The CIA pays a visit

The CIA.

Thanks to scores of sensational movie and television portrayals, it’s easy to have a skewed perception about the powerful intelligence agency. A couple CIA recruiters visited the University of Colorado Denver last week to dispel stereotypes about the complex agency and inform students about the kinds of people it hires.

In four information sessions, the recruiters met with almost 100 CU Denver students in STEM (science, technology, mathematics, engineering) and business; School of Public Affairs (SPA); College of Arts & Media‘s Media Forensics program; and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The CIA reached out to the CU Denver Career Center, specifically based on several of the university’s programs and centers, including the National Center of Media Forensics.

Jamie Guilford, Career Center employer relations and outreach coordinator, escorted the recruiters, who asked that their names not be disclosed, to the sessions across campus on April 23.

One of the recruiters told a group of about 25 SPA students, both graduates and undergraduates, that working for the CIA is very different from what’s portrayed in pop culture. If you want to carry a badge and a gun and break down doors, he said, seek employment with the FBI or another law-enforcement agency. The most famous of the CIA’s teams, or “directorates” in agency parlance, is the Directorate of Operations. That division includes field officers who fan out across the globe and build relationships with people in an effort to glean valuable information that exists only in human intelligence. It’s information “you can’t tap into (on a computer), you can’t take pictures—it only exists in someone’s mind,” the recruiter said. “It’s our niche.”

Other teams in the agency are: analysis, science and technology, support and digital innovation. “At any given time, there are over 80 to 100 different jobs (open),” the recruiter said. He directed students to the CIA website—CIA.gov—to see which positions match their interests.

The agency has been meeting students at a handful of select area universities and seeks talented candidates from a variety of educational backgrounds and experiences, he said. The agency has three core requirement for employees: be a U.S. citizen, be willing to relocate to the Washington, D.C., area (all CIA positions start there), and be willing to undergo an extensive background screening. The hiring process typically takes nine months to a year.

The top reason people don’t make it through (the entire hiring process) is not drugs,” the recruiter said. “It’s because people aren’t honest throughout the whole process. You have to be completely candid throughout.”

In the SPA session, students asked about the general challenges of working for the CIA, the requirements of travel, the dangers, and about whether your family can come with you if you’re stationed overseas.

“They hire all majors, which I don’t think many students realize,” Guilford said. “They demystified applying to the agency as well, and the recruiters were very honest about what to expect during the highly competitive, and lengthy, hiring process. After each session there was a line of students for both recruiters to ask them more specific questions. So our students’ interest was definitely high!”

The recruiter said an interview day might be scheduled in Denver in June in which CIA representatives conduct first-round candidate interviews. The agency also offers internships, the recruiter said, and applicants need to apply about a year in advance of the desired start date.

The agency also offers a student loan repayment assistance program. For qualifying employees, the CIA will repay up to $6,000 per year toward a student loan for up to five years, or $30,000 total.