Intel recruiting

How to Pass a C.I.A. Background Check

“Withholding information from us will not work in your favor,” says Ronald S. Patrick, deputy director of talent development at the Central Intelligence Agency, which receives up to 150,000 résumés a year. Applicants who are offered a job go through a monthslong security clearance, including an intense background check. To pass, you can’t have been convicted of a felony (“That’s a showstopper for us”); also, no recent illegal drug use. You will be asked about drugs in the application. Tell the truth. “We don’t expect you to be shockingly, squeaky clean,” Patrick says. “We expect you to have lived a life, to have exercised bad judgment, to have gone through adolescence and made mistakes.”

Get your finances in order. “The No. 1 reason why Americans spy is for financial gain or need,” Patrick says. The C.I.A. sees bad credit and mountainous debt as potential liabilities. Prepare to be spied on. Investigators will come to your town; walk your streets; talk to your ex-colleagues, former roommates and nosy neighbors.