Despite the state of the economy, some employers are still hiring. In fact one organization is so keen to recruit that it recently sent out a mass e-mail asking people to consider a career with them.
That organization is the CIA – yup, the place U.S.'s spies come from. Eve Tahmincioglu, looks at this interesting career-change option in her MSNBC.com column.
According to Tahmincioglu, "The CIA was plagued with low morale after failing to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and then providing crummy intelligence that led to the Iraq War. But the agency has seen a bit of a bounce back in its reputation recently despite a report questioning its interrogation techniques. People seem to be clamoring to join. Last year, the agency received 120,000 job applications online and expects a 40 percent to 50 percent increase this year."
Right now, the agency has openings in over 90 different "occupations" ranging from psychologist to being a software engineer. While this idea probably fills most job-seekers with images of spies in long trench coats and fedoras, most jobs are your standard office gigs. At the same time, even those jobs can require viewing and handling top secret information.
So, if you do decide to check out the jobs available at the CIA, be prepared to not be able to reveal your job, to hide your real, name or to be unable to talk about what you did at work all day - even to your spouse.
Still, it's nice to know that someone out there is hiring, even if your own company is looking to cut more jobs.