Special agents may conduct surveillance, monitor court-authorized wiretaps, examine business records, investigate white-collar crime, track the movement of stolen property, collect evidence of espionage activities, and participate in undercover assignments.

The FBI investigates everything from organized crime, public corruption, financial crime, fraud against the government, and bribery, to copyright infringement, civil rights violations, bank robbery, extortion, kidnapping, air piracy, terrorism, espionage, interstate criminal activity, drug trafficking, and other violations of federal statutes.

If you want to be an FBI agent, you must have a bachelor’s degree and at least three years of related full-time work experience.

Experience in law, law enforcement or the military will help if you’re interested in working for the law enforcement branch of the FBI. If you’re interested in working for the FBI regarding matters related to financial crime or fraud, then experience in the financial field is necessary.

Candidates must successfully complete a written and oral examination, medical and physical examinations, a psychological assessment, and an exhaustive background investigation. Also, candidates must be between 23 and 36 years of age at the time of appointment.

The FBI looks for candidates who have a criminal justice degree (bachelor’s or master’s), or a degree in one of the following areas: engineering/science, accounting/finance or foreign languages. Currently the FBI is only accepting applications for candidates who have one or more of the following skills:

• Fluent in a Foreign Language (Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu, Urdu, Chinese [all dialects], Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese)
• Accounting/Finance experience (Accounting/Finance Degree/CPA/or at least two years of related work experience)
• Engineering experience
• Computer Science experience or other IT specialties
• Physical Science experience (such as physics, chemistry or biology)
• Law experience
• Law Enforcement or other investigative experience
• Military experience

First you’ll need to earn your bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in your specialty area. Then you’ll need 2-to-3 years of work experience. Many FBI agents also have a law degree (JD). After you’ve been accepted by the agency, you’ll train at the FBI academy on the US Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia for 17 weeks.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, experienced FBI supervisory, management, and executive positions pay a base salary of about $89,000 a year, and $111,000 with overtime.