Australian Secret Intelligence Service on recruitment drive to find the next generation of agents
THE Australian Secret Intelligence Service will today launch a recruitment drive to find the next generation of agents, opening up to inquiries from Australians of different backgrounds from teaching to customer service.
NSW
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AUSTRALIA’S hush-hush overseas spy agency wants to let you into a little secret — it is hiring new spooks.
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service will today launch a recruitment drive to find the next generation of agents, opening up to inquiries from Australians of different backgrounds from teaching to customer service.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who will announce the drive today, said it was “for obvious reasons, most Australians are not aware of ASIS and its activities”.
“However, this makes it difficult to recruit the right people to work in the fields of intelligence and espionage,” she said.
“Applicants are invited to take what will be the most interesting job interview they are likely to face, which will identify those smart, perceptive, empathetic individuals with the ‘human intelligence’ to work for ASIS.
“While these qualities are special, they are not unique.
“Applicants need to show they can build relationships, pay attention to detail and they must be willing to live overseas.
“They must also be discreet and capable of collecting foreign intelligence from human sources.”
ASIS is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and is comparable to the American Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6 — home of the fictional super spy James Bond.
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ASIS and its sister agency the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation last went on a large recruitment drive in 2014, and have increased their numbers to deal with a jump in national security threats over recent years.
The agency received an additional $75 million in federal funding earlier this year, which was expected to be directed to sending more resources to hot zones in the Middle East and to North Korea.
But the process won’t be easy, according to intelligence experts, who have suggested applicants will need a decade-long checkable background and should be prepared for a recruitment process that takes up to a year.
Only about one in every 100 applicants for ASIS is hired, they said.
But if you do apply, don’t tell anyone — applications are confidential and should remain secret.