Inside the CIA

Dreams do come true, and for Darryl they became reality as deputy group chief at the CIA. "I've stood on the Great Wall of China and touched the Pyramids. You don't get that kind of opportunity anywhere else." "I had never been on an airplane in my life before joining the CIA. I've now been on every continent except for Antarctica."

While the military wasn’t the right fit for him, work at the CIA as a mid-level manager definitely has its rewards. The seed for service was planted in him by, “The Missiles of October” a book about the Cuban Missile Crisis. “I was fascinated about how they found the missiles in Cuba, and I was also at  the same time very interested in the military,” Darryl said. “On five separate occasions, I looked at the military. I looked at the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marines, and in each case I turned them down after going through the process up to a point. I knew I wanted to serve my country, but I also knew I didn’t want to get shot at.”

Giving Back

The CIA offered the right opportunity to give back. “It fit my interests and my training as a geographer and geologist at the time,” Darryl said. “I didn’t really think about the opportunities to travel, but as I got closer to actually coming on board and spending my first summer here as a grad fellow, I knew I wanted to come back.”

Today as a manager at the CIA, when he isn’t traveling, Darryl reviews analytic production, which involves writing and reviewing papers that are read by senior U.S. foreign policy makers. After more than two decades at the Agency, and international travel, his work has hit closer to home. “I started my career working counter narcotics, which was very important to me. I came from a neighborhood that was rife with narcotics. My family still lives in that neighborhood and knowing that I had a direct impact on preventing narcotics from coming into this country gave that job special meaning,” he said.

“I think sometimes, my community has a misperception of the Agency, especially on the issue of narcotics. But I feel good in knowing that I was involved in trying to prevent those drugs from coming into the country, and we were successful in many cases.

In addition to his daily duties, Darryl makes it a priority to coach and mentor his team - made up of several dozen analysts - who report to him. “I spend a lot of time mentoring new employees because that’s very important to me.”

With more than 20 years under his belt, Darryl still finds his work satisfying. He describes it this way, “It’s knowing that the work that I’ve done in the past and the work I’m doing now have had an impact on the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, and helping to inform U.S. foreign policy makers. That’s external, but I also get satisfaction having an opportunity to spend time mentoring the next generation of employees coming into the Agency. Sometimes you hear people talk in terms of being able to pull themselves up by their own boot straps, I don’t believe in the boot strap theory. I am where I am because people have mentored me along the way and it’s my responsibility to give back.”

Mentoring others is a part of Darryl’s way of giving back since he was taken under the wings of mentors when he began. “I’ve had both male and female mentors. I’ve had mentors of color and white mentors, people who were kind enough to give me both good guidance as well as the hard truth I needed to hear in order to succeed. Occasionally the literal “slap upside the head” from someone who told me, ‘You need to think about doing this a different way.’ ”

Addressing Misconceptions

While he understands that there are those who have misperceptions about his work, he says his family is extremely proud.

“My mother likes to say she lives vicariously through me and she has managed to travel to parts of the world because of me. The training that you receive at the Agency is frankly something you won’t get elsewhere. I just had an opportunity recently to attend a senior executive training course at Harvard.”

Darryl advises students to take advantage of opportunities throughout the CIA, regardless of their major. And, he encourages students to do their best in any of their career endeavors.

“Whatever you’re going to do, whatever you’re going to study, do it well, try and get the best grades possible. We are at this point hiring the cream of the crop. CIA applicants typically have GPAs of 3.5 and higher. The individuals that we’re hiring now, are the very best. We take a very small percentage
of all the applications that we get. I know it’s probably a simple answer, but just be the very best you can be.”

Seeking the Best of the Best

While a high GPA is important, he added that students with a 3.9 GPA have been turned down because they weren’t prepared for the interview.

He recommends that students not only work hard in college, but also do their homework before the interview. Among other things, you should be able to explain why you want the job.

Darryl also urges students to recognize that it is a competitive job market. “When I look at the talent of individuals coming in today, frankly I probably wouldn’t be hired compared to these individuals. They are extremely talented, many of them have been overseas - I had never been overseas. Many of them have language capabilities; I didn't have any language capabilities at the time. So, the bottom line here is the competition is stiff.”

The New Breed at the CIA

Tiffany A., Lance O., and Antonella R. are among a new breed of CIA employees whose preparation quickly caught the attention of recruiters for very different reasons. While their backgrounds and entrée into the Agency are different, one of the things they have in common is solid educational preparation and a desire to make a difference in the world.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tiffany began looking for work with various government agencies. Having already earned a graduate degree and worked for four years in the private sector in business and finance, Tiffany was seeking greater job satisfaction. After spotting a CIA ad in Essence magazine, she applied online and received a call within a few weeks.

“I’ve always had an interest in international affairs,” she said. “My background is in Russian language and former Soviet Union studies. I was interested in international business, but receiving the call from the CIA reaffirmed that I wanted to go back into more cultural, political and foreign-policy issues.

“I think that’s what probably caught the attention of people who were looking at the resume. I did have the qualifications, I just didn’t know exactly what direction I wanted to go in. When I got the call, it put a lot of things in perspective, especially when it's right up my alley… The light bulb went on and it was like ‘This is your calling and this is what you're here to do.’ ”

Tiffany’s early preparation made the transition easy having studied Russian since the eighth grade. She majored in political science and minored in Russian. Her graduate work is in international economics with a concentration in Russian and East European Studies.

As an economic analyst at the CIA, Tiffany is responsible for monitoring the economic performance of three countries that formerly were part of the Soviet Union. Her work day includes researching newspapers, magazines, websites and various unclassified information and sources to prepare papers for senior policy makers. In addition, her expertise has been needed for briefings on Capitol Hill.

Career Fairs Work

For Lance, it was the tried and true Career Fair that introduced him to the CIA. He located the CIA booth at his college and dropped off his resume with a CIA recruiter. A month later he received a call between classes asking if he was still interested in an interview with the CIA.

As a political analyst, he pulls reports related to his account and is always hunting for what’s new. His primary customer is the President and Lance is well aware you don’t want to tell the President something he already knows.

“As soon as I wake up in the morning I turn on CNN, and when I get to my office I go through my databases,” he said. “I won’t be caught off guard. I know that policy makers can task us at anytime. In this job I definitely read a lot.”

At the CIA work may be done at Headquarters in teams or independently while traveling abroad. “An analyst can really get in his own zone researching and writing a long, in-depth paper for a senior policy
maker, but traveling to the countries I monitor allows me to learn about the country firsthand, which later may help me spot trends,” Lance said.

CIA Online

Antonella R. began as an intern at the CIA with a science background and a desire to work in international security. Today, she is a weapons analyst.

“I was looking for opportunities that would be useful and I actually just stumbled on the CIA website online when I was Googling around for different opportunities. I applied online, got the call to be interviewed, and started as an intern. I settled here because I really like it,” she said.

“The people are great to work with, I have a fabulous office, and there are so many opportunities for different types of work within the organization. If you want to have other experiences besides just being an analyst- perhaps outside of the Directorate of Intelligence – the opportunities are there, it’s very open,” she said. “I don’t know of other organizations where there’s that much variety and opportunity available within the same organization.”

Job Perks

Training opportunities, travel, high salaries, job satisfaction, and a supportive environment are some of the job perks that immediately come to mind for Tiffany. “I was surprised when I first started working here to know that not only do I get a paycheck, but I don’t have to pay to learn Russian anymore. They actually pay me.”

“I worked in the private sector and I was paid pennies in New York. So, when I got the offer and saw how much it was, I was shocked,” she said. When you’re up for promotion, it may be a $10,000 increase in salary.”

Employees report a tremendous respect for work life balance. “There’s a recognition for the work we do and a real respect for the fact that sometimes you need to get out of the office,” Antonella said. “Women have children and they still move ahead. There’s a respect for taking time for your family, for both men and women.”

Training classes from languages to technology are available on site with room to polish off rusty skills or absorb new ones. “If you need help, for example, a refresher course on Excel, there’s a three hour course right down the hall,” Lance said.

Outside of holiday parties, CIA employees participate in intramural basketball leagues and other social
networking activities.

Life on the Inside

“I was sort of surprised by how egalitarian the culture is,” Antonella said. “It’s very much about debating ideas and the substance of your arguments and your work as an individual. That's appealing to me. I think sometimes people assume it’s very rigid, but it’s not.”

The role of analysts and their research is just as important as knocking down the stereotypical images of CIA “spies,” Lance said. “As analysts, we do not fit the Hollywood creation of James Bond jumping off of buildings. We’re regular people you would see in the grocery stores. We talk to our families, we go home at the end of the day.”

While clandestine operations are a part of the Agency, a diverse group of highly qualified employees are needed at every level.

“The nature of the work requires a diverse workforce in terms of perspective in background and experience. If someone considers him or herself to be a different thinker or an “out the box” type person, those are exactly the sort of people that should be coming here.”

Success Tips

Students are encouraged to take advantage of internships with the CIA in order to get a feel for the Agency as they make decisions about careers. In addition, students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to travel abroad and take courses that offer a broad perspective on international relations.

“Don’t come in with any preconceived notions about any country,” Lance said. “Check your ego at the door. Try, it’s hard, but try your best to look at everything objectively.”

For more information about career and internship opportunities at the CIA, visit www.cia.gov

The last names of the interviewees and other identifying information is withheld for the protection of CIA employees.