Criminal Justice Jobs – Law Enforcement – FBI Agent

FBI Agent Job Description

You probably know quite a bit about this criminal justice job as it is one of the most well known occupations on the planet. Basically you are a federal agent responsible for national security reporting to the office of attorney general.

You can expect to be investigating major crimes and criminal activity such as kidnap, extortion, espionage, major fraud, terrorism, overseas intelligence, corruption, cyber crimes, bank robbery, major drug trafficking, certain homicides and many other federal statue violations.

As with most law enforcement investigatove roles, you will be required to gather and analyze evidence as well as interview both witnesses and suspects. You will also be involved in surveillance, raids and arrests and be expected to compile reports and testify in court.

FBI Agent Educational Requirements

You must be younger than 37 years old at the time of your application and have about 3 years relevant work experience. You will need the Bachelors degree in criminal justice as a minimum for this role and you must graduate from an institution recognized by the US Secretary of Education.

Before you actually begin your role, you must first attend the FBI academy in Virginia for about 20 weeks of intensive training. Once you are actually in the role you can also expect regular training courses to ensure your skills remain sharp.

FBI Agent Salary

Trainee FBI agents can expect around $40k with this rising to between $60-80k inclusive of overtime once you are a fully competant agent.

FBI Agent Career Prospects

The main career advancement for FBI agents is to first specialize in one of five major areas: intelligence, counter intelligence, counter terrorism, criminal or cyber. From here the natural progression would be into more supervisory positions.

It is worth noting that most FBI agents stay with the agency until retirement. Very few FBI agents actually leave the role.