Students discuss careers with the Secret Service with recruiters Wednesday. The Secret Service offers uniformed, special agent, and administrative/professional/technical career paths.
For the first time in his 30 years at St. Cloud State University, Andy Ditlevson, Associate Director for Employment Services for the Career Center, welcomed the Secret Service to campus. The Secret Service followed a visit by recruiters from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Tuesday.
Over the two days, recruiters spent time with students, faculty, and staff to talk about what it is like to work for those agencies, opportunities for students of all majors, and navigating the application and hiring process.
“They want to find a fit with the agency depending on what the student’s interests are so they encourage any student who is even possibly interested to apply and apply early,” Jackie Bauer of the Career Center said via email.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
In open sessions, recruiters from the CIA presented an overview of working for the agency, the hiring process, and benefits.
According to their website, the CIA’s primary mission is to “collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the President and senior US government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security.”
“You have everything you need at this school to qualify you for these jobs,” said one recruiter. They welcome and encourage students of all majors to apply.
The CIA offers robust student internship opportunities ranging from accounting, economics, and engineering. Applications are due at least 12 months in advance of a desired start date. For example: summer 2021 applications need to be submitted early spring of 2020.
Examples of previous intern experiences sounded nothing short of amazing. “We are normal people with an extraordinary job.”
Secret Service
The Secret Service is looking for good people – responsible adults – to perform the job and serve the mission. Once hired, they will provide the training.
Available positions are posted on USAJobs. Recruiters advised to do a federal-style resume, which is considerably longer than other types. A profile may be created on the site to save time when applying for multiple positions.
“Take the time on the front end to hit the key points of the job posting,” Special Agent Gibson said.
A career in the Secret Service provides amazing experiences, travel, and other opportunities. Administrative (non-travel) positions are also available.
The Takeaways
- The CIA and Secret Service has a career for every major.
- Federal employment offers a stable career path (fairly recession-proof) with the recent addition of paid maternity/paternity leave in the benefits package.
- Security clearance for these Federal agencies takes a very long time. Students need to plan ahead to secure an internship or job in a timely manner.
- College is a great time to establish yourself as a leader and show responsibility. It will help you with your job search later.
- The people who work for these agencies are very down-to-earth and friendly people. They want interns and graduates from our area to be a part of their work families.
