The Route to Becoming a FBI Agent

•  Work responsibilities:
• conducting sensitive national security investigations
• enforcing over 300 federal statutes
• may work on matters including:
• terrorism
• foreign counterintelligence
• cyber crime
• organized crime
• white-collar crime
• public corruption
• civil rights violations
• financial crime
• bribery
• bank robbery
• extortion
• kidnapping
• air piracy
• interstate criminal activity
• fugitive and drug-trafficking matters
• other violations of federal statutes
• All FBI Special Agents are committed to fulfilling the FBI's priorities and upholding the FBI's core values.

• Training/Education and Qualifications
• You must possess a four-year degree from a college or university accredited by one of the regional or national institutional associations recognized by the United States Secretary of education.
• All applicants for the Special Agent position must first qualify under one of five Special Agent Entry Programs. These programs include:
• Accounting
• Computer Science/Information Technology
• Language
• Law
• Diversified
• You must have at least three years of professional work experience.

• Other Qualification Requirements
• You must also possess a valid driver's license and be completely available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction.
• Be a U.S. citizen or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands
• You must be at least 23 years of age to apply and have not reached 37 years of age upon your appointment as a Special Agent. Age waivers may be granted to preference eligible veterans who have surpassed their 37th birthday.

• Potential outlook for the career
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that employment of FBI special agents and intelligence analysts will grow rapidly in coming years. Job growth will occur as the population expands and the emphasis on national security continues to increase. Competition for FBI jobs will be strong. Bilingual candidates with college degrees and law enforcement or military experience should enjoy the best prospects.

• Salary
• The median salary for an FBI agent was $67,759, with a range of $54,326 and $106,922, while the median intelligence analyst salary was $60,000, with a range of $50,304 and $85,620. Information posted on FBIjobs.gov indicates that special agent trainees are paid a base salary of $43,441 during their time at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, plus a locality adjustment that brings their income to $51,043 on an annualized basis. FBIjobs.gov also reveals that newly assigned special agents earn between $61,100 and $69,900, depending upon the field office to which they are assigned.

• Obstacles
• Becoming an FBI agent must be very competitive, there is not as many positions available and they require the applicants to have very specific skills at different times, so why you are training to qualify they might change the profile of the people they are looking for.
• There is an age and physical requirement which will again make it complex for an individual to complete all requirements and have the physical ones to join.

• Potential people to contact
• There is an FBI office in New York City:
  26 Federal Plaza, 23rd Floor
  New York, NY 10278-0004
  Phone: (212) 384-1000
  Fax: (212) 384-4073
  E-mail: newyork@fbi.gov

Kervin Hidalgo