A Career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Coursework Example

? A Career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Table of Contents Introduction 2. History of the FBI 3. Requirements for a FBI career 4. Important skills and training 5. Special agent position 6. The FBI academy 7. Methods of joining the FBI 8. Conclusion The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was created in 1908 as a new type of law enforcement agency in a rapidly growing and successful country. At this point in time, there was no systematic way of enforcing law (United States Department of Justice, 2009, pp. 1-5). Nowadays, the FBI is synonymous with national security, and individuals working for the FBI are considered to be serving their country. Because of this, many people desire to have a career working for the FBI, and a substantial proportion of these envision themselves as being a special agent. However, the importance of the work that the FBI is involved in necessitates a high level of security and skills, and consequently, there are strong restrictions on who can have a career with the FBI, particularly as a special agent. The creation of the FBI occurred because there was no nationwide group that was responsible for gathering intelligence, and no organization was present among state- or city-wide institutions. The jurisdiction of the FBI has grown since its inception, especially following the increased focus on counter-terrorism after the September 11 terrorism attack. The FBI is a part of the United States Department of Justice, and contained 11,633 special agents in 2003. The number of agents is an indication of how specially trained these individuals are, and the amount of time and money that is spent in ensuring agents are fully ready for any occasion (Jefferys-Jones, 2007, pp. 1-5). Agents within the FBI fulfill a variety of roles, and often work unusual hours in difficult conditions. However, careers within the FBI are not limited to special agents and many other positions exist. As an organization, the FBI focuses on serious crimes that occur within the borders of the United States and on terrorism. The first step to becoming involved with the FBI as a career is determining what field to pursue. There are a number of different roles that a person can undertake in a career for the FBI. These include working as a linguist, within a hostage rescue team, as a professional staff member or as a special agent. Working in the FBI, regardless of an individual’s role, involves a high degree of dedication and independence. All applicants need to have a four-year degree, although there is no restriction on what the degree can be in, as well as three years’ experience working in the professional world. These are important criteria, as they show how dedicated, motivated and committed the individual is. Applications for the FBI are often much higher than the number of vacancies, and consequently it may take an applicant many years of reapplying to be successful. In terms of skills and training, the approach to entering a FBI career is varied. Many people desire to enter the FBI from an early age, and consequently are able to tailor their learning around this. Studying law as a degree and being involved in extra-curricular activities at all levels of schooling can work to the candidate’s advantage. However, the FBI hires from a wide range of different fields, and people are not required to have any experience with law or criminal justice to become a part of the FBI, or to be a special agent. As there are many applications each year, the most important part about being accepted into an FBI career is to be exceptional and to stand out. Of these positions, perhaps the most widely recognized is that of a special agent. Being a special agent is a highly specialized and demanding job; consequently, there are a large number of qualification requirements before an individual is able to begin training as a special agent. All people desiring to become an FBI special agent must pass a physical fitness test, consisting of four individual assessments as well as meeting vision and hearing requirements, and undertaking a medical review. In addition, special agents must be between 23 and 37 years of age, hold a driver’s license and be prepared to work at any location within the FBI’s jurisdiction (Federal Bureau of Investigation Jobs). The role of a special agent can be dangerous and unpredictable. Consequently, it is important that FBI agents are people who are able to be effective in any circumstance and operate well under pressure. This is an important aspect of why the hiring process for the FBI is so rigorous. Becoming an FBI special agent involves having high physical fitness. One aspect of this is the “Yellow Brick Road”, which is an optional test of fitness that occurs at the FBI Academy. The test is a 6.1 mile run through a trail which involves running through creeks, climbing walls, scaling rock faces and crawling under wires (The Federal Bureau of Investigation). All new agents are highly trained to ensure that they have access to all the skills that may become necessary in the field. Training for new agents lasts 20 weeks, which include a total of 850 hours of training. Aspects of this training include academic study, case exercises, firearms training, operational skills and physical training. Some individuals are also trained in leadership skills (The Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). Therefore, the path to becoming a special agent for the FBI is difficult and involves a large amount of commitment and dedication, from the beginning of the application process, to the intense amount of training that is required, and finally to the on the job requirements and training. As the global society has emerged, the needs of the investigation agencies are also expanding. The agencies like Federal Bureau of Investigation come across with a lot of foreign language investigative material that is needed to be interpreted in the clearest language to avoid ambiguities. Interpretation of different cultures is another important task that needs the linguists or language busters. There are about nine international languages that are very critical for investigations in FBI. They are Punjabi, Farsi, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese and Urdu. The FBI linguists are required to have proficiency to be included in a FBI crew. There are about 1400 linguists who work domestically and overseas for FBI to provide the document translation and interpretation during critical investigation. Federal Bureau of Investigation also offers four types of linguist jobs based on the skills and educational levels and obviously according to the career goals i.e. Contract linguist, Contract language monitor, Contract tester and Special agent linguist. FBI linguist plays pivotal role in investigating terrorism, air piracy, public corruption, terrorism, organized financial crime, drug trafficking, civil rights violations etc. The job of the FBI linguist is to translate, analyze and report the data required for national security. They have to perform audio to document and document to document translation that lies within the jurisdiction of FBI. The job of a linguist is a difficult and challenging one as the data collected at the time of investigation needed to be translated and decode correctly. The linguist job requirement is fluency in foreign language. The agent at FBI must be professional in English language along with excellent writing, reading, listening and speaking skills. The contract linguist can also assist with interrogations, polygraph examinations and interviews.  Danuta K. has summed up the importance of a linguist in the following words: “It builds bridges among people who do not speak the same language, acting as an intermediary who may make or break the case, and helping a victim or adversary trusts the Bureau enough to cooperate (Federal Bureau of Investigation). While discussing the careers overall in FBI, it is important to describe the careers with reference to females. Females are definitely an important element of any institution and their involvement in the agencies can help boost the morale of the people and the proficiency in the field can be multiplied. About 2000 women are working as special agents in FBI and many of them are enjoying leadership positions. Female special agents serve in many influential positions like in charge of FBI field offices, managers of FBI headquarter programs and as Attaches of overseas offices. The female special agents are more likely to share their unique perspectives and analytical skills. They can be more compatible than men and have proved that in the field. Female special agents emerge as talented and capable while solving different problems and can better determine the success and failure levels of a mission than men do. Research has also proved that the female special agents make a better team with the men in the field and help resolving issues immediately and can add to the success of a mission with their unique critical thinking. There are some misconceptions involved with the careers at FBI especially on part of females as much confusion is involved in the procedure. They think that it is necessary to be a male for the job as special agent or one needs a special background with law enforcement criminology control background to apply. But no such restrictions have been employed by FBI to recruit females as special agents. The agents are selected with multiple backgrounds, ethnic groups and professional areas to make the FBI more promising and encompassing than ever before. FBI usually does not support the prior firearm experience because it can be a notion of ingrained bad habits and can indicate the person’s involvement into some aggressive attitude. FBI provides every special agent with firearm training to deal with the enemy. As far as the fitness tests are concerned for women, they have to take equal test with men but where they differ is the scoring level. For both genders scoring scale is different for each event because of the natural physiological differences between the two genders. It is very important for all women to know who want to pursue their careers at FBI that they can start their families and have child just like other women in professional capacity. According to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act female employees can take 12 weeks leave for fostering the children. FBI promotes the female agents in its full capacity to manage family and professional life together announcing annual and sick leaves, part time job schedule including maternity leave for not only delivery but for taking care of the child too. So, the women should not feel hesitant for applying for a career in FBI as it supports the analytical and influential skills of the women and see enough potential to deal with the outrageous circumstances in the field, balance family and professional life and the capacity to lead (Federal Bureau of Investigation). It is very important to know here that what makes a person disqualifier from the FBI employment. It gives a clear idea that can make a person lose the career at FBI. The first factor that can make the aspirant disqualifier is if the person is convicted for felony. The use of illegal drugs can also disqualify the candidate from the job under FBI Employment Drug Policy and in case of a default loan of a student makes the candidate ineligible candidate for the job with FBI at all levels (Federal Bureau of Investigation). It is very important to know before applying for the employment in Federal Bureau of Investigation about the hierarchial structure of the institution so that one can be sure that how the institution is working and who will be working under whose authority in the investigative agency and to whom the agent in FBI is answerable for the work. The following is a list of the ranks at FBI: Probationary Agent Special Agent Senior Special Agent Supervisory Special Agent Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge (ASAC) Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) Assistant Director Associate Executive Assistant Director Executive Assistant Director Deputy Chief of Staff Chief of Staff & Senior Counsel to the Director Associate Deputy Director Deputy Director Director (Wikipedia, 2012) The FBI Academy is a research and learning center that is used to train analysts and new agents within the FBI, as well as law enforcement agents from around the world. The course of study involves ten weeks of classroom work that occur four times a year. Courses are in a large number of areas, including leadership, law, forensic science, health and fitness and understanding terrorism and terrorist mindsets (The Federal Bureau of Investigation). This location of study and research is not limited to potential special agents, instead, people from a range of different roles train in the academy. The academy is not the final training that people aiming for an FBI career receive, rather it is the first step among many, where the FBI works to refine and teach its future employees. FBI has a clear vision to combat all type of terrorism, corruption, bribery and crime to stabilize the country by providing extensive trainings to the aspirants so that they can serve the nation in their full capacity. It is a dangerous and risky job but who have the mission to serve the nation can better do the job and understand its requirement within and outside the country. There are two main methods to become involved in an FBI career. One of these is applying for a current job posting. The other method is through the FBI Internship Program. This program has two components, the Honors Internship Program and the Volunteer Internship Program. Internship programs are designed for students, at the undergraduate, graduate or post-doctorate level. Participants in the Honors Internship Program are paid for their time, and spend ten weeks working with FBI employees. Generally, an internship is focused on organizational components, but occasionally the intern may be involved in an actual case. The Volunteer Internship Program is similar, however, in this program the individual is not paid (Federal Bureau of Investigation Jobs, 2012). These roles help to show the commitment and dedication of the individual, as well as providing evidence of their strong desire to be part of the organization. Consequently, they can provide a crucial first step into working with the agency. The FBI is entrusted with enforcing the law in a wide range of circumstances, often dangerous, where they have jurisdiction. Because of this mandate, it is important that people who begin careers at the FBI are able to be effective regardless of the circumstances. This applies not only to special agents, but to any career role within the FBI. Beginning a career in the FBI involves a high level of skill, and an indication that the individual is committed and motivated. The FBI aspirant should be prepare for all sudden and surprising missions to counter terrorism, end crime from the soil and to kick off the corruption engulfing the society. FBI is very much welcoming for all the aspirants specially women as special agents so if anyone wants to pursue a career in the field, they should not be reluctant to come and join for the sake of serving the country. References: Federal Bureau of Investigation Jobs. FBI Special Agent Physical Requirements Retrieved April 20, 2012, from https://www.fbijobs.gov/1113.asp Federal Bureau of Investigation Jobs. (2012). Internship Programs Retrieved April 20, 2012, from https://www.fbijobs.gov/2.asp Federal Bureau of Investigation. Employment disqualifiers Retrieved April 28, 2012 from https://www.fbijobs.gov/51.asp Federal Bureau of Investigation. Female special agents Retrieved April 28, 2012 from https://www.fbijobs.gov/115.asp Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 28, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation#cite_note-40 Jefferys-Jones, R. (2007). The FBI: A History. Binghamton, NY: Cail-Ballou Press. The Federal Bureau of Investigation. The National Academy. The FBI Academy Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/training The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2009). New Agent Training. The FBI Academy Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/training The Federal Bureau of Investigation. More than talk. All About FBI Linguists. Retrieved April 28, 2012 from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2008/july/linguists_072908 United States Department of Justice. (2009). The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008. https://www.fbijobs.gov/124.asp Read More