But make no mistake about it, international spying is a serious and dangerous job. For those willing to engage in the chess match of international intelligence, there are things they must know before they smell the job. In this article, I cover the 4 most important things I feel they must know before applying to become CIA agents.

The other is not important. Therefore, in no particular order, they are:

1. The application process is long and tedious. It may take up to a year before you are hired and start earning a paycheck. In other words, if you are looking to join them October next year, start applying October this year.

But the Central Intelligence Agency tries to contact all applicants in 45 days. If you don't hear from them in 45 days, they are most likely not going to hire you. As surprising as it sounds, the CIA gets over 10,000 applications in one month. If you are not hired, they will keep your resume active in their database for one year.

2. The CIA conducts thorough background check. If there are skeletons in your closet, don't bother applying.

This is understandable. Some of what you will be dealing with our classified information that only the president or people in the upper echelon of the US government will have access to. The CIA will check into your life history to make sure you are reliable, trustworthy, and have sound judgment. They use a polygraph test to get to the truth. They may even contact your friends and family to see what they can find out about you character.

3. You should have a college degree. The CIA does not offer any preference on what you can major in. But majors like Engineering, Accounting, Criminal Justice, International Relations can come in handy. A high GPA is required. You should strive for a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

4. You should know or learn a foreign language. Foreign languages like Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc will be helpful.

This is self explanatory. You will most likely be posted overseas because most spying is done overseas. Knowing the language of where you are being posted, will help you better interact with the natives and make your job easier. In fact, it may even help save your life.

I have highlighted the 4 important things I believe can help you become a CIA agent. There are other requirements, which I think are less important than those listed here. Obviously, covering every little requirement is beyond what I can cover in a short article as this one. I encourage you to continue to expand your knowledge of the CIA and their jobs if you are interested in joining them.

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