US Department Of State/FBI

[vlasu14]

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I have been doing some of my own research and talking to different officers trying to get opinions on my question, and I figure reaching out on this site may help as well.

I am a recent college graduate with a degree in international business, currently working at a software company as an account manager. I am looking to get into the US Department of State or into the FBI. I am trying to figure out what my next step should be from here.

The first option I am considering is going to graduate school in London and obtaining a masters degree in international relations. With a masters degree and about 2 and half years of professional work experience then trying to apply.

My second option is trying to get a job in law enforcement as a local officer either in NY or in NJ and working that for 3 or 4 years and then trying to apply.

Any suggestions as to which path may be better? Would they rather see a higher education or some law enforcement experience?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[FutureAgent001]

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I have been doing some of my own research and talking to different officers trying to get opinions on my question, and I figure reaching out on this site may help as well.

I am a recent college graduate with a degree in international business, currently working at a software company as an account manager. I am looking to get into the US Department of State or into the FBI. I am trying to figure out what my next step should be from here.

The first option I am considering is going to graduate school in London and obtaining a masters degree in international relations. With a masters degree and about 2 and half years of professional work experience then trying to apply.

My second option is trying to get a job in law enforcement as a local officer either in NY or in NJ and working that for 3 or 4 years and then trying to apply.

Any suggestions as to which path may be better? Would they rather see a higher education or some law enforcement experience?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi Vlasu,
When you say Department of State, I'm assuming you mean Diplomatic Security as a Special Agent? I just finished a 1 year masters (directly after college) and interviewed with them and am now in the final hiring stages. I don't necessarily think that a masters is necessary for State though, especially considering that your undergraduate degree is very relevant. Keep an eye on their website and apply under their next announcement. If you interview well, I think you could very well make it in.

As far as pursuing an IR graduate degree versus becoming a local law enforcement officer, that depends. If you are ONLY specifically interested in DSS or FBI, then the IR graduate degree would probably be a better choice. I don't know much about the FBI's process because it's on agency I have not applied to, but from what I have heard, international relations is very important and attractive to them. And DSS likes to hire people with a variety of backgrounds and given their mission, IR would be very relevant. If you would like to, however, look at other fed law enforcement agencies, then of course law enforcement experience is probably the most attractive.

Good luck and feel free to send me a message if you have any questions.

[vlasu14]

Sorry I should of been more specific. Yes that is the position I am interested in the State Department. Thanks for the reply and information. I am mostly interested in those two branches, but I would not turn down any others as of yet either.

Do you have any professional work experience or law enforcement experience or are you pretty much right out of graduate school?

[alpine]

I don't know much about the FBI's process because it's on agency I have not applied to, but from what I have heard, international relations is very important and attractive to them.

Whether that's true or not, you qualify for their hiring process under a critical skill, and there seem to be rough quotas for different CSs. Law enforcement qualifies as a CS; a grad degree outside of a few specific subjects will still leave you trying to qualify under "diversified". To quote the FBI's website:

Please note: opportunities to qualify through the Diversified Critical Skill are very limited.

For them, I think you would be best off going the LE route. Of course, your best chance right now would be going to grad school in computer science/IT, but that's for a different conversation.

[FutureAgent001]

Sorry I should of been more specific. Yes that is the position I am interested in the State Department. Thanks for the reply and information. I am mostly interested in those two branches, but I would not turn down any others as of yet either.

Do you have any professional work experience or law enforcement experience or are you pretty much right out of graduate school?

Vlasu- check your private messages, just sent you one.