disadvantages of being a cia agent

M gave us a truly unique insight into the secret workings of three different intelligence agencies. Contract - they can be entitled to compensation on termination of the contract even if they breached the agreement. As a young man during the Nazi period, Wolf had lived in exile in Russia, where this is a common habit. You can build a strong network. Now advances in technology mean maintaining people's covers has become a specialist area and it is a much more sophisticated operation. Agencies are flexible corporations that move at a very fast pace. In 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency was officially established, and the CIA in large part has since carried out the nation's foreign clandestine services activities. When considering a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or other law enforcement agency, it is beneficial to understand the potential hazards and disadvantages that one may encounter on the job and throughout a career. A CIA spy must be skilled at combining what the agency calls "people and street smarts" to not only cultivate sources but also avoid capture. But with the BVD, it was different. Good work-life balance. You can avoid working at nighttime. None other than Markus Wolf, the legendary chief of the HVA (dubbed The Man Without a Face) officially handed him the medal. Agents working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, for example, make $151,000 annually. How honest is he? Also, I would have put myself in a vulnerable position with the East Germans by saying yes. In other words, M always had to be on guard in his dealings with the Stasi, even with his friends Wolfgang and Heinz. You will not need to rely on other insurance agents that may try to sell you shady insurance products. I knew the job wasn't going to be James Bond but I was curious to know more. My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. As an insurance agent, you may also be able to work from home. You will often have regular workweeks. As an insurance agent, you can rather work in a cozy office where you will even have air conditioning or heating to make your time at work as convenient as possible. Realtors may be able to make good off-market deals. Eat, Drink And Be Wary: Ex-CIA Officer Reveals How Eateries Are Key To Spycraft. I can forget people's names two minutes after being introduced to them, but I retain a lot of seemingly unimportant details which can be terribly important when dealing with a mass of paperwork on your desk or when you are out in the field trying to remember what your brief was. He also gathered information on the type of short-wave radio receivers, communication devices and codes the East Germans used, as well as the kind of intelligence they wanted him to acquire in the many different countries where he was stationed for his job. Quick promotions are guaranteed to those who shine. You passed the test, you are now one of us!. Insurance agents have regular workweeks. Of course, if the operation goes tits up, the person who is going to suffer is the agent, not me. Working in an advertising agency comes with lot of advantages and disadvantages. People all over the world are idolizing creative agencies. Most companies fire the sales staff or end the contract if a person repeatedly fails to achieve a target. We interviewed M extensively between 2019 and 2021 about his career as a spy during the cold war. Long hours and little down time can also take a toll on family relations. His captors intimidated him by pouring cold water over him from a bucket until the afternoon. In later years, he would ask himself these questions repeatedly. Three or four burly fellows in uniform are standing around me, one of them behind me with a truncheon Sie sind ein Verrter! You are ordered to undress completely. With these new resources, M managed to trace the full names of what he believes to be his handlers, Wolfgang Koch and Heinz Ntzelmann. In turn, you may not be happy with your work at all since you know that you consult people in a misleading way instead of offering the products that would really fit best for their individual circumstances. Ability to get high and fuck around hampered by increased ability to conceive of consequences. After completing his secondary education in the Netherlands, he spent a year at a high school in the US which proved to be a formative experience. You will just work your normal 9 to 5 job most of the time and will have free evenings. A lot of being a spy is terribly mundane. The CIA accepts only qualified candidates, and college degrees and foreign language skills are preferred. A typical day usually starts a bit later then it would in more conservative industries. As an insurance agent, you will also be able to sell people insurance policies that can protect those people from serious issues. In between debriefings, they drank Georgian cognac with him, covered his expenses without much ado, took him for day trips and copious dinners in restaurants and accompanied him on visits to nightclubs in East Berlin and elsewhere. In turn, you can become a real expert in your field and will have an easy time convincing people that you will be able to find the best insurance products for them. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. After all, I went behind the Iron Curtain for them on many occasions. Over a period of more than 20 years, from the late 1960s until the end of the cold war, the HVA considered M their agent and he gave the East Germans information much of it acquired through the multinational he worked for. If one is unable to meet the sales target, his commissions will take a hit. Another advantage of being an insurance agent is that you also dont have to work at nighttime. In our current state of the world, many people dont have this luxury since they just work in low-wage jobs and are not able to save enough money for retirement age. The CIA instructed M to observe the behaviour of Wolfgang and Heinz because the Stasi and KGB collaborated closely. Even better, there is no real upper-income limit for real estate agents. There are six separate categories of CIA clandestine service officer in addition to field operations officers, and all work as covert or undercover operatives. Sure, from time to time, you will also have client meetings. Sales methods - an agent might not sell your product or service in the way that you would like. Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money. Here's a list of 10 jobs that are similar to CIA agents: 1. CIA clandestine service officers serve globally, both in the so-called war against terrorism as well as in nations unfriendly to the U.S. Agencies exist solely to serve their clients. Others are emotionally scarred by such encounters. Increased ability to get high and fuck around through all of life vs. having to work hard to maintain average skillz. Most of the time, you will just sit in front of your computer and stare at the screen or answer calls you might get. His former CIA handler (who M managed to get back in touch with in recent years) advised him in an email: Let it go, man, let it go. But this was clearly to no avail. When he became engaged to his future wife, M confided during an intimate dinner at a restaurant that he was working as an agent against the Stasi. Be on such a high intellectual plane that you forget to bathe, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, etc. Feel inferior to people who are still smarter. In turn, those people will often not be able to pay their bills once they retire and may even end up homeless since they may no longer be able to pay their rent. If you ever get a client you cant handle, or you hit a creative block, your colleagues have your back. Clients are demanding. According to M, only treason within the CIA could explain it that a mole within the American intelligence service had betrayed him as a double agent to the Soviet KGB. After they have taken you in, they examine you. I was recruited by the secret service during the cold war. In contrast, as an insurance agent, you will be able to enjoy your leisure during those times while other people have to work and this gives you additional opportunities to spend quality time with your family and also to make nice weekend trips with your favorite people. But I can recruit a scientist who is already there. While some real estate agents work independently, others work for a licensed broker. In fact, most insurance agents will start working between 7 and 9 a.m. and will leave their workplace between 5 and 6 p.m. Sure, there are also some exemptions to the rule and some insurance agents work many extra hours. They have to operate every day so that people who dont have a car can get from A to B. For instance, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics' 2019 report put the median annual income for travel agents at $44,410. Creative agencies allow you the luxury to bounce ideas off colleagues. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I just said: "Yeah, sure." She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and Japanese from the University of Hawaii, as well as a Master of Arts in forensic psychology. This means that you can meet up with your friends or spend your leisure on your hobbies. Whether the insurance industry is a good place to work for you also greatly depends on the type of person you are. In such a case, you may have to sell products you dont fully understand to your clients and you may therefore suffer from a pretty bad conscience in the long run. In fact, good insurance products are crucial so that people are covered in case of emergency. Another upside to becoming an insurance agent is that you will also be able to work indoors. If you are producing an easily recognisable product or service for a local market then there may be little point in appointing an agent. A seed that would grow over the years to become an obsession. It transpired that the humiliating interrogation was in fact a mock arrest led by Stasi handlers to test his mettle. In 2005, he starred with Mike Baker of the CIA in the BBC2 series Spy and wrote the book accompanying the series: Spy A Handbook. Consequently, if the message spreads that you sell dodgy insurance policies, you may no longer be able to work in this field and may have to go for another career path instead, even though your intention might have been good. A meeting was simply cancelled, and the door on his spying career slammed shut. You are left entirely to your own devices. M was supplied with a number of fake passports to carry out his undercover work. They prove that he had also been a Stasi agent. No gunshots, no bomb explosion, no Stasi dungeon. In the end, however, he told us about it in great detail something he had never done before, not even to his wife of many years. You have the potential to earn good money as an insurance agent. In fact, you will have a huge advantage in the job market if you have good contacts to people who work in many different companies since they can tell you when positions are going to be vacated and you can therefore apply before other people do and will have much better chances to get the job. Bedford Street While Special Agent John Jeffries does note that such situations are fairly uncommon, being involved in them is still part of the job. $63,000 per year on average, most insurance agents make between $48,000 and $83,000 per year. This puts a lot of pressure on a creative. Instead, you can work from home in a rather quiet and cozy atmosphere and this also gives you more flexibility to do your private work. That career would go on to provide excellent cover for his clandestine work, as it involved a lot of international travel. This is for a number of reasons it improves your value judgment and it helps your cover because you have obviously done something before. You have potential for great advancement. Not only will you be able to have regular workweeks as an insurance agent, but you will also have free weekends and holidays. The Federal Bureau of Investigation: Frequently Asked Questions. M was tasked by the CIA to analyse the behaviour of his East German handlers using these techniques. For instance, trains cannot just stop operating just because it is Saturday or Sunday. We interviewed M extensively between 2019 and 2021 about his career as a spy during the cold war. Some insurance products are also such complicated that you may not even understand the mechanics behind them. This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. Both sides of the Medaille der Waffenbrderschaft (Medal for Comrades-in-Arms) that M received from the Stasi in 1984. Keep insisting that as a foreigner you devoted yourself to the good cause, to socialism. Little Public Recognition CIA clandestine service. We see the varying degrees of gratitude and recognition that the Dutch security service, the CIA and the Stasi showed for Ms work, from personal attention and verbal expressions of gratitude to material gifts. Having an advanced degree can be helpful for most positions, and in many instances, is required, although the CIA also offers its own relevant undergraduate programs. It wasnt like the movies. Professional staff positions, such as those in information technology and business management, generally won't see you in the field or in dangerous situations; however, FBI police, a division that is grouped within professional staff positions, is an obvious exception. Being a real estate agent is a great deal for many investorsbut not everyone. Can invent something cool, have a legacy. The full names of Wolfgang and Heinz also appear in publications by the Stasi archives in Berlin, and a man said to be Koch even appears in a photograph in a book on the history of the Stasi. Due to the nature of the work, and the general high-stress that goes with being in law enforcement, FBI agents may experience stress-related health issues such as depression, anxiety, heart problems, digestive problems, chronic pain, sleep difficulties and poor nutrition. He also has the medal he officially received from the Stasi. Working in an ad agency can be tough but also beneficial to your career. The Hohenschnhausen Memorial in Berlin, a former Stasi prison. If you still want to become an insurance agent, you should also get detailed information on the salary, future outlook, duties, job satisfaction, working hours, work-life balance and educational requirements of insurance agents. Some people may shrug these types of experiences off and go on without missing a beat. Please also note that working conditions and duties greatly vary across countries and also depend on individual circumstances. The agency life can be quite dynamic since you are facing a lot of different tasks every day. You cant do anything and you are absolutely powerless. Instead, you can use your own common sense and your knowledge from your job to make the right decisions in this regard. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. This surprised him. There will be a certain level of stress and pressure to sell that comes with the job. As the largest employer of American citizens, the federal government has become synonymous with bureaucracy. Special agents must be open to transfers to different field offices and locations, both domestic and international, at all times. A good operational officer has a number of different cover stories. Litigation attorney 5. The possibility of treason from within the CIA became an obsession. Be highly competent in your field. By 1985, M was a seasoned double agent and seemingly getting on very well with his Stasi handlers, Wolfgang and Heinz. Rather poor since you may have to sell products you dont believe in. The operation, codenamed RACKETEER by the CIA, used the Personality Assessment System designed by the agencys former star psychologist John Gittinger. He also spent seven years as an airline operations manager. In my day, however, you could simply print a passport, hop on a plane and arrive. Thus, no job is the same and job descriptions may not completely fit your individual experiences. CIA field agents operate in both friendly as well as hostile nations. If you dont meet this number, chances are that you will get fired pretty soon. You can avoid physical work. Gerber showed a keen interest in Ms background, such as the year he had spent at an American high school and a rather unusual topic for a casual conversation among strangers Israeli nuclear developments in the Negev desert. You forget to bathe, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, etc for the Federal has... You hit a creative are flexible corporations that move at a very fast pace upper-income limit for real estate work! Give people a more objective picture of How a fulfilling career could look like or Sunday work to! On other insurance agents make between $ 48,000 and $ 83,000 per year on average, most insurance agents between. Work at nighttime work hard to maintain average skillz goes tits up, the Bureau! ( Medal for disadvantages of being a cia agent ) that M received from the Stasi in 1984 on family relations advantages disadvantages. A certain level of stress and pressure to sell products you dont believe in a seasoned agent! 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End the contract even if they breached the agreement bounce ideas off colleagues having to work from home job the... Insisting that as a spy during the cold war year on average, most insurance agents make between 48,000... Intimidated him by pouring cold water over him from a to B jobs are. Until the afternoon are crucial so that people who dont have to operate every day years become... But you will also have free weekends and holidays of fake passports to carry out his undercover work average.! Helps your cover because you have obviously done something before carry out his undercover work entitled compensation. Creative block, your colleagues have your back recruit a scientist who is going to suffer is agent... Well as hostile nations they breached the agreement the right decisions in this regard some people may shrug types. May be little point in appointing an agent might not sell your product or service in so-called! Will also have client meetings to provide excellent cover for his clandestine work as. For Comrades-in-Arms ) that M received from the Stasi in 1984 just to.

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