Job with the FBI?

5502george

To make a long story short I work for the gov (DoD). I am in a position that has opportunity to increase in responsibility and pay. I am relatively happy as I get to experience a lot of project manager roles, engineering roles, tech roles, work with very educated individuals and very competent users, etc…


I had applied for a special agent position (FBI) a looooooong time ago and underwent various interviews and tests. Then they went on a hiring freeze in the middle of the application process! So now I get a call and they are hiring special agents again and want to conduct the final interview next week and conduct a polygraph.


If I was hired for the special agent position I would take a significant pay cut, have to go through the mental and physical bull associated with initial training in Virginia and my pay cap would be a GS-14. BUT, and this is a HUGE but, I think the job would be really interesting and exiting (at times).

Any thoughts?

RHEL

5502george wrote: »

To make a long story short I work for the gov (DoD). I am in a position that has opportunity to increase in responsibility and pay. I am relatively happy as I get to experience a lot of project manager roles, engineering roles, tech roles, work with very educated individuals and very competent users, etc…

I had applied for a special agent position (FBI) a looooooong time ago and underwent various interviews and tests. Then they went on a hiring freeze in the middle of the application process! So now I get a call and they are hiring special agents again and want to conduct the final interview next week and conduct a polygraph.


If I was hired for the special agent position I would take a significant pay cut, have to go through the mental and physical bull associated with initial training in Virginia and my pay cap would be a GS-14. BUT, and this is a HUGE but, I think the job would be really interesting and exiting (at times).

Any thoughts?

That's really going to come down to you, your obligations (family, house, etc), and whether or not it is worth it to you. I would start thinking about it seriously at this point, but you've still got a lot of time. With poly, background investigation, final PFT, etc, you're still looking at 6+ months out if not more. With classes being full with lots of cleared applicants waiting, you could easily be looking at 9 months to a year plus out for Quantico. Also, keep in mind that MANY applicants do not make it past this stage even though they've already received a conditional offer of employment. Passing training at Q is also not guaranteed. It's quite a gamble if you're already in a good situation.

Another thing to consider is that you have zero say in where you're relocated. Are you in a position where you can drop everything and move? What if you end up in an undesirable location? If you're a single guy, you're in a great position to make this decision.

For me, I started the special agent process a several years back and was not yet married. I had recently graduated from undergrad and was making a low er salary at the time. Like you said, the hiring freeze took place, and everything dropped of my radar. I've since purchased my first house, jumped into an amazing job that I love, and am now married and my wife has an amazing job that she loves. Not such an easy decision anymore for me.

And then there's pay... I live in a very low cost of living area where a relocation to the highest cost of living areas (NYC, San Francisco) would mean that I would need to earn more than double my current salary to maintain the same standard of living. If I ended up in one of those high cost of living areas, it'd essentially mean a paycut of 65% of what I'm making now plus losing my wife's secondary income.

Needless to say, it was a long journey for me, but I dropped out after passing the multiple phases of testing and receiving a conditional offer of employment. If you're very happy where you currently are, I would definitely be skeptical about taking a leap into the unknown. That being said, being an FBI Special Agent is an extremely rewarding career and most who pursue this path have no regrets.

Best of luck!

pinkydapimp

maybe try it out and if it doesnt work, leverage that experience into a career in forensics?

5502george

RHEL wrote: »

That's really going to come down to you, your obligations (family, house, etc), and whether or not it is worth it to you. I would start thinking about it seriously at this point, but you've still got a lot of time. With poly, background investigation, final PFT, etc, you're still looking at 6+ months out if not more. With classes being full with lots of cleared applicants waiting, you could easily be looking at 9 months to a year plus out for Quantico. Also, keep in mind that MANY applicants do not make it past this stage even though they've already received a conditional offer of employment. Passing training at Q is also not guaranteed. It's quite a gamble if you're already in a good situation.

Another thing to consider is that you have zero say in where you're relocated. Are you in a position where you can drop everything and move? What if you end up in an undesirable location? If you're a single guy, you're in a great position to make this decision.

For me, I started the special agent process a several years back and was not yet married. I had recently graduated from undergrad and was making a low er salary at the time. Like you said, the hiring freeze took place, and everything dropped of my radar. I've since purchased my first house, jumped into an amazing job that I love, and am now married and my wife has an amazing job that she loves. Not such an easy decision anymore for me.

And then there's pay... I live in a very low cost of living area where a relocation to the highest cost of living areas (NYC, San Francisco) would mean that I would need to earn more than double my current salary to maintain the same standard of living. If I ended up in one of those high cost of living areas, it'd essentially mean a paycut of 65% of what I'm making now plus losing my wife's secondary income.

Needless to say, it was a long journey for me, but I dropped out after passing the multiple phases of testing and receiving a conditional offer of employment. If you're very happy where you currently are, I would definitely be skeptical about taking a leap into the unknown. That being said, being an FBI Special Agent is an extremely rewarding career and most who pursue this path have no regrets.

Best of luck!

I hear you loud and clear. The pay cut would be in the neighborhood of 25k. Although the wife is 100% on board with moving, I would not want to end up in a place I hate (which is a real possibility). The job seems to be a great opportunity for a wonderful career, I am just unsure if it is the right timing.
I am considering just going through the interview to see what they have to say about save rate save pay (government to government jobs). Or if I have any say in where I can be located based on my specialized IT background.
I also wanted to pursue a master’s degree in the near future; this might not be a possibility in the FBI….
Decisions….

pinkydapimp

5502george wrote: »

I hear you loud and clear. The pay cut would be in the neighborhood of 25k. Although the wife is 100% on board with moving, I would not want to end up in a place I hate (which is a real possibility). The job seems to be a great opportunity for a wonderful career, I am just unsure if it is the right timing.
I am considering just going through the interview to see what they have to say about save rate save pay (government to government jobs). Or if I have any say in where I can be located based on my specialized IT background.
I also wanted to pursue a master’s degree in the near future; this might not be a possibility in the FBI….
Decisions….

it cant hurt to go through with the interview. always better to make these decisions once an offer is on the table!! Who knows, maybe there are other better suited positions there.