Q&A: CIA to Consulting

What was it like working for the CIA? How does it differ from common perception vs reality? How selective is it and what do they look for in applicants?

Thanks for doing this, couple of questions.

1. How does one recruit into the CIA? (Doesn't one need to have a military background for this?)

2. Why the CIA route? sounds super cool, but want to know your reasoning 

3. What is your rationale for MBA? what are some of your post MBA goals? 

4. How was preparing for GMAT during, CIA operational stints?

5. Does your family know you were an agent of sorts? how did you talk about your leadership experience to B School given the obvious secrecy surrounding your work?

6. Any idea that you would go back to Gov.? 

Thanks again for doing this!

Is compensation at the Agency similar to most other government jobs (pretty bad considering all the other opportunities available to young, bright and talented people), or is a bit better?

How many lumen do you emit in dark spaces, and what color on the EM spectrum is your emittance?

I’ve always had a casual interest in the agency but have never applied due to the money aspect as well as a growing number of foreign connections (including my gf) over the last few years. Would that be a large obstacle in terms of applying? Also could you talk a bit about the skills that the agency values that someone coming from a professional (banking/trading/consulting) background might have?

On a serious note, did you travel a lot (both domestically and internationally) during your time there? Always was interested in intelligence but I’d be taking a massive pay cut even if I started at the 80k. How many hours would you say you put in during a typical week?

I am not American, but I’ve always considered a career in the intelligence community.

Were you ever exposed to other agencies? (Five eyes, specifically CSIS) If so what was the perception of the work they were doing? Is it very similar to yours or is it much less interesting?

Hey man - Thanks for doing this. I've read through all the responses but I still don't really understand what you do / did when you were with the CIA?

I guess what did your day-to-day look like? And when you say desk work, was it with the CIA (like did you go into an office for the CIA), or did you join another company undercover? Not sure if I'm being clear but I'm just not really understanding what it is you did lol

How big of a deal would it be in the recruitment process if you were someone who’d been micro-dosing shrooms or experimenting with psychedelics? Is this a prohibitor, or does it matter if you wait a year like I’ve seen some places online? Always wondered how the agency actually treats this in practice

How transferable is TS-POLY clearance to roles in finance in your opinion? I know a few who get the big bucks working for defense contractors / gov consulting-- but finance seems a bit more difficult to utilize since governments aren't doing M&A/refinancing. Curious if you had any insight into leveraging security clearance in private-side/business more broadly.

This is an incredibly cool thread - what a refreshing topic. Thank you for doing this! Do you have any crazy stories from your tours that you could share? Obviously okay to be vague

Thanks for all of the insight.

I’ll be working in federal contracting/consulting through one of the large accounting firms. I know you said you weren’t too familiar with this space, but I wanted to ask a few general questions:

-How deep is the background scrutiny and overall monitoring of contractors for the CIA?

Obviously, contractors won’t necessarily see overseas action or anything like that but I’m sure many of them get pretty in-depth access.

-Are contractors typically hired for very niche skills or do they often serve in areas that are understaffed/can be outsourced?

I assume a bit of both.

Thanks!

I know a number of people who worked in the IC at the CIA or NSA. You have an obvious path into the big government consulting firms. If I were you I'd also look at places like Palantir and Anudril Industries and similar firms which are producing solutions to primarily help the 5 eyes militaries and IC.

Cyber security is also a path you should consider, whether at a federal contractor of commercial firm. Lots of people get into cyber without a strict technical background.

1. You mentioned earlier that your pay was about 80k at the start. Do agent ever get close to banking money? Are there many roles that pay 400k+?

1. Since the pay is weak, are there other incentives to help? Meaning do you have to pay federal taxes? Massive 401k matching? Really awesome insurance?

1. Does it matter if you’re family are immigrants or you’re not white? Do they prefer a particular race depending on the time period? Like did they heavily recruit middle eastern citizens during the war on terror?

1. How bad is it if you only know English and no other languages?

1. Do you have to take physical tests? Like everyone hired is in good aerobic shape? No fatties allowed? Is weapons training mandatory?

1. If you worked at the CIA for 30 years, could you retire comfortably with a healthy pension? Can you ever get rich working there your whole career?

1. Do investment bankers ever move into the CIA? What could they do? Just help with forensics accounting?

I was super interested in an intel job, but was pretty much dissuaded by my father who used to work in government and had a bad experience.

Though, it still crosses the back of my mind, and I was wondering, do they take older people? Like mid-20s and above? I know they focus on recruiting college students and veterans mostly, but was just wondering if that door was solidly closed.

I'm a business/econ major at a top school and my ECs/Internships are all business focused, but am also passionate about public service and geopolitics so I've been considering shooting for the agency or NSA or DIA. Do you think that I would have a chance or would my profile be too random for them to consider? Worth noting that I'm personally connected with a lot of folks in the IC, so am not a total outsider to that world. 

Wow this is so interesting.

I would like to know why you chose to go to consulting after CIA. Did you always want to be in consulting or did someone suggest you do it?

What was the day to day life like? What advice would you give someone who's starting out just now?

What life lessons have you learned along the way?

Why Consulting?

Random question: do you think Finance (IB specifically) is not the way forward? A lot of people have been switching to Software Engineering and I wanted to know what you think (I don’t know why I’m asking you this but felt like I had to)?

Super cool that you were able to work with one of the top government agencies. A few years ago I was interviewing with another agency of similar caliber and would have started my career with them but unfortunately couldn't get through the security clearance :(. I was at the final step of the process too.

Not sure if you would know -- or are even allowed to comment on it lol -- but do you know what factors would eliminate someone from a clearance? Would insufficient work experience be enough to not grant a candidate clearance? I suspect that could have been the reason why (I think the hiring manager didn't know what he was doing earlier on in the process). I also think I was talking too much out of anxiety, but otherwise I had a super straitlaced record.

Were you ever put in physical danger? Are you ever paranoid that you’re being followed?

You were under non official cover and are writing about experiences on a blog? I am immediately dubious given one of my parents was under NOC and won’t even confirm that with our family…

Damn the CIA got him.

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