FBI - Son is considering as a career

[71MUSTY]

He is currently 19 and in College.

Are there any Current or retired FBI agents here who he could talk to about planning his education in that direction?

[AJAX22]

Not a feeb but I looked into it at one time

You’ll need a different job or means of support for the 6-12 months while they do the background check

He will also be making about 10-20k less than market for the same education but the bennifits and perks are pretty good (the recruiters can be dicks though so you have to be good at biting your tongue)

Foreign ties, alternative lifestyles and bad credit are big deals, drug use to.

[pacrat]

Originally Posted by 71MUSTY

He is currently 19 and in College.

Are there any Current or retired FBI agents here who he could talk to about planning his education in that direction?

Not a feeb, but know one well. Asked same question as you in relation to a grandson who showed interest.

Was told there are 3 basic types of agents. [Investigators--Lawyers--Accountants] Was advised that he should focus on one of three curriculum. [Criminology--Law--Business] Or a combination of.

[Spanky8601]

Had a brother he was a lawyer and spoke a foreign language perfectly. His initial assignments were mainly investigations in dump cities. Then his foreign language skill got him a plumb assignment at an embassy in Asia. He is retired now and keeps busy doing stuff like 1/2 work for FEMA.

[CBR_rider]

If he wants adrenaline rushes nearly every work day/doesn’t like running down financial accounts I would tell him to stay away. Some agents will only have a small handful of really “exciting” moments whereas if you work a busy local LE agency you can get into exciting stuff every week.

Foreign language proficiency and finance related experience/education are huge when applying for a job with the FBI

[BlackyHouston]

They do regular Career Fairs

[111222]

Im not a Fed, but every time I (excitingly) chat with a Secret Service Agent, they are depressed and tell me the job is not what I think it is. This has happened with every contact, about three of them. I have a relative by marriage who is some sort of agent in the Nor Cal area and he isnt real excited about his job either.

One thing that did catch my attention, if someone does go to work as a CO at CDCR, there is a massive amount of OT, I mean some guys are bring home over 30k a month during fire season. That could be a selling point, but working for the State of CA also sucks as they treat their employees like poop.

[DVSmith]

If he is interested in Cyber Crime, have him look into that aspect:

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fbi...special-agents

[kwest10]

If he’s dead set in the FBI it would be prudent if he also considered other 1811 agencies as a way in; HSI, ATF, IRS, Secret Service or other federal LEAs line CBP or border patrol. Easier to get in if you’re already “in” or you’re looking at a very competitive process. Military experience will also help.

[Citadelgrad87]

Originally Posted by 71MUSTY

He is currently 19 and in College.

Are there any Current or retired FBI agents here who he could talk to about planning his education in that direction?

I looked at it in the 1990s.

At the time, they were only hiring attorneys and accountants.

There was also a funk in the air regarding consent decrees and “correcting” an all while bureau.

I applied and it was the only job i ever applied for that i was not hired for, and i met the criteria to a T.

I have a friend from the Citadel who made a career out of it after the Army.

[111222]

Former federal civilian employee here. I know "union" is an ugly word here, but when upper management wants to F with you, its nice to have that insurance policy. It seems like the unions on the federal level are not as good as the smaller level types. Its like this with every gov agency- the bigger they are, the lower the pay, the slower they are to get things done and less likely to care about their employees. (too big to fail, too big to care)

If your son is going to have a gov job with the good pension and benefits, he will want the protection that comes with it- hire an expensive attorney or use the union. But youre saying- my son is bright, a rock star and doesnt have any problems in the work place...well warm up to this saying, the more successful you are, the bigger the target on your back. You can be the greatest employee ever, so that means someone will take a pot shot at him eventually, its human nature. How can I write all of this, I have lived it.

Yes, unions are an ugly item here, but its cheap insurance. They can usually squash a problem before hiring an attorney. If I was interested in a career in LE, it would be at a county level in CA. Good pay, good laws, good protection, big enough to get away from someone and usually a good retirement. And one good thing about California, the other places dont have, the The Peace Officer Bill of Rights. This is GOLD and I dont think too many other places, including the fed gov have this. Dont see it in Utah, Arizona or Idaho, but there is a weak version in NV. Its another nice thing to have.

Workers Comp- Yes, people get hurt at work.Talk to the federal employees on Facebook and the process is always extra long, slow and frustrating. County and city level employees- Still long, but the process does move quicker. The federal gov is a pain to work for, everything is slow and just seems more frustrating. Yes, the state of CA is jacked up, but for a LEO or someone in the LE community, its not a bad career gig.

[dno]

I worked with FBI agents before I retired...I remember when the first World Trade center bombing occurred, one of the agents in our unit was an explosives tech. He got a call at 6am telling him to be in New York by 8pm that evening and be prepared to stay for 6 months...got cancelled about 3 hours later.

One of my neighbors was a secret service agent supervisor in charge of a protection detail. He said many times that if he had it to do over he would be a city LEO. He was tired of so much traveling.