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  1. #1
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    CIA Internships for college students

    Interesting to see that the US spy agency has a college internship program to pay recruits to go to college. You do not have to be a citizen or speak a language. Go to college in the fall and work in Wshington. Dc in summers. Funny to see how open and above board the site is. I tried and could not find similar info about the FBI or NSA.
    Bill D.
    https://www.cia.gov/careers/student-...ternships.html

  2. #2
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    I know a college student in Florida that's been in an FBI program, but it was not like an internship. It did cement her interest in joining the agency after graduation in a few years.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    The CIA internship pays like $30,000 Plus what they earn in two month in summer, I think. You do not have to know the secret handshake to get in either.
    BIll D

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    The CIA internship pays like $30,000 Plus what they earn in two month in summer, I think. You do not have to know the secret handshake to get in either.
    BIll D
    People would be surprised to know that much of the actual work in the CIA is research and connecting the dots.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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    After the war, I applied for and was accepted at the agency and was asked in a written questionnaire whether I had ever done any illegal drugs. I asked one of my friends that worked there, who did as many drugs as I did in Nam, and he said there were two types of CIA agents--Geeks and Liars. I declined to perjure myself and passed on the job. It doesn't pay much by the way.
    Regards,

    Tom

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas McCurnin View Post
    After the war, I applied for and was accepted at the agency and was asked in a written questionnaire whether I had ever done any illegal drugs. I asked one of my friends that worked there, who did as many drugs as I did in Nam, and he said there were two types of CIA agents--Geeks and Liars. I declined to perjure myself and passed on the job. It doesn't pay much by the way.
    The pay might not be top shelf, but if you get in good with civilian DoD and the like, and you have a good skill set, you are made for life.

    John Brennan, ex-CIA director, in his recent autobiography, talked about applying to the CIA back in 1980, and being truthful about his past drug use. They hired him.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    People would be surprised to know that much of the actual work in the CIA is research and connecting the dots.

    jtk
    THis is very true. They are looking for all kinds of skill sets that benefit parsing huge and dynamic data sets and most of their human resources are "regular folks" who just happen to be very smart in ways that benefit real world analysis.

    As an aside, both of Professor Dr. SWMBO's parents worked for the agency. Her dad was in SE Asia side by side with military folks well before the Viet Nam conflict ramped up and her mom was an analyst of some kind. They actually lived in Thailand for a while...the whole family. We have some interesting photos from that time as well as a copy of a signed photo of Kennedy with a personal thank you to her father for his efforts.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
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    When I looked into it a few years ago their big want was computer programmers and book keepers. I bet they have some woodworkers who make wooden guns and such. I remember the soviet killer umbrella. Someone had to design and make that.
    Bil lD

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    The CIA internship pays like $30,000 Plus what they earn in two month in summer, I think. You do not have to know the secret handshake to get in either.
    BIll D
    Wow, no such thing back in the day.

    I interviewed with them in late 1973 when I was in grad school (math/CS). Problem was, I was graduating in 3 months and they couldn't actually offer me a job until I had a security clearance. "No problem, just go ahead and apply, they usually go through within a year..." Um, no thanks.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    Wow, no such thing back in the day.

    I interviewed with them in late 1973 when I was in grad school (math/CS). Problem was, I was graduating in 3 months and they couldn't actually offer me a job until I had a security clearance. "No problem, just go ahead and apply, they usually go through within a year..." Um, no thanks.
    Yea, even today, clearances take a bit of time because they require actual personal interviews with a whole bunch of folks. The background check via records is easier now, but the feet on the street part remains the bottleneck. I think the one I had for work took something like 4-5 months start to finish and that was about 12 years ago.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
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    When my mom got her security clearance in WW2 she heard about it. The FBI sent two guys to her little town. They asked the neighbors, school principal and minister about her. They refused to say why or who they worked for. Kind of obvious only guys in town i wearing suits and a government car to boot. She heard about it before she was cleared and she was not allowed to tell people in California that she was in Tennessee. All her mail had to go through UC Berkeley. That included friends she saw working in Tennessee had to be mailed through California to get in touch and meet in real life.
    Bil lD.

    PS: Her home town is down to 106 population now. It was probably 4-500 hundred back then.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Yea, even today, clearances take a bit of time because they require actual personal interviews with a whole bunch of folks. The background check via records is easier now, but the feet on the street part remains the bottleneck. I think the one I had for work took something like 4-5 months start to finish and that was about 12 years ago.
    And not all clearances are created equal.

    DOD clearances for defense contractors used to run about 1/3/6 months for Confidential/Secret/Top-Secret: that was in the '70s. I know new TS clearances took more like 8-10 months after 9/11: that was actually a benefit late in my career, as the lack of one kept me off a project I had absolutely zero interest in working on.
    Last edited by Lee DeRaud; 12-02-2020 at 6:12 PM.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  13. #13
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    Mine was for DoD and "agencies with no names"... ... and was after 9/11.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #14
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    The mention of security clearances brings back a memory and a chuckle.

    One day at work in a print shop my manager came in and told me he would take over my press while the two guys in suits talked to me.

    A friend of mine needed to go through a security check to work at Los Alamos.

    Hearing a couple guys in suits wanted to talk to me did cause a little unease.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #15
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    Knowing someone who is employed as such (CIA Investigator is his preferred label), I can relay that although he likes to pretend that it is like it is on TV when the chicks are around, he readily confesses when alone that there is an amazing amount of scut work. Anyone who knows a police detective can probably sound similar findings; what happens in an hour on TV takes months or years in the real world. I appreciate those who pursue the law enforcement path. They don't get paid enough.
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 12-02-2020 at 8:18 PM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


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