<p>^^And they come to the realization that there are only a handful of constitutional lawyers in the country (and they have to die before anyone can take their spot), and that obtaining PI work can be more difficult than Big Law. :)</p>
<p>
The subset of government agency jobs that pertains to federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, USSS, etc.) that have 1811 criminal investigator/special agent positions are incredibly competitive get into because of the way they recruit/hire.</p>
<p>Using these as references:
Entry Programs [Federal</a> Bureau of Investigation](<a href=“http://www.fbijobs.gov/1111.asp]Federal”>http://www.fbijobs.gov/1111.asp)</p>
<p>Critical Skills [Federal</a> Bureau of Investigation](<a href=“http://www.fbijobs.gov/1112.asp]Federal”>http://www.fbijobs.gov/1112.asp)</p>
<p>Additional critical skills reference <a href=“http://www.fbijobs.gov/Employment/CriticalSkillsCharts.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fbijobs.gov/Employment/CriticalSkillsCharts.pdf</a></p>
<p>The reason it may be harder than BigLaw jobs is because the average T14 law school graduate doesn’t have a proven track record based on the needs of these federal agencies. They take a more “composite” approach to recruiting; and that means the more “check the block” a candidate has, the better off he/she is.</p>
<p>In the eyes of federal law enforcement, a graduate from any ABA accredited law school is the same as a graduate from a T14 law school. If none of them have any proven track record/work experience, neither would be hired.</p>
<p>However, it has been no secret that based on the “entry programs”, the Computer Science/Electrical Engineering track has always had more offers per applications than the law program track. The candidates from the CS/EE track also tend to be quite a bit younger than the law school program which theoretically gives them more time to gain critical skills that the FBI desires. Also, it has been my experience that even substandard CS/EE students that have completed their degrees have been able to find employment relating to their field of study and meets the work experience requirements for the FBI (and this does not have to be working for Google or Microsoft). The same is definitely not true for law school graduates.</p>
<p>Another factor may be the issue of debt. Many law enforcement agencies routinely turn away candidates that carry a high debt load because they may pose a security risk and may be more susceptible to betraying their oath.</p>
<p>The point is that successful applicants to these agencies come into the recruiting process have prepared for quite some time. They have been preparing for this for years and maybe a decade. This isn’t a job that requires a high LSAT and high GPA nor does it require rocket scientist level IQ. These are simply people who are “smart enough” that have been preparing (perhaps unknowingly) for this since they graduated high school.</p>
<p>Make no mistake. If you want to pursue this career path, recognize that you are competing against people that can hit almost every “check the block” FBI’s critical skills list:
-multiple graduate degrees (MS CS/EE, JD - part time)
-extensive former tactical experience (combat arms or served in a special operations unit) with some type of leadership experience such as company level command which also means that they were likely to have once been very physically fit and barring no permanent injuries it’s likely they could easily pass a physical fitness test
-foreign language proficiency (FBI foreign language proficiency tests are very difficult, native speakers have not passed this)
-3+ years of professional work experience
-little to no debt (most likely)</p>