Recruited out of high school? Wtf?
-
Redart27 — 12 years ago(January 04, 2014 10:41 AM)
good point Jacque and crooked_spoons. ROTC, sports scholarships, West Point same thing. Perhaps the CIA also offers scholarships to students who test well, demonstrate certain abilities that would make them ideal analysts. Only we don't hear much about it because, after all, it's the CIA.
Save the rhinoceros! -
glock78 — 12 years ago(March 01, 2014 08:51 AM)
Military or sports concentrates on one very simple marker - physical ability.
They are both looking for manual labor with decent hand-eye coordination.
Running with balls, running with guns same thing.
Taking a gamble that a physically capable teenager will remain so for several years after recruitment is a pretty safe bet.
ON THE OTHER HAND
Taking a look at a hormonally unstable and mentally, emotionally and physically incomplete human and betting it will be a good analyst and someone you can trust with government secrets
Well, actually since I think that we need more Snowdens that's a brilliant idea and all alphabet soup agencies all around the world should definitely do more of that.
In fact They should start recruiting them while still in kindergarten. -
joegerardi-1 — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 06:57 PM)
Running with balls, running with guns same thing.
That's all you think the military does? There are only 2 professions not offered in the military. One is farming. Work out what the other is.
They recruit many, many young men and women out of HS. How do you think people get to Annapolis, The Air Force Academy, or West Point? They're ALL colleges, and their cadets are recruited in their Sophomore/Junior years.
They're recruited to be engineers, pilots, ship's captains, management, (officers) nurses, language specialists, intelligence specialists, computer technicians, thousands of things.
Finally, she never said she didn't go to college, only that they recruited her out of HS. The might have paid for her college with the agreement that she work for them afterwards, and she took to the job
Some people believe in protecting the country, even if it's a dirty, terrible job to do so.
..Joe -
jake-ryan1968 — 11 years ago(May 20, 2014 07:05 PM)
true. The Intel agencies scout for aptitude - military does too. sometimes they troll using magazine articles, another way is through basic aptitude tests selecting on traits for high electronic, language, mechanical, etc skills. it works. but that doesn't mean other traits like a dependency on drugs won't spoil the catch.
-
RussellDunn — 12 years ago(January 18, 2014 07:48 PM)
Funny question the OP posed. It reminds me of something that happened when I was a senior in high school.
I had to take a social studies class in government in order to graduate. I wound up taking it in the last semester. My teacher came in the first day and said,"I got all of you in the palm of my hand. Reason being is that if you don't pass this class then YOU DON'T GRADUATE. YOU WILL BE IN SUMMER SCHOOL. YOU DON'T GO TO COLLEGE. MOMMY AND DADDY WILL BE PISSED. GET IT?" He went on to lay down the law so to speak: Mandatory attendance, good conduct, active participation, assignments turned in on time. ect. He actually was an easy going teacher on a personal level and his door was always open if we needed help.
One day, we were discussing current events and the subject of the CIA came up and he said,"I'm in the CIA." The response from my classmates and myself was one of disbelief. He went on and said,"I am. I'm here to spot potential recruits."
So maybe the idea of recruiting out of high school isn't as far fetched as one would think.
One thing about this teacher. Like I said he was easy going on a personal level. But he made us learn what he was teaching. And he was sharp as a tack and smart as hell. We all respected him for that. -
MrLESLO — 12 years ago(January 23, 2014 03:19 AM)
CIA Recruiter: "Hey kids! Do you want to conspire to stage coup d'tats, assassinate people, torture civilians, bribe warlords and smuggle drugsall for a lucrative paycheck? It's all in a days work here at the CIA!"
High school Graduate: "Damn! The only thing I was planning was to flip burgers at Mickey D'sWhere do I sign!?" -
06986 — 12 years ago(February 19, 2014 05:43 PM)
The CIA does not recruit out of high school, at least not anytime in the last 2 decades, not sure why they put that in there but it is just another thing they got wrong. They are not interested at all in High School students, they only want college educated, preferably with Masters Degrees with certain degrees/experiences and even then they are extremely selective. Joining the CIA does not mean you get trained to spy on people or go on missions against terrorists either or really do anything covert. The vast majority of CIA employees have no clue how to fire a gun or spy and sit at a desk in front of a computer all day. A lot of work is simply gathering or analyzing data about other countries economies/political moves/trade, etc. It is not Jason Bourne nonsense.
-
MrLESLO — 12 years ago(February 20, 2014 04:52 AM)
I don't think anyone here has made reference to Jason Bourne besides yourself, I'd rather refer to accounts from ex CIA like Susan Lindauer or John Stockwell, and not make comparisons to a Hollywood film like you have, we all know that's totally redundant on facts.
Why are you bothering to tell us this?
Telling us "It is not Jason Bourne nonsense" isn't exactly adding anything informative to the conversation that wasn't obvious. You've pointed out the majority of the CIA's work is seemingly innocent, and it may be, but it seems you would rather take the time to point out they're mostly good, innocent people (who cares) than spend that wasted time commenting on the illegal acts people within the agency have committed on behalf of it or thanks to outside influences and orders from above the agency? I've read and heard many testimonies about the dark nature of what goes on in the CIA for the interests of an elite few, not for the betterment of the USA. Do some homework, you will see that they've been involved in stage coup d'tats, assassinations, torture, bribery of warlords, smuggling drugs, etc. To waste time telling us they're mainly a bunch of pacifists with desk jobs and point out it's not a Hollywood film is totally besides the point. People inside that Agency have committed terrible crimes against humanity and are likely still doing so and getting away with it. Don't act like the majority of its employees being innocent is a more worthwhile point to bring up, because it isn't, unless you enjoy coming across as a condescending fool that thinks he's contributing something worthwhile. -
LookinGood — 11 years ago(March 31, 2015 11:31 AM)
Do they set up a booth at the local jobs fair? Probably not, but that is not to say they don't have 'scouts' out seeking people with promising abilities.
Don't be too sure about the booth thing
.
A few years ago, when I was posting in the TV section of Guardian.uk in a thread for the spy series "Spooks", there was this persistent job offer for a position at MI6 popping up in the right hand column
. Cookies would have revealed where I had been on the website, and I can totally see how they got there, but they forgot to check my IP for location I am not admissible for MI6
, but for BND
.
"I only watch box sets. Soya latte anyone?" (GuardianOnline reader CameronYJ)