Secret Service/CIA

Lord:

dunno. guess too much pressure? and the last time i checked, cia clandestine agents can get killed when getting intelligence.

You however, cannot. So you may want to find some.

Lord:

dunno. guess too much pressure? and the last time i checked, cia clandestine agents can get killed when getting intelligence.

Understandable. Seriously, suggest to him an MBA. His background is so unique compared to your typical applicant. Did he go to a good undergrad and do well there?

Lord:

drexelalum, there is a difference between what happens in movies and what happens in real life.

Actually thats how it works. Look up clandestine. And look up the program in the CIA Career section. I was seriously considering this for a bit. Unless your 'friend' is your father/brother/gay lover, you would most likely have no inkling, nor would he be advertising that he is in the clandestine program on a resume being sent to any number of companies.

Also, think about it practically, what value would it add in the recruiting process? All joking aside, there's very little contribution it will make during the interview process, you wont be giving specific example, and despite the fact that the interviewer knows you cant be specific, it will not leave as lasting as an impression as the guy who can give exact details of his experiences.

You won't work as a special agent out of undergrad. Does not happen except in very rare circumstances for very specific reasons.

CIA NCS has an undergrad recruitment program, although I'm not sure whether they perform field work or analysis functions.

It's gonna be real tough to get an 1811 special agent job without prior law enforcement experience, and especially difficult without the 5-10 points veterans preference.

I am not asking about whether I will get special agent out of undergrad (as I mentioned I am getting an MA; beyond that, I don't want to go into details but my situation is unique); I have that part more or less figured out. I am asking about MBA after that point in time, if I should choose to get one so as to advance my career in/out of the field.

Thanks!

It seems you want to do Undergrad--> masters --> LE --> MBA --> ??

Big question to answer is -- why an MBA?

For what you are describing, an MBA is less useful than an MPA, MPP, or a national security-related masters.

I wanted to spare everyone the lengthy and compex rationale :P

I have a lot of interests and if I don't end up staying in security for the long term, my goals will probably switch to defense finance or a related field. Hence, MBA seems useful to me.

im currently working in big 4 in uk however thinking of leaving around the time of part qualification (ACA) if i get the offer to join one of our government agencies as an intelligence analyst (if not, ill continue with ACA). im guessing this sort of background would be looked more favourably upon as opposed to bog standard big 4 stuff, when it comes to MBA applications (Europe mainly)? The role would mostly be office based analysis stuff at first, possible operational in the future. career goals would be to join a risk mitigation / risk consulting / corporate investigations type of firm...or perhaps even start own one depending on how many years spent in the agency (5-15). does this seem plausible? ive tried doing a bit of linkedin research on this sort of stuff but obviously people who worked these type of jobs, dont usually join linkedin...

if i decide that i dont like the field and leave after 5 years (giving total of 7 years work exp), would this background seem competitive for MBA & subsequent consulting / security sector management jobs (went to uk target undergrad - but not oxbridge...good grades through out)?

also, i appreciate that a risk mitigation / risk consulting / corporate investigations job could probably be achieved after completing ACA and doing the 4 year big 4 stint, but i really think id enjoy this much more as a career....dont see how ticking and bashing invoices and checking application of accounting policies could provide better background...plus it would probably require a transfer to a different service line and staying there for a few years...and 7 or so years of big 4 just doesnt seem at all like a pleasant idea.

thanks for help and advice.

I'm sure it would only help. Probably allow you to develop many of the skills that consultants use (problem-solving, and all those other nice buzzwords), plus it's super interesting (so much more interestng than big 4) and can only help get your foot in the door in places. I would 100% go for it if you're interested in it, but that's just me personally.

thank you for your reply. its definitely something im much more interested in and think id be good at. currently finding it super hard to motivate myself to do anything better than coast along at big 4. the only issue is the massive drop in salary. (~8k in year 1 and obviously much slower salary rises from then on with gap only getting bigger).

Not sure how long you've been in big 4, if it is just a year or so you probably would have no issues work experien e and age wise applying for an MBA. If you'll have something like 8 years work exp it may seem like a lot to an adcom (not sure about London) but I'm sure that'd be mitigated if it was understood that you signed up for a 5 year program and that's the norm. Quick phone call to MBA admissions would solve this question

at the end of the day, all the admission folks have to make sure is that they put together a class of outstanding people with diverse background

^^^ Summed up well. They don't want the whole class to be army guys, they just want a diverse class with different backgrounds.

PussInBoots:

So the guy worked at two most prestigious intelligence agencies, and now he wants to be someone else's bitch?

Working for the government is the epitome of being "someone else's bitch", especially when you are in a military or intelligence position. I do not mean to disparage the profession at all, I am merely stating the structure of the work environment. My friend is in training for Army military intelligence and it's tough work.