Central Intelligence Agency
Great opportunities for advancement
Mission Support Officer (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – July 16, 2018
Great pay, excellent job security, many opportunities to try different jobs. Travel opportunities. Great facilities with restaurants and gyms. Lots of holidays and time off.
Competitive work place
Investigator, Office of Inspector General (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – July 10, 2018
There is a very competitive atmosphere at this organization. It is exciting to be at the leading edge of protecting the country, but make sure you actively manage your work/home life.
Productive
Was a certifying officer (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – June 7, 2018
It was a great work environment. The people were great. There were a lot of short deadlines. There were benefits like time in your day to exercise. With the short deadlines it could be stressful.
Pros
Gym
Cons
Stressful
Excellent Mission and People
Senior Staff PM (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – June 7, 2018
Excellent place to serve our country. Managing projects and people to corporate and mission expectations requires extreme attention to detail, commitment to collaboration (no working in a vacuum), and utmost integrity. Love the work, people and mission.
Pros
Mission focus
Cons
low pay
Productivity in a Challenging /environment
Special Skills Officer (Current Employee) – Washington D.C. – May 31, 2018
An excellent organization to work for. We are mission driven and operational objectives are often achieved through a variety of means. Workplace is fast paced and challenging also very rewarding. The work culture is collaborative and focus is on team work. The most enjoyable part of the job is the shared success of a well planned strategic operation. A typical day at work involves reading morning incoming messages, followed by daily briefings.
Pros
excellent and supportive management
Cons
work/life sometimes is difficult to balance to due ops tempo
Poor managers. Advancement not based on performance but longevity.
GOVERNMENT STAFF OFFICER (Former Employee) – Virginia – May 28, 2018
Poor culture. Not open to better business practices. Some managers should never be given responsibility. Bright young staff officers are not promoted early, but when "their time comes'. Just because the agency has done something the same way for decades doesn't mean it's right. Not open to changes and improvements.
Pros
Exciting job
Cons
Management/bureacracy
after 22 years it was time to go
Chief, Group in the Counterterrorism Center (Former Employee) – Langley VA – May 22, 2018
I did some great things there, and something I didn't support nor prefer. It was time to go. Which is whey I spoke to highly of doing business development for Knowledge systems and helping them grow.
Federal Work
Executive /Senior Secretary (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – April 22, 2018
Good benefits and pay eventually. Most jobs are in DC so more opportunities if you are willing to move back east. Screening process can be long depending if you need a clearance.
Had a great career at the CIA.
Administrative Assistant (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – April 22, 2018
Worked in many positions while at the CIA. Enjoyed each one of them. Mostly Admin positions. Would recommend any one to work there. One of my favorite places to work.
Pros
A great place to work.
Cons
None
Okay
Analyst (Current Employee) – McLean, VA – April 12, 2018
High cost of living area, moderate pay. Exciting work. Not enough time to focus on work, feels as if more time is spent on admin and non-work than actual work, and advancement is linked to pseudo-management type activities, not quality production.
I enjoyed working for the Agency (CIA) as an analyst and intelligence recruiter and computer operator.
Intelligence Analyst & Personnel Recruiter (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – April 4, 2018
During the time there, at CIA, minority advancements were slow, however, today, I'm sure the place is different in a new America.
CIA has some interesting jobs relating to National Security concerns.
CIA has some interesting jobs relating to National Security concerns.
Pros
Interesting work assignments and jobs
Cons
Diversity Issues
Great place to work
Division Manager (Former Employee) – Fairfax, VA – March 28, 2018
Can actually work on interesting matters of utmost importance to the USA. Your work can produce results that can actually end-up on the President's desk.
Pros
Interesting work
Cons
Many poor managers
Great place to work if you have the right boss
Plethora or job titles (Current Employee) – Plethora of locations – March 18, 2018
I always wanted to wrk at CIA, and I have greatly enjoyed my career. It's a chance to serve your country in amazing and extremely different ways. Just recognize that the average manager is horrible, and that you will not be fairly compensated.
Pros
Excellent chance to serve your country.
Cons
horrible management, bad pay, poor work/life balance, health risks
Beyond Fantastic.
Directorate & Mission Support, Polygraph Division (Former Employee) – Langley, VA – March 13, 2018
Great place to work and develop skills. All walks of life work there. Unique tasks are given for employees to work on. Very peculiar job tasks are given compared to the private sector.
Great Place to work!
Executive Secretary (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – March 12, 2018
Great Place to work! Nothing like you see on TV, but it is exciting to be part of the CIA. To be any part of this team is amazing, the long hours and manpower that goes into dedication, you can go on forever. Plus you can never bring work home with you.
Pros
Just being at HQ
Cia
Federal Police Officer (Former Employee) – Langley, VA – January 31, 2018
A good place to work but too political. Not the best place for a black male to make a mark. The work was challenging and there were opportunities to advance but those opportunities were reserved for personnel in the "pipeline". Personnel who had a network of mentors. No mentor? = No advancement past a certain level.
Intellectually stimulating and challenging work environment with the ability to help shape USG foreign and national security policy.
Branch Chief (Current Employee) – Washington, DC – January 24, 2018
Security considerations prevent a detailed review of the job. Overall, I enjoy analyzing complex foreign policy challenges and presenting my conclusions to senior USG policymakers.
Pros
Able to have real impact
Cons
Limited opportunities once you hit a certain level