CIA Recruitment Process Unveiled by a Former CIA Operative

Transcript

We do look for certain types of personalities. You have to be somebody that, besides education and besides the right background, that you have a sense of duty, that you have a sense of purpose. You cannot do the work

that we do successfully because of the sacrifices that are made without believing in what you do. People's skills are important because for us recruiting and running agents is our bread and butter. Yes, we do covert action.

That's the Black Ops part of the equation. But our day-to-day routine is spotting, assessing, and recruiting individuals. So you have to be able to do several things.

One, you be able to socially mingle, socially make contacts, develop those contacts. And where your purpose really kicks in is that recruitment because we, in the United States, we recruit for strengths.

That means we try to find agents that will cooperate with us for the right reasons. They're trying to improve their country, they're trying to stop corruption in their country, drug trafficking in their country, whatever it is.

And having that internal conviction yourself, you can infect the individual you're talking to with your enthusiasm and your beliefs. So, people that have that ability to communicate and an ability to make friendships, buttress by the fact that

you do have a higher purpose, that's what we're looking for. The rest is things that can be added to your education. You know, the majority of the people that come to the agency do not have a second language, even though that is one of

the biggest things you can do is manage a second language. But the agency, unlike other components, including the military, will never send an officer out in the field without having at least an operational level of whatever language it is. The training is phenomenal.

I mean, from day one, you are in an embassy scenario, you are writing everything that you do. Going into town and doing what we call this casing, looking for areas where you could have meetings safely, areas whether you could do car pickups, 'cause they have, you

know, the right blocking so people can see you picking somebody up. And that all gets built on top of each other. Photography, covert communications, and then the actual art of recruiting. I think that the best methodology for acquiring an operational

acumen in any field, whether it's law enforcement or other, is to push yourself and do things that you will succeed at gradually, and that builds confidence. Not everybody in the CIA a is an operator. You know, we have people

that are logisticians, we have people that are personnel issues, you know, and like we have HR just like everybody else. Hr, we have logistics, we have security. And the other big one is, of course, our intelligence analysts.

Besides the training, same things apply. Knowledge of culture, dwelling in a particular subject. Most of your career, if not your whole career, as you go you're building

up a level of confidence that is unbreakable. That adaptability mixed with the social skills are important, but the training is there. We have incredible resources dedicated to making our officers the best that they can be, and the most prepared that they can be.