most interesting career you can imagine. You can start the process by initially going to the CIA’s website at: WWW. CIA. Gov there you will find official information about applying the CIA for employment.