I WANT TO BECOME A CIA AGENT, what steps do i need to take?
i have no clue
<p>attend the Culinary Institute of America</p>
<p>But more seriously, military background might be a good idea, languages definitely, political science studies, acting. Lots of skills a CIA agent needs.</p>
<p>watch alias</p>
<p>First, get on the CIA website and look around. What kind of job in the CIA do you want? What you need to do depends on that. Twenty years ago, I was offered an analyst position at the CIA. My friend from grad school, who was one of my bridesmaids, was also offered an analyst position, but in a different division. She took the job, I didn't.</p>
<p>I had a master's in Political Science, a BS in psych, international experience, and experience in a not-so-common language, but was one of the languages that was part of the division I would have been in.</p>
<p>Back then, we had to take a test prior to being asked for an interview. This test weeded out many potential candidates. All I have to say about that is know your history, international current events, and something about specific politics from various regions of the world. After "passing" the test, I was sent a packet with all sorts of documentation to fill out for background/security checks, and I also had to write an essay on a current event, or political topic. I just sent in one of my grad school papers. There's more to the process, but I am sure things have changed dramatically from when I went through it. Perhaps there is someone who has more recently gone through this and can fill in current details.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Learn to speak Farsi or Arabic fluently and you are golden.</p>
<p>"I want to become a cia-agent"</p>
<p>you already blew it by posting on this website...jk</p>
<p>Yeah, seriously though: Arabic and Farsi will clinch a high-paying position in seconds. I plan to take Arabic in college, not to work for the United States government though - but perhaps one in the Middle East.</p>
<p>Yeah, Arabic of Farsi for sure!</p>
<p>Other than that yeah, maybe some political science or criminology type stuff.</p>
<p>also, I heard Georgetown has had MI-6 recruit there.</p>
<p>"also, I heard Georgetown has had MI-6 recruit there."</p>
<p>Would they only recruit British students studying abroad? I can't imagine a group like MI-6 or the CIA recruiting non-citizens unless it was for a low security task that they were very understaffed in.</p>
<p>Since I'm under investigation by the DoD for my NSA STOKES program:</p>
<p>If it's anything like the CIA, you must be a US citizen.</p>
<p>You'll undergo a background investigation in order to gain security clearance. If you do not gain sufficient clearance, you will not be award the job.</p>
<p>You need to be 'clean'. No drugs, no alcohol abuse, no criminal record, no civil suits, etc. It's also easier if you don't have any foreign associates, nor travel outside the US.</p>
<p>The more you do, the longer the background investigation.</p>
<p>There is a lengthy DoD questionaire to fill out for security positions, and you must be able to account for at least 10 years back if you're over 18. (I forget the exact numbers.)</p>
<p>And there's also the polygraph which I have yet to take. :)</p>
<p>One of my friends considered a job at the CIA years ago, he said they hire people with accounting degrees which does make some sense if you think about it.</p>
<p>The entire point is to make sure you're a character in good standing and to establish your loyalty to the United States (you are working in national security after all, especially in this post-9/11 world)</p>
<p>"And there's also the polygraph which I have yet to take."</p>
<p>In many states, the law says its ILLEGAL to administer a lie detector test as part of the job to get hired. Is the CIA above this law?</p>
<p>It's not required, however if you do not, you won't get 'recommended'.</p>
<p>Additionally, the CIA/NSA/DoD is a federal entity and therefore subject to federal law, not state law (except for maybe the state their main office is located at).</p>
<p>I also know that you can not make copies of Naturalization certificates, however there is an exception for the NSA. So it's not like it would be surprising if there is an exception.</p>
<p>If you go to a pretty good school, you're probably gonna have some CIA recruiters come to your school. </p>
<p>At UCLA, there was a recruiting session with someone from the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and Department of State.</p>
<p>Once you get your security clearance, noone will mess with you. I got my secret security clearance for my USAF job when I was 18, and in the ten years subsequent, a couple of legal issues haven't revoked my clearance.</p>
<p>From my interview with the DoD investigator yesterday, "secret" is the bottom level, perhaps it's different in the upper 2 rungs?</p>
<p>Don't **** up anything. I'm serious. They interview everyone in your life when they consider you. They interview all your school teachers for one thing. Even elementary school. I mean, they don't interrogate them, it's more like "Do you have any reason to believe that [you] would be a bad CIA agent?" Or something like that. </p>
<p>Military training, language skills, go to a top university. They really look for the best. BTW, most CIA jobs don't involved James Bond-style "spy" work. You probably know this. And you really cannot tell people about your job. Not even your family.</p>
<p>nobody would know if you told your family. hell i bet alot of CIA tell their family and friends.</p>
<p>Last year, I was in process in applying to all the US Military Academies and heard a great deal of CIA agents have USMA/USNA/USAFA background.</p>
<p>it is preatty cool. I heard military experience is BIG plus.</p>
<p>CIA wants, very much, some or all of the following:</p>
<p>[<em>] military experience
[</em>] fluency in a foreign language (particularly politically unstable nations; as others have mentioned before, Middle Eastern languages are great right now)
[li] foreign travel (different from the DoD, I guess -- weird)</p>[/li]
<p>They do have Clandestine Services training, but obviously that's a very small part of what they actually do. For the non-CST trainees, you'll want additional experience in some things: accounting, mathematics, psychology (probably to become a psychiatrist to treat the poor field agents who have mental issues), foreign languages, etc.</p>
<p>I cannot stress enough how important it is to have one or more of the things in the above bulleted list, though. It's what they <em>do</em>.</p>
<p>Also, I gleaned those "requirements" from their website. There are several excellent undergrad/grad/between school/school-to-CIA programs that you might want to look into.</p>
<p>"secret" clearance is the lowest rung</p>