Government Job Question

[jpoe20]

Hi. My name is John and am currently getting my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska. I hope to enter into the U.S. Marshals Service or be a special agent in a government agencies. I was just wondering if anyone could rate the agencies in difficulty for getting a job. The agencies I had looked at were U.S. Marshals, Secret Service, DEA, ATF, and FBI. Any help would be great. Thanks.

[eastcoastskiier]

Assuming that you are the typical college student age, you should remember that some of the "agent" positions have age requirements of 23 or higher.

[GB0610]

John-

There is no one answer to this question. The answers can change yearly. Each of those Agencies have different hiring standards. With some of them, FBI for example, you will not be qualified enough (with what you have said so far) to even apply. The USMS has not tested in almost 5 years, so that will be a hinderance for you there. The ATF has a hiring freeze right now and so on and so on and so on.

But in reality, some of those agencies do like to hire kids right out of college. Most do not. They want to see real world experience in professional fields.

In the meantime, stay clean, don't associate with people who are not, try to get a LE internship and maintaim steady employment.

When you are about a year away from graduating, start applying. But first, do your homework on the agencies you want to work for. And believe, they are not all alike. You could love one of the ones that you mentioned, and hate another. Find out what is right for you and then go after it full force.

But know that they are ALL very competative.

[jpoe20]

Thanks GB. I appreciate your answers and will do my best in school and stay clean. Thanks again for the reply.

[GoldBadge]

It will helpful for you to get really good grades in school so you could qualify for the Outstanding Scholar program. Sometimes agencies will only accept applications under that program.

No special agent job is easy to get. Many federal agencies give substantial preference to candidates with prior law enforcement experience, so you may consider becoming a local cop upon graduation if a fed gig doesn't immediately pan out.

[SoCalFed]

Gold Badge is giving excellent advice. Having local LE experience, especially in an urban area where you will deal with a wide variety of crimes (esp. violent ones) on a frequent basis, will help you get hired. In addition, it will help you once you're on board. I work with locals frequently and they always ask if I have any "real" LE experience (their words, not mine). Once they find out I used to be a local cop, it breaks the ice immediately. I also rely heavily on my prior "local" experience all the time, when it comes to officer safety tactics, interviews/interrogations, etc...

[jpoe20]

Oh yes, I do plan on getting some experience before applying for these jobs. Right now I'm going into the Air Force through the ROTC for a few years, then when I get out, that is when I plan on going for these jobs.

[jmat1980]

I also agree with the previous posts. I'm a SA with one of the larger GOV agencies.

As mentioned the USMS does not test often and you need to be a deputy before moving over to be an 1811.

The FBI is...well, the FBI... They are very picky and require experience, so you won’t be able to go with them straight out of college.

DEA, ATF and ICE would be your best choices out of school. Of the three ICE is the largest agency and the types of cases you will work range from illegal immigration to drugs. DEA and ATF don’t have as many agents but they are both good agencies to work for.

If you haven’t already I would look into internship programs. I know Customs used to have one (I’m not sure about ICE) and you were pretty much guaranteed a Special Agent position if you completed it.

That being said, state and local experience will go a long way. We work a lot with them and hare on several task forces with them.

Whatever agency you choose, realize that in the GOV it is not unusual to people to jump from one agency to another several times before they find one that fits. Once you are in the GOV it makes it a lot easier to move from one agency to another...

Good luck
PM me if you have any questions