

Successful applicants might find themselves working inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) - essentially a secret vault of classified documents - for eight hours a day, instead of scoping out Eastern Europeans from a cafe in Prague, like they always imagined. Training provides you with the skills needed to live and work under cover, but only you can decide if hiding the truth from others (including many family members, friends, and close acquaintances) is a commitment you can accept."īe advised that most CIA careers are not clandestine, not fieldwork and do not look cool even with a Dust Brothers soundtrack.

"All new DO officers joining the elite team are required to live and work under cover. Those who go the Directorate of Operations route - what used to be called the clandestine service - have an entirely different set of circumstances to work under.įrom the CIA Directorate of Operations (DO) website: But unlike regular jobs, you will then undergo aptitude and personality tests. Unlike other jobs, the application process for the CIA could take a year or more, which includes a live interview. Anyone who approaches you in a public place and says they're a CIA agent and has a job for you is probably a liar (CIA personnel don't call themselves "agents"). What the CIA won't do is surprise you at a party or a bar to recruit you and start training.

The names of 63 are revealed in the memorial book (on the wall below the stars), while 39 remain secret. It contains 102 (83 when picture was taken) stars, representing the deaths of 102 CIA officers. The CIA Memorial Wall at CIA headquarters, located in the Old Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia, United States. If you feel slighted by this, you can apply again after one year. If the agency isn't interested, it's not an oversight. If the CIA is interested in you, someone will call, email or send you a letter (yes, a letter) within 45 days. Once you choose the job you want to apply for, you will have three days to finish the application and submit the required documents, which often include writing samples and qualification justifications.
#Become spy agent how to#
Read: How to Join the FBI After Leaving the MilitaryĪfter a thorough background check (this is the CIA, man), applicants take a medical exam and a polygraph examination to get a security clearance, which will be at least secret but, depending on what you're applying for, could be Top Secret-SSBI.

citizen) can apply to work at the CIA as an operations officer by applying on the website, just like any other government job. Once you leave the military, your clandestine service career may still await you, but getting in is a lot more.
