what should you major in college to become an fbi agent
Are you interested in protecting your country from national security threats and investigating serious crimes? If so, then a career equally an FBI amanuensis might be for yous. TV shows and movies may offer an exaggerated portrayal of an FBI agent's duties, merely the Bureau does perform exciting, potentially unsafe work, the duties of which fall far outside the realm of most typical careers.
Law enforcement, which includes agencies like the FBI, is a field that's always in high demand, and at that place's plenty of earning potential for FBI agents. According to the FBI's website, most agents earn a salary of about $80,000 per year within 5 years of joining the bureau.
If you retrieve a career in the FBI might be for you lot, this guide will give you an overview of how to become an FBI agent, including educational requirements and an outline of the rigorous screening process applicants must complete. Yous'll too find information on typical FBI amanuensis salaries and what it takes to advance in this unique and exciting career path.
What Does an FBI Agent Do?
The job duties of an FBI agent vary depending on the case they're working, the skills they possess, and the office they play at the bureau. Each day or instance can lead to taking on different tasks, and fifty-fifty the bureau fifty-fifty admits that there's no "typical mean solar day" — as there is always something new to the job.
That said, there are some duties you tin can await to encounter in a office at the FBI. These include testifying in courtroom, collaborating with other agents on various tasks, working with sources to follow leads on crimes, making arrests, and paperwork — because there'south always paperwork.
Your role in the FBI tin also vary based on what part of the field you're in and where you're located. Some agents may spend more than fourth dimension in an office while working in a local capacity, whereas others may spend less time working from a home base.
Just, whether y'all work in a local, national, or international capacity, the same thing is true: Beingness an FBI agent is an exciting and rewarding — though potentially dangerous — opportunity, i that offers a manner to protect your community and your country. The FBI is comprised of a highly skilled and highly trained force with a goal of protecting people from issues like cyber crime, counterterrorism, and organized crime.
This task requires a slap-up amount of time and dedication, but tin can be worth the sacrifices for the right candidates.
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Career Clarification, Duties, and Common Tasks
FBI agent overview
In general, the Bureau works to investigate and address threats to national security in the United States, both through intelligence-gathering and crime investigations. The FBI divides its investigations into several major areas, including cybercrime, white-collar offense, foreign counterintelligence, and domestic and international terrorism.
FBI amanuensis duties and tasks
FBI agents perform a variety of roles, and the specific duties and responsibilities will vary from amanuensis to agent. Agile agents may perform a wide array of tasks to aid with investigating and addressing threats to national security, including gathering intelligence, conducting surveillance, executing search warrants, and making arrests. Agents may investigate crimes in the field or perform authoritative and managerial roles, such equally training or public diplomacy.
Working every bit an FBI amanuensis
Few agents bring together the FBI seeking a typical task, and the work tin be both unpredictable and demanding. Nigh agents are expected to work at to the lowest degree fifty hours each week and are typically on phone call 24/7. Since major criminal activities and threats can occur at whatsoever time, agents frequently work on weekends and holidays. Agents must also be willing to carry a firearm, use deadly force, and expose themselves to potential bodily harm.
Steps to Go an FBI Agent
MEET GENERAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The FBI maintains an all-encompassing list of general eligibility requirements for employment. Applicants must exist between 23-36 years quondam, agree U.S. citizenship, and have a clean criminal record with no felony convictions.
OBTAIN A Bachelor'S Caste
All FBI agents must agree a bachelor'southward degree at minimum, and many possess a main'south degree or higher. FBI agents often earn degrees in fields such as criminal justice or political science, though the Bureau does not maintain whatsoever specific academic major requirements for applicants.
OBTAIN PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Applicants must possess at least two years of full-time professional work experience. Those who hold a chief's degree or higher can apply with only one year of professional person experience.
Consummate THE Agent Option Procedure
Potential FBI agents must submit to multiple rounds of testing and interviews. Phase I testing primarily measures logic-based reasoning, situational judgement, and personality traits. Successful candidates then move on to Phase II testing, which includes a structured interview. Candidates must likewise laissez passer a concrete fitness examination, a drug test, a polygraph test, and a background investigation.
Complete BASIC FIELD Grooming
After completing all other steps, candidates study to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to consummate the 20-week basic field training course.
Education Requirements for FBI Agents
Not certain how to be an FBI agent? To become an FBI agent, you'll need a minimum of a bachelor's caste from an accredited college or university in the Usa. While in that location are no requirements every bit to what blazon of caste y'all should have, there are sure majors that are better suited to this job. Some of the all-time degrees to get a job as an FBI agent include:
- Informatics and IT
- Difficult sciences like chemistry or biology
- Finance and accounting
- International studies and foreign languages
- Criminal justice and military intelligence
Depending on your preferred career path, it might also be in your best interests to earn a principal's degree in a related field. If you lot earn a master'southward degree, you'll probable need fewer years of on-the-job feel to authorize and have the potential to earn more. A graduate degree may also qualify yous for or set you apart for certain jobs — especially technical positions.
As you plan your career path, it'due south best to earn a caste that'due south well-suited to the type of work you want to do as an FBI agent. If you want to work in cybersecurity, you may want to consider earning a degree in computer science or IT. On the other hand, if you want to work in foreign intelligence, you might be better off with a degree in international studies or a item foreign language.
FBI Agent Job Grooming
As an incoming FBI agent, you'll accept to complete new agent training as part of the agency's basic field grooming course. Lasting 20 weeks and including more than 800 hours of educational activity, field training features four major concentrations: academics, instance exercises, firearms preparation, and operational skills.
The bookish concentration explores a broad selection of subjects, including law, behavioral science, ethics, and forensic scientific discipline. Students gain specialized skills in interviewing, study writing, interrogating, and investigating. These lessons prepare candidates to perform criminal investigations and run counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations.
The operations skills concentration encompasses the easily-on work of the FBI, including surveillance, operations planning, and tactical driving. Much of this experiential training occurs at the FBI'southward Hogan's Alley, an elaborate mock town that enables students to develop their skills through simulated exercises.
Firearms grooming is another major component of an agent'south education. Building noesis in the fundamentals of marksmanship, the firearms training curriculum includes weapons orientation, firearms safety, weapon handling skills, and alive fire training. Students complete a total of 110 hours of firearm pedagogy across 28 grooming sessions.
Instance exercises integrate all aspects of training in complex simulations. Using the Hogan's Alley environment, these exercises simulate the major steps of an FBI investigation, from an initial tip all the way through the arrest of multiple subjects.
Other Helpful Skills and Feel
While FBI agents need an uncommon fix of skills, some aspects of the job are similar to any other government bureau. The FBI lists eight cadre competencies that ascertain special agents, including collaboration, communication, adjustability, interpersonal ability, and leadership. The Bureau encourages applicants to demonstrate evidence of these soft skills on their resume.
Along with general soft skills, the unique nature of FBI piece of work requires sure other specialized skills. For example, proficiency in a language other than English language can exist very valuable, particularly for agents interested in pursuing counterterrorism and counterintelligence piece of work. Fluency in languages such equally Chinese, Russian, and Arabic may exist peculiarly useful for FBI agents.
The FBI investigates many types of crimes, and the agency looks for applicants with specialized skills and work feel in fields that may exist useful to investigations. For case, candidates with strong IT skills may exist tapped to investigate cybercrime.
The FBI also recognizes the value of war machine and law enforcement training, and many agents emerge from these agencies. Sure positions, such as the FBI'southward Hostage Rescue Team, require a minimum of three years of military or constabulary enforcement feel.
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Salary and Career Outlook
How much does an FBI agent make? The average FBI salary isn't cut and dry like it is in other fields, in major part considering there are several unique factors to consider. For starters, new special agents are paid on the GL schedule for federal police force enforcement officers, which means they enter at pay level GL-10 — or $52,440 per year as of 2021 — during their academy training at Quantico.
Upon completion of training, FBI agent salary levels are dictated by field office assignment. After a two-year probationary period, agents transition to the general schedule pay scale, with most agents achieving a GS-13 pay level — a minimum of $79,468 per year — within five years of service.
| Career | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| Entry-Level FBI Agent | $52,440 |
| Mid- to Senior-Level FBI Amanuensis | $79,468 |
Well-nigh criminal investigators advance through job experience rather than additional teaching. FBI agents with specialized skills or relevant professional backgrounds may be able to advance to specialized positions that command higher salary levels. Some agents may achieve higher salaries in supervisory positions.
The BLS projects that positions for all criminal investigators (including FBI agents) volition abound past v% from 2018-2028, which is about equally fast as the national average. Fifty-fifty as crime rates fall, the need for public safety and specialized investigations is likely to remain constant, ensuring employment for FBI agents in the future. Withal, FBI jobs volition likely remain competitive due to low employee turnover and the specialized nature of the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a typical twenty-four hours for an FBI agent?
The varied nature of the job means that FBI agents may have fewer "typical days" than most workers. All the same, agents ofttimes spend their days investigating crimes, interviewing sources, and gathering prove. Agents may specialize in one expanse of investigation, such as intelligence assay or forensic accounting. They typically work at least 50 hours per calendar week and may accept highly irregular hours, including weekends and holidays.
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What is the training for an FBI agent?
New agents consummate a rigorous bones field grooming class at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Lasting 20 weeks, the training features more 800 hours of instruction in four cardinal areas: academics, operational skills, firearms, and example exercises. Simulations and other easily-on preparation exercises form a significant function of the training curriculum.
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How much do FBI agents make?
The salary earned by FBI agents varies based on experience, position, and assignment location, among other factors. All agents enter the Bureau at a minimum pay level of GL-ten, or $52,440 per year as of 2021, and most reach a GS-thirteen pay level, or $79,468 per yr equally of 2021, inside five years of service. The BLS reports that the average annual bacon for all types of offense investigators was $89,300 as of May 2020.
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Practise I need to know a foreign language to get an FBI agent?
No, it's not required to know a foreign language to be in the FBI. That said, it tin can be of neat aid to know 1 or more foreign languages if yous want to piece of work for the FBI — especially if yous want to work in a field like counterterrorism that deals with people from other nations.
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Are there whatever pedagogy requirements for becoming an FBI agent?
Yes, there are teaching requirements to join the FBI. You must have a bachelor's degree to join the FBI as an agent, though there's no specification on what your major must be. That said, a major in a field similar criminal justice or reckoner technology can be extremely useful in your role at the FBI.
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