Undergraduate Internship Program-Directorate of Operations
- Internship
- Starting salary: $53,170
- Full-time student pursuing an undergraduate degree
There are currently no openings for this position. Please check back periodically as our hiring needs change.
About the Job
Please check back circa late fall 2022 for information on Summer 2024/2025 DO Internships.
As a Directorate of Operations Undergraduate Intern for CIA, you will support the Directorate of Operations (DO) mission to collect human intelligence on critical international developments. The DO is the covert arm of the CIA.
Working in the Washington, DC area, you will perform duties typical of a Collection Management Officer or Staff Operations Officer, teaming with knowledgeable professionals to facilitate the collection and dissemination of foreign intelligence used by U.S. national security, defense, and foreign policy officials and intelligence analysts.
Interns are generally freshmen at the time of application and are interested in pursuing a DO career upon graduation.
Who You’ll Work With
At the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), we recognize our Nation’s strength comes from the diversity of its people. People from a broad range of backgrounds and viewpoints work at CIA, and our diverse teams are the reason we can keep our country safe.
Read more about diversity and inclusion
What You’ll Get
The CIA offers various benefits to students, including:
- Paid time off
- Federal health and life insurance
- Retirement
- Education and training
- Health services
- Child care center
- Credit union
As a CIA employee, you’ll also get the satisfaction of knowing your work is part of something bigger than yourself. Our work is driven by one mission: to keep our Nation safe. Every day is an opportunity to enhance U.S. national security.
Minimum Qualifications
As noted above, our Directorate of Operations Undergraduate Internship program will not be accepting applications for summer 2023 internship opportunities. Please check back in late 2022 to learn more about our revamped Undergraduate Internship program. We encourage those who have an interest in a DO career to continue to visit our website and learn about the Agency, with a goal of applying to a full-time position approximately one year prior to graduation.
Desired Qualifications
- Foreign language skills and/or overseas experience
What You’ll Need to Apply
Please check back circa late fall 2022 for information on Summer 2024/2025 DO Internships.
Qualifications Supplement
In a separate PDF attachment address the following questions:
- Why does a career in public service appeal to you (1 paragraph)?
- Why do you wish to serve in the Directorate of Operations (1 paragraph)?
- Other than the Directorate of Operations, what other career options are of interest to you (1 paragraph)?
- Describe one thing from your academic, military, or professional background that has prepared you for success in the Directorate of Operations (1 paragraph).
- Complete this thought: “I do my best work when…” (1 paragraph).
- Describe a time when you did not succeed, professionally or academically, and what you learned from that experience (2 paragraphs).
Intelligence Profession Reading List
We encourage all applicants to read about the Agency. Please review our Intelligence Profession Reading List.
- Milt Bearden and James Risen; The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB.
- Duane R. Clarridge; A Spy for All Seasons
- Richard Holm; The American Agent
- Floyd L. Paseman; A Spy’s Journey: A CIA Memoir
- Ted Shackley with Richard A. Finney; Spymaster: My Life in the CIA
- James Olson; Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying
- Martha Petersen, The Widow Spy
- Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS
- David Atlee Phillips; Night Watch; 25 Years of Peculiar Service
- Henry A. Crumpton, The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in CIA’s Clandestine Service
- Gary Schroen; First In: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan
- William Colby; Honorable Men
- Allen Dulles; The Craft of Intelligence
- Richard Helms; A Look Over my Shoulder
- Anonymous (Mike Scheuer); Imperial Hubris
- Mark M. Lowenthal; Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, 2nd Edition
- Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille, Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed
- Antonio J. Mendez; The Master of Disguise
- Michael J. Sulick; Spying in America: Espionage from the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War
- Robert Gates, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War
- Peter Grose, Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles
- Judith L. Pearson: The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy
- Clarence Ashley; CIA Spymaster
- Steve Coll; Ghost Wars; The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
- Ted Gup; The Book of Honor
- Ronald Kessler; CIA at War; and Inside the CIA
- Joseph Persico; Casey: From the OSS to the CIA
- Christopher Andrew; For the President’s Eyes Only
- John Ranelagh, The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA
- Philip Taubman, Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden History of America’s Space Espionage
- Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs from Communism to al-Qaeda
- Carlotta Gall, “The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan 2001-2014”
- David Ignatius; A Firing Offense
- David Ignatius; Agents of Innocence
- Robert Littell; The Company
- Tom Clancy; The Cardinal of the Kremlin
- Alvaro Uribe; No Lost Causes
- Isser Harel; The House on Garibaldi Street
- Benjamin Weiser; A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Save His Country
- Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin; The Sword and the Shield. The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB
- Jerrold L. Schecter; The Spy Who Changed the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in these books are those of the authors and do not reflect the official positions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or any other US Government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government authentication of information or CIA endorsement of the authors’ views. Because the CIA does not endorse any of these books, Section 13 of the CIA Act of 1949, 50 USC & 403m, prohibits the appearance of a book on this list from being used in connection with any commercial activity, including promotions or advertisements.