A Career With The Federal Bureau Of

Investigation Essay, Research Paper

Works Cited

Douglas, John. John Douglas’s Guide to Careers in the FBI. New York:

Kaplan Books, 1998.

Hawk, Barbara Spencer. The Big Book of Jobs. Chicago: VGM Career

Horizons, 1998-1999 ed. Pp. 345-347.

http://www.fbi.gov/. 1/28/99. America Online

Jeffreys, Diarmuid. The Bureau: Inside the Modern FBI. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

Northway, Wally. “Looking for a few good people, FBI broadens recruiting reach.” Mississippi Business Journal. 8/11/97 Vol. 19, Issue 32.

Schaller, Cheryl. Interview. Phone. 2/16/99.

Ungar, Sanford J. FBI, An uncensored look behind the walls. Canada: Little, Brown and Company Limited, 1975.

A Career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation

A call was put in at 3 a.m. this morning. There was a homicide on Cherry Street in a small run down apartment. Ambulances, fire trucks, and police vehicles were swarming the building. Tenants were looking off balconies and standing in their doorways trying to see what was going on. Local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were examining the crime scene trying to uncover any clues as to what exactly happened early that morning.

The FBI is a large field of hard working people solving crimes, protecting lives, and many other duties. The FBI field takes a lot of discipline and dedication. The requirements are numerous, conditions are tremendous, and the status is great.

There are a great number of requirements involved in being a special agent for the FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/). To qualify as a FBI agent, one must be a United States citizen or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands. One must be at least twenty-three years of age but not to exceed thirty-six years of age. A valid driver’s license and three years of full-time work experience are also required. Candidates must be able to relocate if needed and must be available for any assignment. Agents must not have uncorrected vision worse than 20/200 (Snellen) and corrected 20/20 in one eye and not worse than 20/40 in the other eye. Along with these vision standards, one must pass a color vision test. An agent must not be prejudice or discriminate in any way. An agent must not have any political or other dislike to anyone he or she investigates. A case must be handled maturely, meaning that an agent must understand all the facts before leaning towards one side of a case.

According to Jeffreys (1995), these background requirements also bring along mental and physical capabilities such as self-respect, isolation, dedication, mental toughness, endurance, and stamina. “You have to be a self starter. You have to have a lot of confidence, and you mustn’t mind being alone or isolated” (Jeffreys, 147).

Communication is also a leading requirement in being a special agent. One must be able to communicate well in both written and verbal form. The FBI is also interested in a person’s community involvement and how well the person works with others (Schaller, 1999).

Educational requirements for the FBI include a bachelor’s degree of one of four main entry programs: law, accounting, language, and diversified. To qualify under the law program, a person must have a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from a resident law school. To qualify under the accounting program, one must have a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree with a major in accounting of a related discipline, and be eligible to take the certified public accountant (CPA) examination. Candidates who have not passed the CPA exam will also be required to pass the FBI’s accounting test. To qualify under the language program, one must have a BS or Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in any discipline and be proficient in a language that meets the need of the FBI. Candidates will be expected to pass a Language Proficiency Test. To qualify under the diversified program, one must have a BS or BA degree in any discipline, plus three years of full-time work experience, or an advanced degree accompanied by two years of full-time work experience (http://www.fbi.gov/).

“The FBI is interested in people who have had some education in Spanish and individuals with degrees in computer science, accounting, math or science” (Schaller, 1999). Also, the FBI is interested in recruiting professionals from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds with areas in expertise that have not traditionally been sought (Northway, 2).

According to Northway (1997), the FBI has a rigorous application process. The first step is to complete a written exam, which can be obtained at any local FBI field office, followed by an interview. Those passing the interview continue through the process with a background check. A background check includes auditing criminal records, verifying educational achievement, a polygraph drug test, credit check, and thorough interviews with friends and acquaintances.

By meeting the entry-level criteria, one will be considered for further processing including applicant testing. A person may be competitive for testing purposes if they possess one of the special skills above. Competitive candidates will complete a battery of written tests and, in some cases, specialized testing in their field of expertise. In passing these tests, one may be eligible for an interview based upon overall qualifications, competitiveness

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