Courses To Study To Join ASIS

Fixie God

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Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm in Yr 12 at school and when I leave and go to Uni - hopefully - I have my sights set on joining ASIS as an Intelligence Officer aka Spy. Cheesy I know. I've had a chat to some teachers and they dont really know what courses at Uni are going to help my chances of getting in.

At school I study Psychology, Biology, Social Justice, Extended English and Media. I was thinking that Psychology would help me out and possibly another langauge at some point, but other than that I have no idea.

Seeing as this is a broad community, you guys got any ideas on what courses I should be looking at??
 

mattSTI02

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International relations degrees are good or universities such as Murdock are offering Intelligence and counter terrorism degrees which should interest you. Languages are good especially anything in Asia such as Indo or mandarin. Good luck dude im sure they would look at a wide variety of graduates..
 

jimmy-dh

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ASIO is another one you should consider, these kinds of corporations will only hire you based on their vacancies so check their carrer vacancy boards. Also if you are super keen the Australian SAS would be a good one!
 

Fixie God

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Thanks for the advice guys.

ASIO did pass my mind but they are only deal with domestic issues. I was looking for a post overseas or something of the sort.

International relations or even international policitics sound like good ones. Might mix it with Psych or a language, you never know.

The SAS, Spec Ops path was really appealing and is definetly an option at this point, as I'm trying to figure out what kinda scores I need as well.
 

jimmy-dh

Likes Dirt
Thanks for the advice guys.

ASIO did pass my mind but they are only deal with domestic issues. I was looking for a post overseas or something of the sort.

International relations or even international policitics sound like good ones. Might mix it with Psych or a language, you never know.

The SAS, Spec Ops path was really appealing and is definetly an option at this point, as I'm trying to figure out what kinda scores I need as well.
Hmm I was sure that ASIO was also international intelll.....never mind.

Well for the military option the fitness stuff will be very rough but academically you only need to have passed english and maths at year 9 level.
 

Fixie God

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Also the reasoning behind this career path, in case you were wondering, is we were studying personalities in Psychology and it turns out I kinda a perfect match for the job.

In short I'm a cold-hearted, senseless son of a bitch. I'm hard to read and very good at hiding emotions, while at the same time I can turn it on for whoever I like.

This kinda reassured me I should really give this a go, hence asking for advice about how to get there.
 

Fixie God

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Hmm I was sure that ASIO was also international intelll.....never mind.

Well for the military option the fitness stuff will be very rough but academically you only need to have passed english and maths at year 9 level.
ASIO might not be strictly domestic but it is what they are known for from what I've read.

I have a cousin in the SAS (dont tell anyone) and he said they give you a hard time in training at first, but it gets easier as you progress. Until you try to get into the SAS. Then you get the shit fvcked out of you.
 

dcrofty

Eats Squid
http://www.asis.gov.au/careers.html

You'd think that they'd hide that info as part of the selection process :)

Have a look at some of the jobs requirements to see what kind of things they require.

otherwise, from the same website

To succeed as an Intelligence Officer, you will need to demonstrate:

superior interpersonal and liaison skills in order to build strong relationships with people;
personal presence and impact, with a proven ability to interact effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds;
excellent written communication skills;
high levels of maturity and self-management skills, with excellent judgment and the ability to assess risks;
resilience and self-motivation, with a determination to achieve results in difficult and high-pressure environments; and
the highest levels of personal integrity and professionalism, which ASIS will continue to support through comprehensive training and development programs.
Candidates also require one, or a combination of, the following to be eligible to apply for the Intelligence Officer role:

a minimum three-year university degree;
currently undertaking tertiary studies and able to demonstrate sustained progress;
significant relevant work experience with/without tertiary or equivalent studies; and/or
overseas, in-country experience.
Some common misconceptions

You need to be single to be an Intelligence Officer – this is not true. ASIS supports family-friendly policies. For operational reasons, there are some short-term work opportunities overseas where it is not appropriate to be accompanied by your family. Generally, however, you will be supported to take your family and/or partner with you overseas.
Most Intelligence Officers are male – incorrect. ASIS recruitment policy is based on the qualities and personal attributes of the applicant. We do not select individuals based on their gender.
You must speak a foreign language – this is not correct. Although it is beneficial, you will not be disadvantaged if you do not speak a foreign language. Language training is provided for officers working in positions where language proficiency is necessary to achieve your work objectives.
 
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Fixie God

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Cheers for the comments. I have a better idea now I think of what I should be aiming for.

Even with the shitstorm in the other threads, good old Farkin is still good.
 

Cypher

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Ah, you may be a little disappointed, but they (the various shadowy intelligence agencies) tell you not to tell anyone that you are applying for a job with them.

Discretion is a characteristic they are looking for - not what degree you have. You may be cold and heartless, but you certainly haven't shown that you can actually find out stuff for yourself, on the quiet. That's the skill they want.

Now you have told everyone on a public forum. Duh! And they do look. At everything.
 

Arete

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Also the reasoning behind this career path, in case you were wondering, is we were studying personalities in Psychology and it turns out I kinda a perfect match for the job.
So, the sole reasoning is because of the high school career choice test... choose better career path choosing techniques - like things you actually like.

In short I'm a cold-hearted, senseless son of a bitch. I'm hard to read and very good at hiding emotions, while at the same time I can turn it on for whoever I like.
Hmm I don't think that ASIS, ASIO or ay other inelligence agency is looking for people with BPD. Nor is being an intelligence officer anything like a 007 movie - you don't infiltrate the Kremlin to spy on the Communists these days.

I've done a little bit of consulting work that brought me into contact with intel officers from various government agencies. I worked with people that had various degrees in all sorts of things, and some work experience in said field. QC biologists, IT guys, etc. We were developing some in feld genetic testing gear for AQUIS that another agency was vaugely interested in, so most of the people I spoke to had a cursory understanding of some science.

The one thing they all had in common is an amazing propensity to invest maximum concentration into a skull crushingly boring task - think sifting through days of CCTV footage, or recovering every last file off a deleted hard drive - going through a year's worth of someone's inane emails, etc and so on.


I'd say persue a field that may be relevant (computers would be a great one if that sort of thing tickles your fancy) and when you've got the degree, and a couple of years working, hit them up if you're still keen.
 

niftydog

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ASIO, DSD and all those places are constantly advertising graduate intakes and seem to be always churning through analysts. Get yourself over the the public service gazette and look them up - the job adds will often tell you exactly what fields they are recruiting in at any given time and what qualifications they're seeking.

Browse their various websites, particularly the recruitment sections and read the info there. Read the enterprise bargaining agreements or certified agreements etc etc. If you're really serious about this, ring one of the contact officers and ask them for some advice. From what I know there's a lot of shit-kicking that goes on before you get anywhere near the exciting stuff, so be prepared to be a dog's body for a few years once you're in.
 

Nabdaddy

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Yes ASIO is domestic, mostly. Their officers DO NOT carry firearms. ASIS is international and their officers DO carry firearms.

You just need to have a degree, this is mostly to prove to them that you are capable of concentrating on something for a set period of time, rather than the actual qualifications themselves. Hence why they don't state any degrees which are needed.

If you were looking at ASIS, then you will most definitely NEED to have another language up your sleeve. Often the main roles ASIS officers/agents have which are posted overseas are at embassies or the like undertaking another job within the specific organisation as a cover for what they are actually doing/spying on.

I suggest doing Social Science or something along those lines, to get your skills up on report writing and critical analysing. This is what this course teaches you.

And as for telling people you are applying to join them, this is a no no. You can tell people you are thinking about going along that career path, but once you have applied there is no more to be said to anyone on the subject.

You can't actually apply to them until you have done a course anyway i am fairly sure.
 

Fixie God

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I think I may have given the wrong impression here.....

I havent based this decision purely on a personality test and I do know the do's and don'ts of the job. I also realise what the job involves, I never thought it would be like James Bond.

I have actually done alot of reading on the subject and what I need to do, so I have an idea of whats going on. I came on here with a question to see if anyone else had a better idea or some more suggestions I hadnt thought of yet.

Oh, and I do actually want to do this, I have this set in my mind for a long time, so you needn't question my career choosing techniques.

I'm not actually applying Einstein, read the OP.......some people actually blow me away with their stupidity??
 

Ivan

Eats Squid
Out of personal interest Fixie God, what did ASIS recommend you do at Uni when you called the recruitment line?
 

S.

ex offender
I'm not actually applying Einstein, read the OP.......some people actually blow me away with their stupidity??
What Cypher said was 100% correct - do you really think an INTELLIGENCE AGENCY is not gonna find this post and any links to your identity when they run any background checks on you? Seriously man, I'm pretty sure that even I could find out who you are within a couple of hours of doing nothing more than internet research. You've more than likely already demonstrated that you're NOT the man for the job simply by showing a lack of discretion, lack of initiative and an inability to find out basic information on your own. Judging your personality based on high school psychology self-assessments is seriously just a waste of your time, forget that shit entirely.

Don't take this post as a personal attack mate, but there is no room for ego if you're weighing up entering that field of work, hence why myself and others might sound like we're being pretty harsh.
 
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