Recruitment and hiring practices in organizational management

Recruitment and Hiring

Working for the United States Government is an honor that many American citizens would be proud of. Federal agencies offer a wide variety of career options with myriad features. Just like the private industry, many Federal agencies also allow job candidates to make contact with the agency directly both for obtaining information about the job and also for processing their applications. Most of the Federal agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency -- CIA, Federal Bureau of Investigation -- FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency --DIA, National Security Agency -- NSA, etc. conduct their own individual recruitment processes and therefore their hiring processes must be looked into separately. However, the terrible events of September 11, 2001, have had bearings on the hiring practices of various agencies. Many agencies require written tests to qualify whereas some do not. Agencies like the FBI, CIA or NSA are known as excepted service agencies and are not governed by the same Congressional laws as those governing the competitive civil service jobs. Only excepted service positions are available for federal agencies like the CIA and FBI whereas in other agencies, both excepted service as well as civil service positions may be available. ("How Federal Jobs are Filled," n. d.); ("Federal Bureau of Investigation -- Strategic Plan 2004-2009," n. d.) the FBI, CIA and NSA are the top three intelligence organization of the country. These three agencies provide a wide range of career opportunities in fields ranging from mathematics, engineering and science to foreign analysis, cartography and linguistics. Career choices for every agency are directed for the nature of tasks at hand. For example, FBI focuses more on law enforcement whereas NSA is more focused on cryptography and mathematics. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008)

The Central Intelligence Agency is entrusted with the immense responsibility of protecting the national security of America. Therefore, it is with good reason that the recruitment process is extremely stringent and interns and other candidates hoping to work with the CIA are asked to take a polygraph test. Most of the CIA jobs are related to the intelligence cycle. This involves acquiring raw or crude data, converting it into intelligence, analysis of the information and dissemination to the appropriate departments. The internship program available at CIA can be applied for both by college juniors and seniors, especially those belonging to the handicapped or minority category. Minority and nonminority students from the first or second year of undergraduate studies can apply for the Graduate Studies Program. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008); (Oldman; Hamadeh, 2003)

Students must be at least 171/2 years of age and majoring in one of the following subjects: hard sciences, computer science, engineering, accounting and finance, economics, business administration, geography/cartography, languages, political science or international studies. Applicants for CIA jobs must be U.S. citizens, an average grade point of or above 3.0, have a Scholastic Aptitude Test -- SAT score of or above 1000 and a perceptible financial need. Applicants are invited and processed by the CIA Employment center. Applicants have to submit a resume and a cover letter. The CIA takes around 6 months to undertake a comprehensive background check on the candidates. The best candidates can expect a response within 45 days and are called for an initial interview by the hiring office. If they make it through this initial stage, they have to go in for a psychological profile, polygraph test and a physical examination. It is estimated that 40% of all recruits are ultimately inducted into the CIA as permanent employees. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008); (Oldman; Hamadeh, 2003)

The CIA Recruitment Center situated at Reston, Virginia, does not entertain any form of communication including e-mails or phone calls and nor does it accept resumes from Americans living overseas. The CIA encourages online resume submission. Apart from other checks, the CIA also checks the character, trustworthiness, soundness of judgment, reliability and entire life history of the candidates. The CIA also takes a look at the candidates' potential to be coerced, freedom from contradictory allegiances and the willingness and ability to cooperate in the use, management and safeguarding of sensitive state information. (Carland; Faber, 2008)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation -- FBI is entrusted with the responsibility of investigating breaches of federal laws as well as civil matters of interest to the American government. Apart from the most popular position of that of the special agent, FBI also advertises positions for administrative, technical, professional, and clerical jobs. Positions are also available for professional support personnel like language specialists, photographers, computer specialists and nurses. Applicants for the position of special agents should be U.S. citizens between the ages of 23 and 36. They should possess a four-year college degree and a full-time work experience of three years. Applicants need to pass a battery of written tests constituting "Phase I" followed by a written exercise and a structured interview which comprises the second phase. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008); (Oldman; Hamadeh, 2003); (Carland; Faber, 2008)

There are four entrance exams and the applicants must qualify under any one of them. These include the Accounting Program, the Language Program, the Law Program and the Diversified program. The applicants must possess a valid driver's license, and must go through color vision, drug and polygraph tests. Once accepted, candidates must go through 16 weeks of rigorous training at Quantico, Virginia, where the FBI Academy is located. Candidates applying for professional support personnel position have to be American citizens with a minimum education level of high school diploma or graduates depending on the specific area of specialization. A thorough background investigation is carried out on the candidates that can take up to 4 months to be completed. The background investigation includes review of medical, military, school, arrest, history of drug abuse and credit records of the potential candidates. It also includes questioning family members, friends, neighbors, current employers and personal references. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008); (Oldman; Hamadeh, 2003); (Carland; Faber, 2008)

The National Security Agency -- NSA is a cryptology organization and considered to be far more secretive than the CIA. It is a high-technology organization which controls, coordinates and executes highly specialized operations which protects the information systems of the U.S. government and processes foreign signals in order to generate intelligence information. It has the largest number of mathematicians on its payrolls and apart from mathematicians, it advertises vacancies for cryptanalysts, computer scientists, electronic and computer engineers, systems analysts, and language and intelligence analysts. All the positions are advertised on their website and candidates can apply online. The application is kept on file for a maximum period of 6 months. Internship and scholarship programs are also available for graduate and undergraduate students. NSA conducts far more extensive background checks on their potential candidates. Apart from polygraph and medical tests, applicants must also get a high level of security clearance. The privacy rights of potential and existing NSA employees are different from those of an ordinary citizen. NSA checks very personal financial and other details apart from checking plans for marrying a non-American citizen, foreign travel, and the choice of a dentist or doctor. NSA requires its new employees to shift to Fort Meade, Maryland where the NSA headquarters is situated. ("Intelligence and Counterespionage Careers," 2008); (Carland; Faber, 2008)

The National Reconnaissance Office -- NRO constitutes the "eyes and ears" of America in space. This agency makes sure that the necessary space-borne infrastructure and technology which can help to provide timely worldwide intelligence to key strategists are always available at hand. It is an autonomous agency under the Department of Defense. The NRO does not conduct any separate recruitment or hiring operations. The employees working at NRO are those assigned to it by the CIA and the Department of Defense. (Carland; Faber, 2008); ("Contact the NRO," n. d.)

The Defense Intelligence Agency -- DIA, whose headquarters is at the Pentagon in Washington, is a combat support agency under the Department of Defense. The DIA is in charge of generating and managing foreign military intelligence. Applicants for DIA positions can come from diverse fields like physics, chemistry, biosciences, computer science, military history and doctrine, world history, political science, economics, and so on. The DIA also hires a small number of support assistants like bilingual research technicians and secretaries. These support staff are positioned at the U.S. Defense Attache Offices at various U.S. embassies in foreign countries. The DIA hires both military as well as civilian U.S. citizens. It advertises vacancies for people ranging from college graduates to experienced intelligence analysts on its website and candidates are encouraged to apply online. (Carland; Faber, 2008); (Richfield, 2007)

The DIA conducts a thorough investigation and/or reinvestigation on the security background of potential candidates. Depending on the candidate's history, the duration of background checks can range from two weeks to one whole year. This includes verification of education, personal history, and experience. This is done to make sure that a candidate is suitable to gain access to Sensitive Compartmented or Top Secret Information. Applicants have to get a "TS/SCI security clearance." Candidates have to undergo personal interviews, medical examinations, "counterintelligence-scope polygraph examination," urinalysis test to screen for possible illegal drug use, and other procedures that the agency finds necessary to meet suitability, security and other educational, technical and work qualifications. (Carland; Faber, 2008); (Richfield, 2007)

Amongst all civilian federal agencies, one of the most recent ones is the Department of Homeland Security -- DHS which deals with Homeland Defense. This agency was created in 2003 by President George Bush as a response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and was meant to deal with security programs and domestic policing. According to the former President, this department was meant to carry out four main tasks: emergency and disaster preparedness, transportation and border security, centralized storage and analysis of potential threat information supplied by other federal agencies, and development of countermeasures for biological, nuclear and chemical warfare. This department was supposed to consolidate 22 agencies from five separate departments. (Editorial Board, WSW. (2002); ("How to Apply for Homeland Security Positions," n. d.) These agencies include the "U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Protective Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Nuclear Incident Response Team, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the National Domestic Preparedness Office and many others." ("History: Who Became Part of the Department?," 2008)

Candidates can view career opportunities at the OPM's USAJobs electronic portal where DHS advertises its posts. These jobs are advertised by salary, job category, location, etc. Since this department combines a wide range of agencies, qualifications and experience vary to a large extent. ("How to Apply for Homeland Security Positions," n. d.) DHS invites applications from people ranging from college students to seasoned experts. Eligible veterans are also recruited for suitable jobs at DHS. Career areas range from law enforcement, security, intelligence, information technology, management, science, engineering, budget, etc. People with disabilities are also encouraged to apply. Such candidates must obtain a certificate from the Department of Veteran Affairs or a State Vocational Rehabilitation Office and apply with the help of special hiring authorities. ("Homeland Security Careers," 2008)

All candidates applying for a Homeland Security job must be U.S. citizens. Diverse and talented students are also offered education as well as employment opportunities at the DHS by way of internships, fellowships, scholarships, co-ops and training programs. The DHS conducts a full background investigation on the candidates apart from other checks like a drug test. Candidates who qualify are called for a face-to-face or telephonic interview by the hiring official or supervisor. In some cases, selection may be done solely on the basis of the application materials. Laws governing the Federal Civil Services govern the selection procedure which makes sure that candidates receive equal and fair treatment during the hiring and selection process. ("How to Apply for Homeland Security Positions," n. d.)

One of the main problems plaguing these agencies in the hiring and recruitment process is the extremely long duration of background checks especially in the FBI. This obviously has resulted in a paucity of sufficient intelligence analysts in these agencies. FBI figures reveal that less than 20% of the applicants eventually make it through the recruitment process. An FBI clearance today takes double the time it used to take a year ago. Currently, the process of background investigation takes 200 to 300 days to complete. This investigation process is lengthy enough to discourage plenty of young people from joining these premier Federal intelligence and other agencies. According to Michael McConnell, national intelligence head, one of the efforts to enhance the security check speed is to consider a kind of risk analysis which moves candidates of value, for example "native language speakers," faster through the recruitment pipeline. (Temple-Raston, 2007)

Another effort to speed up the process can be to collect information by way of data mining personal records like financial information. In case the records are clean the candidate can be hired and another review could be scheduled a year or two later. However, according to experts conducting preliminary checks instead of full background checks could turn out to be extremely risky for the security of the nation. The choices are difficult and have to taken between running the risk of a few, however rare, intelligence penetrations by foreign intelligence recruits and the risk of a serious shortfall of a qualified workforce equipped with cultural and language skills that can help the intelligence and security agencies in winning the war against Al-Qaeda. (Temple-Raston, 2007)

Linguistic analysts like Arabic translators are in huge demand in many of these Federal security agencies. However, bias, discriminatory attitudes and lackluster recruiting efforts in these agencies has resulted in the lack of appropriate and qualified people in the workforce. It has been estimated that approximately 4/5ths of Farsi and Arabic speakers in the U.S. belong to the non-Muslim communities like Mizrahi Jews, Zoroastrians, and Middle East Christians like Copts, Maronite, Syriac, Assyrian Chaldeans, and Orthodox Christians. In addition, there are several Arabic language specialists among Native Americans as well. Several Coptic and Maronite Christians, Syrian and Iraqi Jews, as well as Persian Jews who applied for the post of translator to the intelligence agencies were accorded a cold treatment. The prejudice that only Muslim translators would be able to do justice to the huge amount of intelligence information arising from Middle East has hampered the translation work. As a result, there has been a build up of intelligence information which remains un-translated. It has also led to a shortfall in the assessments and analyses of HUMINT which has hampered the National Security strategies in the war against terrorism. ("Scandal: Bias in Hiring Non-Muslims as Translator Analysts for U.S. Security Agencies," 2007)