Looking for an FBI career, advice?

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
2,790
Although I still can't decide on what direction I'll be steering my career ship, one of visions I had of my future since I was six or so was being in the FBI (probably because I used to watch a lot of X-Files...). Now I'm taking a more practical interest in it (resigned to the fact that there is no paranormal investigation unit) but wanting to be an agent for maybe electronic crime (internet theft/fraud etc.). I just ran a quick search, and read a post by RWS about how he was one of the 1-2 people who managed to pass his oral and written FBI exams (congratulations!) but eventually decided on something else. Does RWS or anyone else have advice regarding which schools or occupations would best set me on my way to the FBI? The FBI standards seem very open ended and vague. They ask for types of experience, but there is no mention of exactly what they want or have a bias for or against. Any help is appreciated!
 
Well, you could get a law degree first. The FBI loves to turn lawyers into field agents.

Granted, that's at least seven years of school, but at least you'd always have something to fall back on...
 
Get degrees in accounting and psychology, have a good background and your in.
 
not to seem like a wiseass, but the FBI will send you an informational packet that shows what thry're looking for. I hope that you see yourself in school a long time.
 
I do realize that if I decide to join the FBI I could be in school until I'm 25 or older, but I think that it would be worth spending the enxt 35-40 years doing something I love. Thanks for the advice so far, guys. It is good to have something to fall back on, especially since the FBI is more than a little selective.
 
I think knowing a foreign language is a real plus when it come down to weeding out the final picks.
 
From www.fbi.gov

Serving as a Special Agent is a very demanding job with strict entry requirements. Please review closely all requirements to ensure that you qualify before you apply.

To become an FBI Special Agentyou must be a U.S. citizen or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands. You must be at least 23 years of age, but younger than 37 upon your appointment as a Special Agent. You must possess a four-year degree from a college or university accredited by one of the regional or national institutional associations recognized by the United States Secretary of Education. You must have at least three years of professional work experience. You must also possess a valid driver’s license and be completely available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction.

All applicants for the Special Agent position must first qualify under one of five Special Agent Entry Programs. These programs include:

Accounting
Computer Science/Information Technology
Language
Law
Diversified
More details about Special Agent Entry Programs.

After qualifying for one of the five Entry Programs, applicants will be prioritized in the hiring process based upon certain Critical Skills for which the FBI is recruiting. The FBI is currently recruiting for Special Agent candidates with one or more of the following Critical Skills:

Accounting
Computer Science/Information Technology Expertise
Engineering Expertise
Foreign Language(s) Proficiency
Intelligence Experience
Law Experience
Law Enforcement/Investigative Experience
Military Experience
Physical Sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) Expertise
Diversified Experience
Candidates with these Critical Skills are essential to address our increasingly complex responsibilities. As such, candidates with one or more of these skills will be prioritized in the hiring process.

More details about Special Agent Critical Skills

All candidates that meet the Entry Program and Critical Skill requirements must also:


meet the Special Agent Physical Requirements
and pass the FBI Background Investigation.

The FBI is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity.
 
E7 in my Guard platoon works in the local FBI building, he says the special agents are doing little more than write reports for the work the analysts do. With the gs scale and the way the jobs are structured, he figures it would be better to go for any position other than special agent to have an interesting career.
 
Learn to read/write/speak Farsi, Arabic, Chinese, etc., etc.,. And don't ever do anything that will show up negatively on a polygraph.
 
Oh yeah, SA pay scales are pathetic. You can't get into it for the money. Hard to justify $75K for law school and then go work for $36K starting salary. Local cops make twice as much when you factor in the sweet overtime mall cop gigs they get.;)
 
not2sharp said:
Get your security clearance early; and, keep your nose clean.

n2s
Click to expand...

Yep, whether you're the Bureau head or the mailroom clerk, you are going to have to undergo a security clearance. Also, there are many different jobs at the FBI. You're not always going to running around as a field agent, you could be anything there.
 
It is a gov't agency therefore a bureaucracy if you can live with that .Sadly they have a history of very negative actions .How much they have improved I don't know. They had a lab , for example, that not only was very poorly organized but also fudged results !! As for education , law, computers, accounting are probably the most important though they've spread out too.
 
shaldag said:
You may not want to hear this, but a stint in the service can help as well.
Click to expand...
damn skippy. The Army/National Guard got me an associate's in Intelligence Operations, a year's foreign language training and certification, and a TS-SCI clearance; all of that on top of just plain being in the Armed Forces helps. And the gov't paid me for the training. Still have some outstanding pay issues, but other than that, my only problem is that I missed the deployment with the battalion, and I get the feeling that I'm gonna end up leaving right around the time I'm ready for a job hunt instead-finishing up a bachelor's in business in about a year.
 
I have "excercise induced asthma", which disqualifies me from military service (I think). Hopefully it won't disqualify me from working for the FBI too. I'm going to have to start running quite a bit so that hopefully my breathing can stay normal for at the very least a mile and a half (the requirement). I haven't used an inhaler in over a year, and it's not a big problem, but I wonder if that will be a problem with agent selection? I've got 5 years of German right now (this being my fifth), but it seems that German doesn't impress them. Given recent events, Arabic would probably be a very big selling point.
 
I don't know anything about FBI training, but even though the Army only requires you to run 2 miles for the PT test, company runs could go for twice that or more. My PG at basic got out on activity induced asthma, but we were all pretty sure he faked it, considering he had been in before and deployed to Desert Storm, plus he was a police officer in the interim.

Have you taken a DLPT for German? You're gonna have to do that and an OPI, if the FBI even needs German.
 
From what I've read the FBI is not interested in German. I'm sure it would be a little icing on the cake, but I would expect to have to learn a much more difficult language in order to put myself over the to. It certainly makes sense; it's not like we've got too many German terrorists or criminal organizations. I hope that the activity induced asthma isn't going to be a definite cause of rejection.
 
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