Movies and TV shows often make working in intelligence look like it's super exciting and glamorous all the time. While intelligence jobs certainly come with perks, it's important to understand that a real job in this field is not going to look like a Hollywood thriller during the day-to-day. Before you decide to start searching for intelligence analyst jobs, make sure you have a full understanding of what you are getting into. Here are three tips to keep in mind if you are considering a career in intelligence.
1. It's Mostly Research
Again, it needs to be stressed that the bulk of the work here is not going to be interviewing someone in a hospital emergency room or interrogating a witness at a police station. A lot of the work intelligence analysts perform is just sitting at a desk, going over every last bit of information on their latest project, down to the smallest detail. In intelligence, he or she with most information wins, so be prepared to read a countless number of documents on any given day.
2. Work on Your Communication Skills
The result of all of that research you'll be doing is to take the most important information and put it into a report that can help your people out in the field. An intelligence analyst has to have very strong communication skills, both verbal and in writing. If your communication has never been your strong suit, this might not be the career for you. If you are still focused on this field and you know you need some help in the communications department, there's no shame in enrolling in a communication or writing class before you move forward with your intelligence career.
3. It Can Be Helpful to Specialize
Within the intelligence field, there are plenty of different technical subjects to tackle. If you want to be able to separate yourself from the other people looking to lockdown an intelligence analyst job, try and bring expertise in a specific area to the table. For example, if you've always been good at math, you can focus on analyzing accounting reports. If you're good at science, try and focus on chemistry or physics. Figure out your strong suit and work on building up not just your intelligence credentials but your relevant experience within a given specialty.
Intelligence analyst jobs always look pretty sexy on television, but you should know in reality that it's a lot of hard work and research. If you want to improve your chances of landing a good job, work on your communication skills and try to specialize in a specific field.
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