The CIA wants LU students

A representative from the CIA spoke to Liberty students April 8 about potential employment with the agency.

Chris C., Mid-Atlantic regional recruiter for the CIA, was the speaker for the night and presented sttendees with the different departments that they can work for within the CIA.

Before going into detail about the various departments of the CIA, Chris talked about the misconceptions that people generally have about the CIA and what the mission of the organization actually is.

“We are not a law-enforcement agency,” Chris said. “We only carry guns in war zones. … The FBI, who we work closely with, are the enforcers. … We are the information gatherers, so don’t expect a job with the CIA to always involve weapons.”

Chris reviewed the core values of the CIA — service, integrity and excellence — and emphasized that without these values, a position with the company would be impossible to get.

“Service means we put our country first and agency before self,” Chris said. “… It takes a special person to do that.”

There are various departments to work in within the organization. According to Chris, those departments include the Office of the Director of the CIA, the Directorate of Support, the Directorate of Science and Technology, the Directorate of Information and the National Clandestine Service.

Each department focuses on a different aspect of information gathering and caters to the personal abilities of each employee. The departments are separated by skillset, and within each department, there are various options as well.

For example, within The National Clandestine Service, there is the option to work as a field-based officer or a headquarters-based officer.

According to Chris, the field-based officer is an employee who travels approximately 70 percent of his career, while a headquarters-based officer may only travel approximately 30 percent of his career.

Chris has worked for the CIA for 16 years and currently works for the Directorate of Support. He encouraged students to look into all programs closely, no matter their major, because the CIA wants to employ people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge in a variety of areas.

“Do not disqualify yourself for a position just because you didn’t study government or cybersecurity,” Chris said. “… There are so many jobs available no matter what your degree or passion is.”

According to Chris, possible jobs with the CIA include sign language interpreter, cartographer, librarian, military analyst, nurse, attorney and graphic designer.

Working for the CIA would not only mean being one of an elite few who worked for such a well-known company, but it would also mean that they would be privilege to the employee perks.

Some of those perks, according to Chris, include competitive salaries, student loan repayment, paid physical fitness during workdays and language incentive pay, an encouragement from the CIA to maintain and improve foreign language skills.

Chris said one of his favorite parts of the CIA is the Employee Activity Association, which hosts fun groups, such as a ski club, and sells tickets to events like concerts and amusement parks for CIA employees.

“This is not a job you can brag about to your friends, so it is great having a sort of club for all of us to get together,” Chris said. “… People think you can’t have a social life if you are in the CIA, but that’s not true at all.”

For those students who were not ready for employment with the CIA, Chris touched on the student internship and scholar programs that are also options for students.

Richard Glass, director of the Career Center at Liberty, is the man behind the planning and execution of events such as the CIA Information Session. Glass said the Career Center has hosted the CIA in the past and tries to get simliar agencies to visit as often as possible. This event drew 127 students.

“The opportunities we showcase are really rare, so students from every major are always interested,” Glass said. “… Just like tonight, for these large government agencies, we always have a turnout of about 100 or more students.”

Sophomore Jennifer Zemmel commented on how much she enjoyed the event, even though she still has some time to consider actually acting upon what she learned.

“It was a great opportunity to get more insight on what the agency is,” Zemmel said. “… It is such a blessing to go to a university where we are provided with connections like this that enable us to view what our futures could become.”

Senior Jessica Morrison is studying pre-law and expressed her takeaways from the event as a student about to leave the university with the task of finding a job.

“I randomly chose to be a strategic intelligence minor, and God has just really opened up my passion for this potential career, so that’s why I attended ¬— to learn more,” Morrison said. “… I think I will really pursue this, and I am glad I came.”

For more information on pursuing a job or internship with the CIA, visit cia.gov or email chrispc0@ucia.gov.