CONSIDERED
A CAREER AS AN FBI INTELLIGENCE ANALYST?
Here's What It's Like: Up Close and Personal
02/25/05
Christina Greene’s
first case as an FBI Intelligence Analyst was daunting: an organization
upset with its designation as a terrorist group was suing the United
States, and Greene’s job was to help defend the government’s
case. She interviewed agents, scoured case files, and drafted a letter
to the Department of Justice that summed up the results of multiple
FBI investigations. She later briefed the Attorney General on the organization’s
threat to the U.S. It’s that kind of excitement and reward that
motivated the former lawyer to choose a career three years ago in the
FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.
Q. Christina,
can you tell us what you like best about the job?
Christine: I actually like the unpredictability of it. I’m constantly
faced with new issues and new problems that require solutions. Plus, this job
lets me use my legal training in ways I couldn’t imagine when I went
to law school. I can help find a terrorist or put together information that
helps put a dangerous person in prison. I get paid to do what I really like:
research and analysis.
Q. Can you
describe a typical working day?
Christina: No—it could be anything! I always make time to research
current events in my specific areas of expertise, the countries and terrorist
organizations I follow. But some days I walk through that door and find something
in my research that completely changes my plan. It’s impossible to predict.
Q. Does your
work involve any travel?
Christina: Yes, from time to time. I’ve traveled within the
U.S. to brief members of Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) and our own agents
and analysts on critical issues and to give case-specific support. I’ve
also traveled overseas to meet with my counterparts on cases and for specific
briefings.
Q. Any advice
for prospective FBI recruits?
Christina: Yes, and straight from the heart. Be sure you have an open
mind that loves to absorb mountains of conflicting information and to make
sense of it. Be sure you’re dedicated and patient. Come in and be prepared
to keep chipping away at a problem, even if it seems there is no solution.
The FBI can be a challenging place to work, by every definition of the word.
The one thing that the FBI is not is boring!
Interested
in joining us? Go straight to fbijobs.com.
