Working for the FBI is a dream job for many young men and women. You are given specialized and unique training and are promised constantly changing duties. Although new recruits cannot choose their place of assignment, they can make requests, and eventually seniority can lead to a position at the Chicago field office. The FBI offers a wide range of careers that include responsibilities from law and linguistic study to investigative and national security services. To succeed in the FBI is the mark of a truly dedicated person, because both the physical and the mental demands are intense and ever-present.
Instructions
Join the FBI as a Linguist
1. Have the ability to read, write, speak and listen to one or more foreign languages at the professional level as defined by the FBI Linguistic Self Assessment in these four categories.
2. Complete the on-line application for FBI linguists at the FBIjobs Web site. To do this you must have U.S. citizenship or be willing to renounce the citizenship of another country. Also, you must be willing to submit to a polygraph test during the time of the interview.
3. If your application meets the current needs of the FBI, you will take the Foreign Language Test Battery, which includes a series of tests. The Battery involves completing the Listening and Reading Tests, the Translation Tests, and finally the Speaking Tests.
4. Be willing to submit to the FBI background investigation if you successfully complete the Test Battery. The background investigation is required due to the fact that all FBI employees must have a Top Secret Security Clearance. According to the Background Investigation page on the FBI's Web site, the FBI background investigation includes a "polygraph examination; a test for illegal drugs; credit and records checks; and extensive interviews with former and current colleagues, neighbors, friends, professors, etc."
Join the FBI as a Special Agent
5. Fulfill the basic requirements to qualify as a potential field agent. You must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 23 years old and younger than 37 at the time of appointment, have a degree from a four-year accredited college or university, possess at least three years of professional work experience, have a valid U.S. driver's license and be fully available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction.
6. Choose the type of special agent appointment for which you want to apply. There are five areas of special agent appointment: accounting, computer science/information technology, language, law and diversified. Refer to the FBI's Special Agent Entry Programs page at the FBIjobs Web site for a detailed description of each appointment's duties.
7. Qualify for an FBI special agent appointment through the current prioritization of "critical skills" for which the FBI is recruiting. These prioritized "critical skills" constantly change depending on the needs of the FBI at the time.
8. Meet the FBI special agent physical requirements. This includes passing an intensive physical fitness test, having vision no worse than 20/200 uncorrected and a corrected vision no worse than 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in another eye, passing an audiometer test and meeting specified hearing standards, and finally passing a thorough medical review in which your complete medical history is considered.
9. Submit to the FBI background investigation for your Top Secret Security Clearance.
