How to become A FBI Special Agent

Incredibly fit, unnervingly smart, and resolutely loyal, FBI Special Agents work relentlessly to ensure the United States of America remains stable and secure in the face of unabating chaos and anarchy, domestic and global.

• Criminal Investigators
• Federal Agents
• Federal Officers
• Federal Investigators

What do FBI Special Agents do?

An FBI Special Agent would typically need to:

• Focus on preventing and investigating terror attacks, foreign intelligence operations against the US, high-tech crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes against minors
• Investigate criminal activities, usually while working undercover; patrol assigned areas and gather intelligence either from sources or through observation of suspects
• Interview victims, witnesses, and suspects of various violent and white-collar crimes
• Carry out counterterrorism and counterintelligence operations; safeguard weapons and technology that may be used by the country's enemies
• Collect and analyze data; study changes in criminal patterns; testify in the federal court
• Obtain and execute search warrants; participate in raids, arrests, chases, and other dangerous assignments; carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary
• Maintain a high level of physical and mental fitness
• Handle the paperwork and other administrative tasks

Your work assignment will largely determine your work location, travel, and dress code. Most Special Agents work in one of the FBI Field Offices and Satellite Offices located around the US. Depending on your specialization, you might go through a suspicious person’s bank transactions in an office or track down drug traffickers in the field. You might also be attached to an American Embassy and represent the FBI in another country.

While one mission might require you to spend several weeks at the same location, another might have you traveling worldwide to meet government officials working at US Embassies. As an FBI Special Agent, you must always be ready to transfer to a new place in the wake of the next assignment.

Special Agents working in an office have a business formal dress code; those raiding a sensitive target use bulletproof vests and tactical battle gear. Going undercover to gather intel on suspects calls for casual wear while functional clothing is the go-to when working as an instructor at a training academy.

FBI Special Agents can generally expect 50-hour work weeks; working overtime and irregular work hours is almost a given. They must be on-call 24/7/365, although Special Agents usually have opportunities to spend quality time with their families.

Depending on their skills and expertise, Special Agents may work for different FBI branches like IT or Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services. Some work in specialist areas across the FBI, such as training, fingerprinting, lab services, and public affairs. Many also serve as supervisors or managers.

They might need to cooperate with other agencies, American and non-American, when necessary.

FBI Special Agents are generally employed by:

• The FBI

The Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (SFSA) provides an organized networking platform for veteran agents. Active agents may avail of associate membership. Besides having created the prestigious Louis E. Peters Memorial Award amongst other law enforcement awards, the SFSA plays an active role in philanthropy.

• The need to be ready to pack up and move to another location at a moment’s notice
• Long and irregular hours; on-call 24/7/365
• A high-pressure environment with no room for mistakes
• The need to face dangerous situations head-on and be ready to use violence in some cases

FBI Field Offices actively engage with the community they serve and protect. Some have a program called the Teen or Youth Leadership Academy that invites top junior and senior high school students to their local Field Office and gives them a peek into the FBI’s inner workings.

The 10-week FBI Honors Internship Program is one of the most prestigious and competitive paid summer internships in the US. It immerses college undergraduate and graduate students from all academic backgrounds in unique experiences that combine law enforcement with national security and intelligence.

Working with Special Agents and other professionals in the Washington, D.C. headquarters, or in Field Offices nationwide, students will be able to try out an FBI career in a wide range of fields that match their background and studies and actively contribute to the protection of the United States.

These internships will give you a definitive edge in the selection process. The knowledge you will gain through interacting with experienced FBI Special Agents will help you be better prepared for the job while showing dedication to the FBI and the welfare of the US. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree require two years of full-time professional work experience while those with an advanced degree will find it reduced to a year.

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college in the US is the bare minimum requirement. While it encourages candidates from all professional backgrounds to apply for the post, the FBI prefers prospective Special Agents. They specialize in STEM fields of study (science, technology, engineering, and math) or law, military law enforcement, linguistics, education, cybersecurity, healthcare services, psychology, and finance.

As an FBI Special Agent, you will often have to deal with people of various nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Fluency in English and a second language such as Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Hebrew, Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, Vietnamese or Russian is highly recommended.

There are quite a few accredited organizations that offer certificates of proficiency in select languages. Your competence will be tested during the selection process as well. Candidates need to be US citizens and have to renounce their claim to dual citizenship. A driving license is an essential prerequisite.

Career progression is driven by performance, experience, and acquisition of professional qualifications. Employees with consistently high levels of performance may be eligible for promotion every few years.

FBI Special Agents may choose to advance their career in the field or a management role. They can apply to the Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) position within three to five years of joining the bureau. With SSA positions continually opening up throughout the FBI, opportunities are plentiful.

With enough time and experience, you may be promoted to Senior Special Agent or Special Agent-in-Charge. Switching to the management track could get you placement as the person in charge of a Directorate or a Branch.

Competition for FBI jobs will be intense. Bilingual candidates with college degrees and law enforcement or military experience should enjoy the best prospects.

After completing two years of working on assignments, some FBI Special Agents choose to join specific mission-centric units. Intense training and special equipment prepare them for complex, critical, and urgent challenges.

Continuing professional development is the holistic commitment of the FBI Special Agents towards enhancing personal skills and proficiency throughout their active careers by undertaking work-based learning, a professional activity, formal education, or self-directed learning. There are a whole host of CPD courses, seminars, and workshops out there to help professionals in the field.

What Sets a Special Agent Apart from the Rest

Special Agents are law enforcement officers under federal law. They have the right to carry weapons, investigate crimes, and make arrests. All FBI Special Agents need to undergo a rigorous year-long unique selection process, involving thorough background checks as well as physical fitness and medical tests.

Automatic Disqualifiers

You will be automatically disqualified from selection as a Special Agent if you are not a US citizen, defaulted on a student loan insured by the US government, violated the FBI Employment Drug Policy, been convicted of a felony, or failed to file income tax returns or pay mandated child support.

Visual Acuity

Special Agent applicants also need to have at least 20/20 vision in one eye and no less than 20/40 vision in the other eye. In case of using a soft contact lens for more than one year and meeting correction to 20/20 in one eye and no worse than 20/40 in the other eye, safety concerns are considered mitigated, and applicant processing may continue.

What Does Background Check Entail?

Once an applicant accepts a conditional job offer, The FBI initiates an intensive background investigation, including a polygraph test, a test for illegal drug use, a check of credit records, and extensive interviews with former and current colleagues, neighbors, friends, professors, and other relevant sources.

Staged Real-Life Training

The FBI has a perfectly constructed town for training purposes in Quantico, Virginia. In Hogan's Alley, the local bank gets robbed at least twice a week, the mailboxes are welded shut, the restaurant is a classroom, and the movie theater houses an FBI office. Agents respond to staged events and receive the latest tactical training in real-life scenarios, complete with actors who play terrorists, drug dealers, and mobsters.

No Such Thing as a Typical Day

FBI Special Agents in the field may need to wear different hats while enforcing specific federal laws. Over a week, they might meet with a source to gather intelligence, execute a search warrant, make an arrest, testify in court, consult with squad members, or catch up on paperwork.

Incredible Track Record

According to statistics reported to the FBI, an FBI Special Agent’s job is no walk in the park. Still, thanks to their high level of competence, the number of law enforcement officers who died in line-of-duty incidents in 2019 is limited to 89. Of these, 48 officers died due to felonious acts, and 41 officers in accidents.

Forces to Reckon With

FBI Special Agents may be an essential member of elite squads like the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), Special Agent Bomb Tech Program (SABT), Evidence Response Team Unit (ERTU), Technically Trained Agent (TTA) Program, or the Operational Medic Program.

If you have specialized medical, technical, or scientific skills, you can be chosen as a member of the ERTU and the Operational Medic & TTA Programs. Agents who meet the requirements of the Tactical Recruitment Program (TRP) can join SWAT, Tactical SABT, or HRT. Tactical experience working in law enforcement or the military is a prerequisite for admission to the TRP.

Mobility

Clause All FBI Special Agents must sign and adhere to a mobility agreement according to which they accept transfers as an employment condition. However, recruits assigned to a Field Office will get transfer orders only when they request a voluntary transfer, apply for a management position, or address an existing or emerging critical need.

Anyone who’s smoked pot in the last three years or used illegal drugs in the last ten years is disqualified from becoming an FBI agent. You can wait it out, get in shape, and apply once this time passes.

When a keen sense of honor finds its partner in conscientious training, we have an FBI Special Agent. Most things they consider ‘fun’ aren’t for the faint of heart, and the way they like ‘to play’ isn’t always conventional, but that’s how they come up with novel solutions to the constant riddle of upholding justice and safeguarding their nation.

Get an education in something that interests you and then work in a field that interests you. It will ensure that you bring inimitable experience to the table and make you a prime candidate for selection to the FBI.