This Career Isn’t About the Accolades
Not only is this the era of ‘everyone gets a trophy’, but everyone then shares it to social media and boasts about their experiences and accomplishments. Trust us, despite what your mom told you, you aren’t that great.
So if that is you, then look elsewhere for a career. The intelligence community is not about public recognition. It is about keeping our nation safe while no one knows you are doing it and then doing it again, and again and again.
To complicate things further, the IC is grossly misunderstood by the public and the mainstream media. People who do not have the clearance and information to articulately debate issues will ridicule you with 10% of the facts, and you will not be able to say anything back. As such our people are often ridiculed and rarely rewarded or applauded.
When you operate in the shadows, you celebrate in the shadows. Whether run of the mill tasks or being a part of a team that stopped a major terrorist attack, you will have to celebrate on the inside. Your wife, your family and your friends on social media are not privy to what you are doing on a daily basis – despite the mainstream media’s current efforts to make everything transparent.
Don’t Quit Your Day Job
Perhaps the most frustrating part of applying for positions in the intelligence community is the lack of information provided to candidates and the length of time that it takes to secure entry and actually start your job. In some cases, the process can take up to 2 years from the date of application.
Once you apply, you will typically not hear anything back for 4-8 weeks (sometimes longer), at which point it could be a thin envelope or email simply stating you will not be considered. For others, you will receive requests for additional information and/or the first of many interviews. Regardless of the process at each organization, the time in between steps is typically long and lacking in communication. Know that in the intelligence community we have a saying, “no news is good news.” The Human Resources departments and recruiting divisions are inundated with applicants and newsflash, the government is not the most efficient beast in the world.
Security Portion of the Application
Once you get to the security portion of the application process, you can rest assured that they are interested in you, pending a successful background check and polygraph.
That said, you are not guaranteed to pass this portion and it takes a long time. You will fill out a form providing information on every aspect of your life for the last fifteen years, to include information on everywhere you have lived, neighbor’s names, references, your family members, friends, places you have traveled, foreigners that you know, etc. Your first time filling out this form will take a substantial period of time.
Once this is submitted you will be scheduled for a polygraph, while investigators are concurrently talking to people about you in every location that you have been for the past fifteen years. This process costs the government a lot of money, and will take upwards of 6-9 months. Again, this is typically the longest part and the reason the entire application process is often longer than a Congressional term.
Go With the Clearance and the Training
The most valuable advice I can give you is to accept the offer that comes first and provides you a Top Secret Clearance and, ideally, promises a training pipeline that aligns with your objectives.
While most want to work for CIA because they know the name so well, they do not realize that better training might exist elsewhere. For example, if you can get a clearance and intelligence training faster from DIA, then why not take it? Most agencies perform the same training these days and your skills will translate directly to other organizations, should you want to switch at some point.
Bottom line, you cannot truly understand and evaluate the different components of the intelligence community until you are in the intelligence community. So apply often, and get inside.
Bonus Profile: Defense Intelligence Agency
As an example, should your desire be to serve as an intelligence officer in the field, consider DIA as a good launch point – or possibly even as a long term career.
I cannot tell you how many times I have mentioned the acronym DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and been given a look of confusion, followed immediately, by “who is that?”
There has been little done in the way of addressing the DIA in Hollywood, and the highly important organization rarely gets media coverage from the major networks.
However, this should not relegate the organization to the role and status that of third string quarterback on a mediocre football team. They serve, in the simplest of terms as the Department of Defense’s intelligence apparatus, performing nearly all of the same missions as the CIA. The CIA, however, has a broader application of their mission across the globe, while, in principle, DIA traditionally only performs intelligence operations in areas where the U.S. Military is stationed or involved in a conflict.
Bottom line: If you want to be an intelligence officer and get great training – apply to DIA in addition to your other favorites.
