Ty Arnold, Special Agent and Recruiting Specialist of Hawaii’s Federal Bureau of Investigation said, “25,000 people apply [to the FBI] every year, but we only accept about 400 of them. We only want the best,” during the FBI Info session on Aug. 20 in the Aloha Center.
Arnold stated, “The country needs only those qualified to accomplish the FBI’s main objective: protecting our great nation and all of its assets. We will invest all the necessary time and energy to ‘weed out’ the least competitive applicants.” He went on to explain the overall process of applying for this prestigious bureau is “complicated enough that it already drives people away.”
According to Arnold, this selection process is “vigorous and there are quite a few criteria that need to be met.” Securing the most powerful nation on earth comes at a sacrifice. “Applicants need to be between the ages of 23-36, possess a four-year bachelor’s degree, and have at least three consecutive years of work-related experience in any given field. There is also a mandatory physical fitness test.”
The application is then sent to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. where it is thoroughly reviewed. “These applications aren’t being compared against other people’s applications, they are being tested and proven against our national standards.”
“I already had a pretty good idea about how difficult it is to be chosen,” said Andrew Boswell, a sophomore studying accounting from Missouri. Boswell said he has been leaning towards professional jobs that the FBI has to offer such as an internal accountant. “Though being a special agent would be a great career, the job expectations are too demanding.”
Of the thousands that are sent for review, only a few hundred are selected to continue the process, and the rest are discarded. The FBI will then contact applicants for personal interviews and more tests to see if they look as good in person as they do on paper, said Arnold. If accepted, they will go to a 20-week training camp, where they will be tested in every aspect of physical and mental ability to be qualified to be a Special Agent, according to the FBI’s website. If applying for professional staff positions, the training isn’t as extensive, but still highly competitive.
There are personnel stationed at FBI locations all around the world. Arnold explained, “You can’t choose where you want to go. You will go where we think you will perform best, and where there is a need for your particular skill. It could be anywhere here in the United States, or anywhere in the world. But wherever it is, you will be expected to fulfill your duty.” The FBI requires its employees to work very long and demanding hours.
Arnold jokingly stated, “The bad guys just don’t steal Monday-Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.. This is an all-day job and everywhere you go and everything you do represents the FBI.” About 30 people attended the meeting. Based on the bureau’s acceptance rate, only 1 or quite possibly none of these attendees would’ve been accepted.