Looking For An Intelligence Job On Twitter? Two Handles To Follow...And One To Avoid!

My undergraduate research assistant, McKenzie Rowland, and I have been updating the series of posts I wrote a few years ago on how to get a job in intelligence and, well, let's just say that a lot of things have changed since 2009...

Like Twitter.

Twitter is used extensively by defense contractors and others looking to fill cleared positions supporting the US national security intelligence community.  

Now, several of the agencies have twitter handles dedicated solely to announcing jobs and job-related news regarding that agency.  For example NSA has @NSACareers and the Department of State has @doscareers.

A number of other agencies have Twitter handles but not specifically for job information (or if they did, they were so successfully hid that we couldn't find them).  For example, the DIA has @defenseintel, while NGA has @NGA_GEOINT and DEA has @deanews.

There were even a few scammy looking ones such as @FBIAgentCareers and @USCGCIVCareers.  The site purporting to be FBI related hadn't posted in about a year and linked to a non-governmental website.  While the FBI site should be avoided, the purported Coast Guard handle was vastly more useful, containing recent links to actual jobs.  However, this site also linked to a .com rather than a .gov or .mil address.  Use at your own risk...

Note:  The US government maintains a website where you can check the authenticity of any social media site.  This resource is called, in a moment of stark governmental clarity, "Verify U.S. Federal Government Social Media Accounts" and is available through USA.gov.  Neither the FBI nor the Coast Guard social media sites discussed above showed up in this database.

Want To Work For CIA? NSA? DIA? Don't Use USAJobs! (+ What To Do Instead!)

(My undergrad research assistant, McKenzie Rowland, and I are in the process of updating a series of posts I did back in 2009 called "How To Get A Job In Intelligence".  As part of her research, she took a detailed look at the career websites of all of the US national security intelligence organizations.  Her very useful analysis and comments are below.)

By:
McKenzie Rowland

When searching for a job in intelligence, one of the first places many people look is USAJobs.gov.  This site lists many postings for a number of agencies and features an advanced job search tool that allows you to filter and refine results.

While USAJobs makes the search process much more straightforward, it should not be the be-all and end-all for job hunting within intelligence agencies.  There are plenty of other alternative search engines and sites to consider, such as agency websites, when searching for intelligence-related careers, many of which yield more favorable results.

The matrix below displays yesterday's search results for the word “analyst” on both the websites of members of the Intelligence Community and the USAJobs section for that intelligence organization (Note: These search results are not indicative of the complete availability of jobs for either the organizations listed or for USAJobs. Furthermore, results may change over time.).

Category 1 Sites

For the following intelligence organizations, it is most beneficial to visit their respective website as opposed to USAJobs.  Note: some positions on these sites may overlap with ones already listed on USAJobs.

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA): While the DIA’s general job postings do overlap to an extent with USAJobs, the DIA Jobs site lists several positions that USAJobs does not.  DIA’s job site also gives very detailed information for each individual posting, such as the “job family,” which allows you to quickly sort through positions relevant to you.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA): For the NGA, it is more advantageous to search for open positions on their website.  Similar to the DIA, many of the jobs listed here are not available on USAJobs, so it is important to visit NGA’s career page to avoid missing out on potentially relevant job postings.

National Security Agency (NSA): For the NSA, you are almost certainly better off searching for jobs through this agency’s job site, as USAJobs does not list any positions for this agency.

Category 2 Sites

For the following agencies and departments, there is some benefit to visiting their respective websites for career information, but USAJobs provides the most in terms of actual search results.  For some of these, searches can only be conducted through USAJobs, or the websites will include that organization’s section within USAJobs.

Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI): The ODNI lists job vacancies directly on their page, but applicants are redirected to USAJobs for the majority of available positions.  (Investigative Analysis is an exception here, as you can only apply for this job through ODNI’s recruitment office.)  USAJobs does, however, list a couple of analyst positions that the ODNI’s job site does not.

Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence: When you search and apply for a job on DOE’s site, you’re almost immediately redirected to USAJobs.  While the DOE has a job searching page with detailed descriptions of each position, I’ve found that you are actually better off searching USAJobs for open positions.  Upon searching for “analyst” on DOE’s site, I discovered that many of the analyst jobs were already filled, and that USAJobs seems to filter these available positions better than DOE. For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, you can visit their website here.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Intelligence and Analysis: When searching within the DHS main site for jobs, it redirects you to their section on the USAJobs site, dhs.usajobs.gov. You do, however, have the ability to narrow down your search by skill, component, or location on DHS’ site before you are redirected to USAJobs.  For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, you can visit their website here.

Department of State (DOS), Intelligence and Research: While the DOS career page offers information about positions such as foreign and civil service officers, all actual job searches must be conducted through USAJobs.  For more information on the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, you can visit their website here.

Department of Treasury (DOT), Office of Intelligence and Analysis: For the DOT, all job searches are redirected to the USAJobs section for DOT, treasury.usajobs.gov. The site does, however, give links to the career pages of the 10 bureaus and services under the DOT.  For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, you can visit their website here.

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA): For the DEA, all job searches and applications must be conducted through USAJobs at dea.usajobs.gov. If you’re having any trouble setting up your USAJobs account or have questions regarding careers with the DEA, this career page includes ample support and information on the application process.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):  The FBI website is useful if you’d like to learn more about careers within the FBI before you apply, and also contains a link to a page specifically for interns and college students. When applying for a job on their page, however, FBI Jobs redirects you the Bureau’s USAJobs section, fbi.usajobs.gov, which solely displays results for postings from the FBI. This is particularly convenient for when you actually want to search for a specific position within the FBI instead of just finding information about it, as FBI.gov does not have a search engine tool of its own.

U.S. Air Force (USAF), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance: Currently, there are no actual applications available on the Air Force’s site, but their career page does provide useful information on different jobs and duties within the Air Force. In this case, it is most beneficial to search USAJobs for openings. For more information on Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Army, Army Military Intelligence: The Army’s Career Management page is designed for both enlisted and civilian individuals searching for a job in the Army. Civilian career opportunities are posted on USAJobs, which you can search for using armycivilianservice.usajobs.gov. For more information on Army Military Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Coast Guard Intelligence: For reserve and enlisted careers within the Coast Guard, you can search within the site for recruiters and available positions near you.  When applying for civilian careers, however, the site redirects you to a page on USAJobs of results for the Coast Guard. But before applying for actual positions, you may want to take a look at the Coast Guard’s career page that gives descriptions of all job types. For more information on Coast Guard Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), Marine Corps Intelligence Activity: Similar to the Army’s career page, civilian positions are not listed directly on the Marine Corps’ site, and USAJobs provides the most filtered search results for specific openings. For more information on the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Navy, Naval Intelligence: While no job searching tool exists on the Navy’s career page and searches are conducted solely through USAJobs, the Navy’s career page provides very detailed information on the many different disciplines and career paths you can choose.  For information on the Office of Naval Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

Category 3 Sites

These intelligence organizations are neither listed on USAJobs, nor do they return actual job search results.  The only way one can apply to these agencies is through their agency website or through another agency.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): The CIA’s career site doesn’t list specific job postings and does not have any positions posted on USAJobs.  To apply for a job, you must fill out an online application through their site once you’ve found the type of job you’re interested in. You then create an account, add that job to your “job cart” (limit 4 jobs, and your account terminates within 3 days, so act fast!) and begin the application process. If you don’t really know what you’re looking for, though, the  Job Fit Tool matches you with potential career paths based on a series of questions and can provide a good starting point for searching.

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO): The NRO is an exception to the other job search tools within agency sites.  Due to the nature of this organization, the careers page only contains links to the career pages of the agencies that collectively make up the NRO; their website suggests that you take a look at those websites instead.

Last Bit Of Advice...

When first looking for a career in intelligence, it is best to begin your search on the websites of members of the Intelligence Community. These websites oftentimes provide valuable career information and allow you to broaden your search within a specific search term. However, if you’re searching for a specific discipline not within one particular agency or department, such as "domestic counterterrorism", USAJobs will retrieve such positions.

All in all, USAJobs can be highly useful for many intelligence job searches, but it shouldn’t always be used as the primary job search engine--explore your other options!  

Part 3 -- The Good News! (How To Get A Job In Intelligence)

Part 1 -- Introduction
Part 2 -- The Intelligence Job Market From 20,000 Feet

The US National Security Community, while the best known, is not, however, the only place to get a job as an intelligence analyst. There are many jobs available in law enforcement, business, and with non-governmental organizations. While not all of these jobs label themselves "intelligence" positions (and more on that later), they all require what is essentially the intelligence analyst skill set.

Intel Analyst Jobs In Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies employ a significant number of intelligence and crime analysts. The FBI alone employs more than 2000 analysts (with plans to hire 321 in 2010). While many of these positions are in Washington, the FBI also stations analysts around the country in Field Intelligence Groups, making this an attractive hiring option for people who can't or don't want to move from home.

Beyond the FBI, however, there are a number of other Federal agencies and organizations that use analysts. The Department of Homeland Security employs a very large number of intelligence analysts while the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Department Of Treasury (through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) both employ intelligence analysts. One of the best places to work, I think, is the US Coast Guard. We have placed a number of interns with the "coasties" and they all come back pretty positive about their experience.

All of these agencies are part of what is formally called the US Intelligence Community and the total number of jobs available should have been included in the analysis I did yesterday. I am mentioning these positions here primarily because students have a tendency to focus on the CIA when thinking about intelligence jobs and they ignore these other places with intelligence functions that are every bit as interesting and as challenging as the ones in the Agency.

Beyond The Feds

If these other federal agencies are often overlooked, an even more ignored source of intelligence jobs is state and local law enforcement. There are few good estimates out there regarding the total number of jobs in law enforcement intelligence/crime analysis but my best guess is about 9000.

I get this number by looking at the total number of state and law enforcement agencies in the US (17,876) and dividing it, roughly, in half. I know that most of the agencies in the US have less than 50 officers and that agencies with less than 50 officers are unlikely to have anyone in intel. I also know, however, that some big cities (like New York) have large and very well developed intelligence units. So, I am ball-parking it here again but 9000 sounds about right.

If the numbers I came up with yesterday make any sense at all, then this should translate into about 500 entry level intelligence analyst/crime analyst positions per year opening up in law enforcement around the US.

Unlike the numbers for the big federal agencies, however, there are several reasons why this number could be low. For one reason, California alone estimated that it would need 160 analysts in 2005 for law enforcement and they also estimated, at the time, that the demand would continue to grow.

Another good reason for growth in this field is the increasing popularity of a concept, born in the UK, called "intelligence-led policing." To the extent that this catches on in the US (and it appears to have some traction here), it cannot help but to increase the number of intelligence billets in state and local law enforcement agencies.

Finally, there appears to be a growing interest in law enforcement and intelligence analysis at the career level. The International Association Of Crime Analysts boasts some 1500 members and, while the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts doesn't advertise its numbers, insiders tell me that it probably has 2-3000 members. Both of these organizations are international but the largest body of members reside in the US.

Why Not Law Enforcement?

There are three reasons why these types of jobs often get overlooked or sidelined. In the first place they are not easy to find. If you want a job in local law enforcement, you have to be looking at state and local government job boards. Some agencies advertise broadly but most do not. Finding these jobs can be a pain.

The second reason that they may not seem appropriate is that some require an applicant to be "sworn" or a full-fledged member of the police force. While my impression is that this is changing, I am virtually certain that a number of these jobs require the analyst to be a cop first and an analyst second.

Finally, these jobs don't pay particularly well. The pay is not awful in most places and in some places it is not bad at all, but, by and large, it does not equal the pay (even when adjusted for cost of living) of an analyst in the Federal government or in business (which I will discuss next).

Next: Even Better News!

Combating Terror With Communication, A Foreign Assessment Of The CIA, FBI And US Foreign Policy In Africa (Fora.tv)

Some interesting short snippets from some recent Fora.tv broadcasts (and one longer presentation):

Combating Terror with Communication
R. Gustav Niebuhr explains that, while we may live in frightening times, the only way to maintain hope is by maintaining dialogue with people we may believe to be the enemy. Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 (4 min. 35 sec)
Location: Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY

A Foreign Assessment of the CIA and FBI
Nigel Inkster and Peter Clarke assess the strengths and weaknesses of the CIA and the FBI, praising the CIA and saying, "the CIA have been treated disgracefully in this country," receiving the blame for what is the fault of policy. They also exhort that a barrier should never be built between intelligence and law enforcement. Date: Sat, 05 JUL 2008 (4 min 17 sec)
Location: The Aspen Institute, Aspen, CO

Vicki Huddleston - United States Foreign Policy to Africa
Vicki Huddleston discusses The United States and Africa: A Chance for Change as a part of American Foreign Policy: Leadership and Dialogue during the 2008 Chautauqua Institution morning lecture series. Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 (1 hour 8 mini)
Location: Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY

Factors In Food Security Price Increases, FBI Audio History And Background Briefs On Alternative Fuels (Link List via LII)

The Librarian's Internet Index highlights three sites of particular potential use to intel professionals and students this week:

Factors In Food Security Price Increases. The USDA has put together a list of their latest reports on food prices and the factors that are influencing them worldwide. Nice one-stop shopping page.

FBI Audio History. This site contains audio snippets from interviews with FBI Historian Dr. John Fox.

Alternative Fuels Background Info. PBS has an interesting site with some background data on alternative fuels. Of particular interest to teachers might be the lesson plan on car choices and alternative fuels.

FBI Counterterror Whistleblower Answers Questions (ALA)

When you think of controversy you don't normally think of the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting but apparently you would be wrong, at least this year. FBI Special Agent Bassem Youssef is described as "the Chief of the FBI Counterterrorism Division’s Communications Analysis Unit" and "the highest ranking Arab-American agent and fluent Arabic speaking agent employed by the FBI." He was scheduled to speak at the mid-winter meeting but was apparently warned that giving his speech could jeopardize his job but he was not forbidden from answering questions which is what he does for a little over an hour. You can listen here; download the podcast here, see the full video here and get some of the backstory here. Below is a short clip from the full presentation:

Origins Of FBI Counterintelligence And More (LOC)

The Library of Congress provides an excellent teaching/training/research resource through its periodic webcasts. One of the most recent is a 50+ minute presentation on the Origins of FBI Counterintelligence done by Ray Batvinis (who has just authored a book on the same topic).

Other webcasts that may be of interest include:

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy

Why Terrorist Ideologies are So Powerful

War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda"

The African Colonial State and the Encounter with Decolonization

China's Return to Tradition: How to Interpret the New Forces Emerging in China

China Rediscovers its Own History

You will need a RealPlayer plug-in to view the webcasts.