SO YOU WANT TO BE A SPY?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 5, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
5 August 1985
SO YOU WANT TO BE A SPY?
BY DANIEL GILMORE
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- RECENTLY' A ROOMFUL OF CLEAN-CUT YOUNG MEN AND
WOMEN WAITED FOR THEIR FIRST INTERVIEW IN A JOB APPLICATION PROCESS
THAT PROBES INTIMATE DETAILS OF THEIR LIVES AND REQUIRES THEM TO PASS
A LIE DETECTOR TEST.
IF SUCCESSFUL -- AND FEW ARE BELIEVED TO BE -- THE APPLICANTS ARE
TAPPED FOR A WELL-PRYING ENTRY-LEVEL JOB WITH A SECRET ORGANIZATION
THAT PROMISES A 'CAREER OF CONSEQUENCE.'
THEY WERE AMONG THE 150000 TO 2009000 APPLICANTS A YEAR FOR JOBS
WITH THE CIAs SAYS HERBERT SIMMONSY CHIEF OF AGENCY RECRUITMENT IN
THE WASHINGTON AREA.
MANY WERE RESPONDING TO A NATIONWIDE CIA NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGN AND OTHERS HAD BEEN APPROACHED BY CIA RECRUITERS ON COLLEGE
CAMPUSES.
TEN YEARS AGO' WHEN THE SINS AND INDISCRETIONS OF THE CIA WERE
HAULED BEFORE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGRTORSt CIA RECRUITERS WOULD
PROBABLY HAVE BEEN BESIEGED BY STUDENT MILITANTS.
BUT SURPRISINGLYt RECRUITING STILL CONTINUED BRISKLY EVEN THEN.
CIA SPOKESMAN DECLINED TO SAY HOW MANY PEOPLE THE AGENCY HIRES
YEARLY BECAUSE THAT INFORMATION WOULD INDICATE THE SIZE OF ITS WORK
FORCE. BUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS KNOWN TO BE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE.
CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM CASEY TOLD A GATHERING OF FORMER INTELLIGENCE
OFFICERS LAST HINTER THAT 'DESPITE A DRUMBEAT OF MEDIA CRITICISM' THE
AGENCY HAD MORE THAN 150000 APPLICANTS IN THE LAST YEAR.
THE CIR WHOSE WORK FORCE RT ITS HEADQUARTERS IN LANGLEYt VA., AND
IN THE WASHINGTON AREA IS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 25,0001 IS LOOKING FOR
THE CREAM OF THE CROP IN COLLEGE GRRDURTESY SIMMONS SAYS. APPLICANTS
MUST BE U.S. CITIZENS.
'DURING THE COMING SEMESTERY WE'LL BE VISITING SCHOOLS AND
COLLEGES THROUGHOUT THE NATION. BUT WE REMAIN VERY CAREFUL IN OUR
SELECTION BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SECRET AND UNIQUE AGENCY,'
SIMMONS SAID.
THE SCREENING PROCESS IS RIGOROUS AND CAN BE PROTRACTED.
'WE'RE SHOOTING FOR A 120-DRY AVERAGE SECURITY CHECK PERIOD:'
SIMMONS SRIDv AND RECRUITERS NON ARE APPROACHING JUNIORS IN COLLEGE
TO START THE PROCESS EARLIER.
THE PERSONAL HISTORY QUESTIONNAIRES ARE FORMIDABLE AND FOCUS ON
POSSIBLE CRIMINAL RECORDS' DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE -- ALTHOUGH PAST
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4
Of.
EXPERIMENTS OR EXPERIENCES DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY COUNT AN APPLICANT
OUT.
RELATIVES, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, CO-WORKERS AND TEACHERS ARE
INTERROGATED IN DEPTH. REFERENCES ARE DOUBLE CHECKED AND HEALTH
RECORDS VERIFIED.
IF ALL GOES WELL, THE APPLICANT IS CALLED IN FOR A POLYGRAPH, OR
LIE DETECTOR TEST.
THE CIA DOES NOT COME RIGHT OUT AND ADVERTISE FOR SPIES.
'IT'S A BIG AGENCY AND PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE VARIOUS
BRANCHES,' SIMMONS SAID IN AN INTERVIEW. 'WE HAVE 00 DISCIPLINES
CALLING FOR STATE OF THE ART PROFESSIONALS.'
THE CIA HAS FOUR MAIN DEPARTMENTS OR DIRECTORATES, BUT ONLY THE
DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS IS DIRECTLY CONCERNED WITH 'HUNINT' --
HUMAN-OBTAINED AND HUMAN-GENERATED INTELLIGENCE, INCLUDING COVERT
ACTIONS.
THIS IS THE BRANCH WHICH, IN ADDITION TO CARRYING OUT ESPIONAGE
AND RECRUITING FOREIGN AGENTS, WOULD ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE, AS THE CIA
CHARTER EXPLAINS, FOR-PERFORMING 'SUCH OTHER FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES
RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE AFFECTING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AS THE
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MAY FROM TIME TO TIME DIRECT.'
CRITICS CHARGED THE VAGUE WORDING WAS TOO LOOSELY INTERPRETED BY
THE CIA AND LED TO ITS TROUBLES IN THE 19705 WITH THE EXPOSURE OF
PAST 'DIRTY TRICKS' AND ASSASSINATION PLOTS, WHICH INVESTIGATION
SHOWED HAD EITHER MISFIRED OR WERE NEVER CARRIED OUT.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4
AL,T: CLE '\PPAR~ED
ON FAGE ! ~
WASHINGTON TIMES
6 August 1985
It's no secret: CIA jobs
have plenty of applicants
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Recently, a roomful of clean-cut young
men and women waited for their first
interview in a job application process
that probes intimate details of their lives
and requires them to pass a lie detector
test.
If successful - and few are believed
to be - the applicants are tapped for a
well-paying entry-level job with a secret
organization that promises a "career of
consequence:'
They were among the 150,000 to
200,000 applicants a year for jobs with
the CIA, says Herbert Simmons, chief of
agency recruitment in the Washington
area.
Many were responding to a nationwide
CIA newspaper advertising campaign;
others had been approached by CIA
recruiters on college campuses. I
'Ibn years ago, when the sins and indis-
cretions of the CIA were hauled before
congressional investigators, CIA
recruiters would probably have been
besieged by student militants.
But surprisingly, recruiting still con-
tinued briskly even then.
CIA spokesman declined to say how
many people the agency hires yearly
because that information would indicate
the size of its work force. But the applica-
tion process is known to be highly com-
petitive.
CIA Director William Casey told a
gathering of former intelligence officers
last winter that "despite a drumbeat of
media criticism" the agency had more
than 150,000 applicants in the last year.
The CIA, whose work force at its head-,
quarters in Langley, Va., and in the Wash-
ington area is estimated at about 25,000,
is looking for the cream of the crop in
college graduates, Mr. Simmons says.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
"During the coming semester, we'll be
visiting schools and colleges throughout
the nation. But we remain very careful in
our selection because we're talking about
a secret and unique agency," Mr.
Simmons said.
The screening process is rigorous and
can be protracted.
"We're shooting for a 120-day average
security check period;' Mr. Simmons
said, and recruiters now are approaching
juniors in college to start the process ear-
lier.
The personal history questionnaires
are formidable and focus on possible
criminal records, drug and alcohol use -
although past experiments or exper-
fU INLY
iences do not automatically count an
applicant out.
Relatives, friends, neighbors, co-
workers and teachers are interrogated in
depth. References are double-checked
and health records verified.
If all goes well, the applicant is called
in for a polygraph, or lie detector test.
The CIA does not come right out and
advertise for spies.
"It's a big agency and people don't
know about the various branches;' Mr.
Simmons said in an interview. "We have
150 disciplines calling for state of the art
professionals:'
The CIA has four main departments or
directorates, but only the directorate of
operations is directly concerned with
"humint" - human-obtained and human-
generated intelligence, including covert
actions.
This is the branch which, in addition to
carrying out espionage and recruiting
foreign agents, would also be responsi-
ble, as the CIA charter explains, for per-
forming "such other functions and duties
related to intelligence affecting the
national security as the National Secu-
rity Council may from time to time
direct:'
Critics charged the vague wording
was too loosely interpreted by the CIA
and led to its troubles in the 1970s with
the exposure of past "dirty tricks" and
assassination plots, which investigation
showed had either misfired or were never
carried out.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/13 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302390013-4