Secret Service.

[jcfan5]

Hi there. I am 16 years old and I think that I have found the job I officially want, the USSS. I have some questions like timeline. I looked on their site and they said that there is some physical training, what exactly does that consist of?

After you make it into the secret service, do you automatically be assigned to someone if you are a Special Agent or do you have to go to a office first for a couple of years?

I know you need a 4 year bachelor degree but then it goes on to say that you need some certain experience, what kind of experience does it mean? Could being a police officer for several years count?

I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read and answer my quesiton,

Jeff.

[jsbeith]

Years of investigative (detective) experience and a Master's degree will give you your best shot at it.

Work hard and don't give up.

[VT04]

Don't do drugs, get any sort of police record, or be a menace to society.

Do get a degree, some good work experience (civilian or uniformed) and keep yourself in shape. Maxing the USSS PT test would mean you can do 47 sit-ups in a minute, 54 push-ups in a minute, 12 chin-ups, and a run 1.5 miles in under (I think) 10:15. You will also do defensive tactics.

You will go to a FO for 7-9 years before you are assigned to a protective detail.

[jcfan5]

Nevermind, I assume it means Field Office.

[CWU]

Ditto the other posts. Say fit, stay drug free, and stay in school. Learn a foreign language and become fluent in both listening, speaking, and writing--esp Spanish, Chinese, or Arabic. This is not only one of the most surefire ways to get in, but will get you a big hiring bonus. Good luck and God bless.

[jcfan5]

The PT session, now. Does anyone have any kind of tips to kind of help me get this accomplished? I know I could just practice them everyday but it's difficult to do.

I weigh 175 and am 5'11. I guess now I just need to try to get some kind of diet or something before I actually start?

Any comments are appreciated alot, I want to go through with this job, I am dedicated and will not give up.

[VT04]

I wouldn't worry about diet at all; your height and weight seem fine. These are the easiest exercises to do on a daily basis because you don't really need any equipment. Seriously, do 1 minute of pushups, 1 minute of situps, your chin-ups should only take 1 minute, and then do your run time in under 11 minutes. 15 minutes worth of exercise per day and you will max the PT test. If you are as dedicated as you say then those should be your favorite 15 minutes of the day.

[CWU]

I wouldn't worry about diet at all; your height and weight seem fine. These are the easiest exercises to do on a daily basis because you don't really need any equipment. Seriously, do 1 minute of pushups, 1 minute of situps, your chin-ups should only take 1 minute, and then do your run time in under 11 minutes. 15 minutes worth of exercise per day and you will max the PT test. If you are as dedicated as you say then those should be your favorite 15 minutes of the day.

If you're only 16 you've got 5+ years minimum before you'd really need to be up on your pushups, pullups, situps, and running. IMHO, you should pick a sport that will keep you in good shape that you enjoy. focus on keeping in generally good cardiovascular fitness. Rowing, soccer, mountain hiking, etc. Mine was running. Eventually I got into marathons. That's not the only way to go, just the way I went. It sure served me well. I've tagged along several other FLEO candidates and while most were stronger than me (could do more pushups), many had overall difficulty because they didn't have the stamina to bust through several excercises and then have the wind for a 2 mile run.

Once you start applying to places, then you should quickly get into a workout regiment. Weight training, practice tests, etc.

If I could go back to being 16 and add one thing to my life, it would be to get a set of foreign language cards (Chinese, in my case) and learn 10 per week. Inch by inch is a cinch, yard by yard is hard. Best luck.

[jcfan5]

Ok thanks for the comments fellas. I was just thinking one thing, I only have had school trouble 1 time.

I got detention in middle school for something pity, will that be a big deal? I have never gotten suspended, a ticket, or anything else.

[VT04]

Don't worry about a detention.

[jcfan5]

Years of investigative (detective) experience and a Master's degree will give you your best shot at it.

Work hard and don't give up.

Is this the only "experience" I can do after getting my degree?

[CWU]

Is this the only "experience" I can do after getting my degree?

No. Most PDs will require you to be a patrol officer a few years before you can make detective. So that could mean three or so years before becoming a detective, then another two or three as a detective to have that core of experience. Getting a degree in computer science and working in that industry might be a quicker path. The USSS has an electronic crimes task force that may be interested in you. This would DEFINITELY be the way to go if you were interested in FBI. If you got experience working internationally with a foreign language (Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, etc), that would be a HUGE plus as well.

A lot of the questions on both your initial interview and the panel interview will be about 'real world experiences.' Experiences from an office environment as well as a battlefield in Iraq can be used. If you only have education experience it will be a bit harder to answer many of the questions ("Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult boss" etc). You might be able to come up with the time you had a difficult professor, group leader, etc. but having some real world experience, IMHO, will serve you better than just being a student.

Your detention is no big deal. Stay away from drugs, develop good character/integrity, and do not associate with slimy people.

[jcfan5]

Thank you very much.

[jcfan5]

If anyone out there does work for the Secret Service, can you please send me your email in a private message? Thanks.

[England]

Here are a few tips of advice that I wish someone would have given me when I was 16. You have your whole life ahead of you so listen up.

1. Make grades your priority. Until you graduate college your primary job is student. If you make good grades you will be rewarded in the long run.

2. Go get a degree. I got ming in Criminal Justice but if I had it to do over again I would have majored in one of the following: Accounting, Engineering, Nursing, Information Technology. Get a degree in one of those and you will never be looking for work long.

3. Try to get a goverment job before you graduate college. Any government job. Not necessarily law enforcement. Your school schedule will dictate your hours so do what you can. I worked as a state security guard from 3-11 pm from my JR year on. This gave me a bit of experience over my peers.

4. Go be a cop, deputy, parole officer etc.. after college. For a few years. Get some experience. See if you like it. Then if you still like it well enough. Apply with the feds and you'll be a more attractive candidate.

It's a win/win for you kid. If you decide LE isn't for you, hey, you got this degree now that will pretty much gurantee you a job.

There, now I've spread my little wisdom. Good luck

Sorry forgot to mention. STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!!!! No matter how good you look you will not make it if you don't have a clean background.

[jcfan5]

Here are a few tips of advice that I wish someone would have given me when I was 16. You have your whole life ahead of you so listen up.

1. Make grades your priority. Until you graduate college your primary job is student. If you make good grades you will be rewarded in the long run.

2. Go get a degree. I got ming in Criminal Justice but if I had it to do over again I would have majored in one of the following: Accounting, Engineering, Nursing, Information Technology. Get a degree in one of those and you will never be looking for work long.

3. Try to get a goverment job before you graduate college. Any government job. Not necessarily law enforcement. Your school schedule will dictate your hours so do what you can. I worked as a state security guard from 3-11 pm from my JR year on. This gave me a bit of experience over my peers.

4. Go be a cop, deputy, parole officer etc.. after college. For a few years. Get some experience. See if you like it. Then if you still like it well enough. Apply with the feds and you'll be a more attractive candidate.

It's a win/win for you kid. If you decide LE isn't for you, hey, you got this degree now that will pretty much gurantee you a job.

There, now I've spread my little wisdom. Good luck

Sorry forgot to mention. STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!!!! No matter how good you look you will not make it if you don't have a clean background.

Are you in the USSS?

[FutureAgent001]

Hi there. I am 16 years old and I think that I have found the job I officially want, the USSS. I have some questions like timeline. I looked on their site and they said that there is some physical training, what exactly does that consist of?

After you make it into the secret service, do you automatically be assigned to someone if you are a Special Agent or do you have to go to a office first for a couple of years?

I know you need a 4 year bachelor degree but then it goes on to say that you need some certain experience, what kind of experience does it mean? Could being a police officer for several years count?

I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read and answer my quesiton,

Jeff.

I don't work for them at the moment but I was a USSS intern two years ago and I'm in the final hiring stages for Special Agent.

I think it's great that you have it narrowed down at such a young age. It seems like USSS prefers to hire people with experience that are a bit older than the minimum age (21). I'm quite young myself and was told that the average age for new hires is about 27 and you can imagine that those applicants have much more experience.

I know most people recommend that you apply with experience and that's certainly what they like but I'm on my way in with zero full time work experience. I just went to college and then directly got my masters.

My words of advice to you are to perfect the following:
-Public Speaking skills: you will be drilled in your panel interview and polygraph, make sure you are confident speaking in front of others and can answer difficult questions under pressure. Practice this with family and friends.
-Writing skills: Get into the habit of writing organized essays. Organization/spelling is key, not necessarily amazing vocabulary. This will be helpful for your writing sample portion of your panel interview and parts of the application such as the KSA's (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities section).
-Stay in decent shape, like others said, you don't have to do all the PT exercises now because you're still young but be ready to at any time.
-Show your commitment to law enforcement. Apply to intern with the USSS and/or other police agencies if you don't plan to get full time law enforcement experience before applying.
-Learn as much as you can about the agency and others and be ready to articulate why USSS is a good fit for you. Or be ready to answer a question like "Why do you prefer USSS over the FBI or ATF, etc."
-Do well in school; if you are applying without experience, your degree and academics are all you have!
-And of course, STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. Every little thing you do wrong now is going to come up at some point during your application and you will have to explain it. So it's better to be a straight edge and have nothing to explain!!!

As far as the career track, right now you get assigned to a large field office after training (usually) for about 6-8 years. Then you get assigned to a permanent detail (i.e. Presidential) for about 3-4. Then you have a choice of going back to the FO, other opportunities in training, competitive supervisory positions, headquarters etc.

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck

[England]

Are you in the USSS?

Not yet, but I am a LEO. I just took the physical with the SS.