Before someone applies to any of the 17 member agencies of the United States Intelligence Community, it is important to know what function you want to play in that community. It must be understood that the vast majority of individuals in the community are not field operators. However, such positions do exist and we will attempt to explain the best ways to seek those out as we progress in the article.
When thinking of the intelligence community, most minds go right to the movies, but operators and analysts are not the only positions available, far from it. Think of the Intelligence Community as its own ecosystem, where all the roles you would find in the outside (non-classified) world exist.
Whether you are a scientist, a doctor, a lawyer, a custodian, a general contractor, a pilot or an artist – you can find a home in the intelligence community. Just remember this, and we will repeat this often, your main goal to break into this selective world is just to be accepted in the first place. Once you have a clearance and are in the community, while not necessarily easy, it is far more possible to move around from organization to organization or switch roles.
