How to become an FBI Special Agent

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Employment

To carry out its mission, the FBI is looking for highly motivated people who are interested in exciting work for the public good. FBI employees face new challenges in international crime, economic espionage, cybercrime, counterterrorism, and health care fraud to name a few.

Special Agents

To qualify for training as an FBI Agent, candidates must possess the following qualifications:

• be a U.S. citizen between the ages of 23 and 36
• have three to five years of professional work experience (Diversified Program)
• be available for assignment anywhere within the FBI'S jurisdiction
• possess a valid driver's license
• pass a background investigation to include polygraph and drug testing
• possess a four year college degree

There are four entry programs to qualify as a Special Agent: Law, Accounting, Language, and Diversified. To qualify under the Law Program, an applicant must have a J.D. degree from an accredited law school. Under the Accounting Program, an applicant must have a B.S. degree with a major in accounting or a related discipline and be eligible to take the CPA exam. Candidates who have not passed the CPA exam will be required to pass the FBI's accounting test. The Language Program requires a B.S. or B.A. degree in any discipline and proficiency in a language that meets the needs of the FBI. Candidates will be expected to pass a language proficiency test. Under the Diversified program, a candidate must have a B.S. or B.A. degree in any discipline, plus three to five years of full-time professional work experience, or an advanced degree accompanied by two years of full-time work experience.

All newly appointed Special Agents must complete sixteen weeks of intensive training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Classroom hours are spent studying ethics and a variety of academic and investigative subjects in addition to physical fitness, defensive tactics, and firearms training.

There presently exists a critical need for scientific, engineering, language, and computer skills.