A Guide for the Aspiring Spy (The Anonymous Spy Series) Read Free Page B

position with another federal government agency and seek a transfer to the CIA, then the application and vetting process may be a matter of months. If, however, you are fresh out of college or in the civilian job arena, the process may take up to a year.
     
    This will basically be the same whether you are seeking an OC or a NOC position. Once you submit your resume and application, for example, via the CIA website for an “operations officer” position, it will be up to the CIA to decide whether or not you may receive an OC or NOC position.
     
    Whether you are going to be an OC officer or a NOC is decided right at the beginning of the hiring process since the vetting process is so compartmented. NOC candidates are never allowed on overtly CIA installations as are OC candidates.
     
    It is not a matter of your choosing. You may voice your preference, of course, but the needs of the Company are of paramount consideration, not your personal preference. The various psychological and other batteries of tests may help the CIA decide in which area you may be most useful. Not all candidates have the unique type of personality required for the often lonely lifestyle of a NOC case officer. Also, not all candidates are able to function in close contact with the CIA bureaucracy that OC case officers find themselves exposed to on a daily basis.
     
    What qualities should you have to be of interest to the CIA for a case officer position? You might think that the ability to keep a secret, to keep your mouth shut, would be an asset. During the investigation process, the agency will determine that you can, indeed, keep a secret. Surprisingly, however, this is not one of the qualities required once you are inside the Company.
     
    The good-old-boy network inside the CIA is one of the most vocally prolific inside the US government, as case officers brag with pride about their agents and their exploits. Officially, when you go through a pre-employment background investigation, the agency attempts to determine your suitability for employment based on what is known in the counterintelligence community as LIDMC (pronounced Lid Mac), which stands for Loyalty, Integrity, Discretion, Morals, and Character.
     
    To determine whether you possess such qualities, the agency will investigate your personal, academic, and professional history by interviewing teachers, employers, co-workers, friends, and foe, virtually anyone with the exception of former spouses who most probably will have nothing good to say about you anyway.
     
    LIDMC are the personal qualities that get you qualified, but these qualities alone are not enough to get you employed and ensure you have a bright career with the agency.
     
    The Company will also conduct a National Agency Check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal and local law enforcement agencies to determine if you have even so little as a parking ticket.
     
    All this is done without exposing to those interviewed that you are interested in joining the CIA.
     
    This investigative process may take four to six months, during which time you will also be put through a battery of tests and interviews and finally a polygraph examination before a position is offered. For OC and NOC positions alike, the candidate will be flown to the Washington, DC, area for testing. The OC candidate may go into some government building for the testing, and the NOC candidate will be tested at some off-site location such as a safehouse. Initial testing is the same for both covers. You will be told not to tell any of your friends and relatives about your candidacy or the fact that you are undergoing testing for any government position.
     
    It is these other tests and interviews that will establish that you have the other qualities the CIA desires in its case officers.
     
    You will be given academic tests much like the Scholastic Aptitude Tests you took in high school. The questions will cover basic math, history, geography,