CIA Seeks Designers
By Stephanie Vélez Portilla
Many of us know the CIA to be made up of men and women wearing suits and dark sunglasses, handling, among others, international organized crime, narcotics trafficking and counter-terrorism.
That’s why it was surprising to find out that CIA representatives were coming to the SCAD Student Center on April 25. Not only that, but they came to hire undergraduate and graduate students for a creative career at their agency.
Dressed in semi casual wear and with no bodyguards in sight, a CIA spokesman expressed his interest in primarily looking for graphic design and interactive multimedia professionals, however that doesn’t exclude cartography, communication and illustration.
The interns’ job would be working on making web products, handbooks, info graphics, publications, training simulators and other materials for internal use, while also working on branding for customer interface.
With their headquarters outside Washington D.C., in northern Virginia, employment at the CIA involves moving teams and designers around to best serve customers.
This aspect of the agency interested Melissa Fenik, a second year illustration graduate student from New York. She said, “I liked how they talked about how important it is for them to work as a group and how you’re just one Lego in the whole puzzle.”
The company values innovation, creativity and collaboration and, while they do have 3 a.m. shifts, the agency balances work and pleasure, with football games between departments and events that celebrate the beginning of football season.
The requirements for application are simple yet competitive. In order to apply, the applicant must be a US citizen with a Bachelor’s degree, must have a GPA 3.0 or higher, must relocate to headquarters, clear a background search, pass medical examinations and a polygraph and undergo a full interview on location.
Though these standards might scare many, the benefits to working at the CIA include a starting salary of $50K (GPA considered), student loan assistance, federal health coverage and a retirement plan.
While the CIA offers a great opportunity for creative expression, there were some students who were still not convinced. Kate Johnson, a fourth year advertising major from Pennsylvania, passed by the Student Center and came in out of pure curiosity, “I was interested to see what they were all about…I’m advertising, I sort of want to go into an agency direction.”
Though there were mixed feelings during the CIA’s presentation, there were some that were excited at the idea of creating products intended for the Vice President, Congress, Defense Agencies and Intelligence Communities, including the FBI, NRO, NSA and DIA. The CIA spokesman ended the presentation with a parting thought, saying, “products you create can be done one day and be in the Oval Office next.”
