Easy to find - agents are easier to recruit than experienced sales executives with specialist knowledge. He was then taken to another safe house where he was given an award: a Golden Distinguished Service Medal of the National Peoples Army (Verdienstmedaille der Nationalen Volksarmee). Utrecht University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. The case of M is illuminating because it allows for comparisons between the behaviour of three different secret services towards the same agent. He stood there and replied: "Have you ever thought of working for your country?" $63,000 per year on average, most insurance agents make between $48,000 and $83,000 per year. Ms Dutch handlers correctly interpreted this approach as a recruiting attempt by the Stasi, and encouraged him to respond favourably. Another downside of working as an insurance agent is that only few mistakes can damage your reputation and ruin your career. His shock was even greater because Wolfgang said this in English, in the precise wording M had used in his CIA debriefing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation: New Agent Training. It is also clear, however, that traumatic memories from that period continue to be a considerable burden to him. What does he accept? A career with the FBI can have a profound effect on family life. Even better, there is no real upper-income limit for real estate agents. No, they will approach you You are appreciated for your efforts, but [these services] remain a dark cloud that you cannot enter. When a problem arises, implementing a solution to that problem often takes time. But it is emotionally crushing for officers in the secret services and you can never really share that guilt with anybody. No customer will be like the other and youre learning each and every day. They told him he was in the Untersuchungshaftanstalt (pre-trial detention center) Berlin-Hohenschnhausen, a notorious site during the cold war under the control of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi). Casually use words like histrionics, viscosity, hegemony, and teleological.. I was recruited in that old fashioned way, but of course these days the service has a website and a recruitment team which goes round universities and run open evenings at various places. Instead, you can use your own common sense and your knowledge from your job to make the right decisions in this regard. Initially, Dutch security tasked him with infiltrating local extremist organisations, both on the left and right, that were part of international networks. When considering a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or other law enforcement agency, it is beneficial to understand the potential hazards and disadvantages that one may encounter on the job and throughout a career. Button spy camera on display at offices of East German secret Police (STASI) Museum in Berlin, Germany. Realtors can work independently. If the client wants a project done that you dont particularly care about, you still need to get it done. Joining the secret service is not just necessarily a young man's game. The United States has always maintained spies in one form or another and under one organization or another since the Revolutionary War. Consequently, insurance agents dont have a high social standing and you may also get many snarky comments when you tell people about your profession. Another benefit of working as an insurance agent is that you will also be able to work with many different clients. Listen to Eleni Braat and Ben de Jong talk about Ms life in an episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast. However, I will not take any responsibility for incorrect information and will not be liable for any negative consequences that might occur due to the reliance on this information. In 2005, he starred with Mike Baker of the CIA in the BBC2 series Spy and wrote the book accompanying the series: Spy A Handbook. A lot of agencies tend to overwork their creatives. Especially on days where you will not have client meetings, there will often not be the need to commute to the office. Border officials of the German Democratic Republic on the Berlin wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in 1980. A seed that would grow over the years to become an obsession. However, in 1981, they handed him over to the CIA because his spying activities had become too international for the national orbit of the Dutch security service. This can be problematic, especially if you just dont look trustworthy at all and are just not born with a sympathetic aura. Miksen has written a variety of technical and business articles throughout his writing career. Real estate agents have a combination of administrative, research and marketing duties. Wolfgang and Heinz entered the room unexpectedly and approached him in the most cordial manner: Congratulations! The operation, codenamed RACKETEER by the CIA, used the Personality Assessment System designed by the agencys former star psychologist John Gittinger. The job of a spy can be very lonely. Agencies pay creatives on average $40,000 to $60,000, which is more than most freelancers earn. Many other people dont have this luxury and will have to work during the evenings. Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo, in an episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship, Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literature. In turn, if you have contact with those people, you may be able to switch fields in case you are no longer interested in working as an insurance agent. Everything has to go through a process, the likes of which can be lengthy. Rather poor since you may have to sell products you dont believe in. That career would go on to provide excellent cover for his clandestine work, as it involved a lot of international travel. The full names of Wolfgang and Heinz also appear in publications by the Stasi archives in Berlin, and a man said to be Koch even appears in a photograph in a book on the history of the Stasi. Indeed, she told us she could see for herself how M was always completely exhausted when he came back home from these meetings, having spent several days in the company of Wolfgang and Heinz. On several occasions, M discussed the possibility that someone like Aldrich Ames, a notorious KGB mole inside the CIA between 1985 and 1994, was responsible for betraying him. The CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia, features a memorial wall with 103 stars, each denoting an employee who died in the line of service. This story is part of Conversation Insights None other than Markus Wolf, the legendary chief of the HVA (dubbed The Man Without a Face) officially handed him the medal. Most importantly, recent correspondence between M and the Dutch AIVD about access to his file shows that he had been their agent. Series one of US crime thriller The Blacklist is available on Blu-ray and DVD now. Is It Easy for a Woman to Become an FBI Agent? Subscribe to our newsletter. Situations such as trying to extract an organized crime ringleader from a house or attempting to rescue a kidnapped child put you in volatile positions that could leave you injured or even dead. Might get to have a cool job like doctor/astronaut/CIA agent. Disadvantages of using commercial agents. Feel superior to others. This makes the job challenging for the creative and the account manager. 3. Now advances in technology mean maintaining people's covers has become a specialist area and it is a much more sophisticated operation. People talk to each other on a regular basis and if someone tells his or her friends about your mistakes, those people will be less eager to buy insurance products from you. The idea is that you get as many reasonably intelligent and varied men and women into the job as possible. To get more content and advice like this direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly update and careers ebook. (Source: PayScale). When improvements can be made, they take time. The CIA was instructing M in techniques the Americans used to recruit KGB intelligence officers who might know about penetrations inside the US intelligence community. Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money. Salary. In fact, good insurance products are crucial so that people are covered in case of emergency. His obsessive interest in spies, agents and treason is striking. Since you will have free weekends, holidays and also work standard workweeks without having to work many extra hours, most insurance agents also report a pretty good work-life balance in general. You have to find the resilience to get through those periods. Insurance agents consult and sell insurance products to their clients and make sure that they are covered in case of emergency. This treatment is still ongoing. Yet M said he felt strangely reassured because these accusations were not specific they were meant to provoke him. Wolf had arrived at the safe house in a Volvo, the favourite car of high officials in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), escorted by motors at the front and rear. Thus, if you want to make really good money, you should become a doctor or lawyer instead. The CIA instructed M to observe the behaviour of Wolfgang and Heinz because the Stasi and KGB collaborated closely. I was a double agent after all, I was also a traitor. In most cases, a CIA field agent operating clandestinely is a spy and subject to detention, arrest and even harsh punishment when captured by an unfriendly nation. Instead, they have to work outdoors even during periods of rain and snow and this can be quite annoying. He asked for their assistance in getting treatment from an agency with experience in treating the emotional burdens of a long-time double agent. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, I knew the job wasnt going to be James Bond but I was curious to know more. This is for a number of reasons it improves your value judgment and it helps your cover because you have obviously done something before. Insurance agents have a low social status, Insurance agents can help their loved ones, You will not get rich as an insurance agent. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has its roots in World War II's Office of Strategic Services, according to National Archives. Clearly, M felt a strong ideological commitment to the west and had no moral qualms about betraying the Stasi. For instance, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics' 2019 report put the median annual income for travel agents at $44,410. For example, if I wanted to find out about Iranian nuclear production tomorrow I couldn't wander into a facility in that country, no matter how good my cover was. Officers may have to adjust to changes in the government policies and and funding. The Hohenschnhausen Memorial in Berlin, a former Stasi prison. Additionally, an FBI agent's family may be placed in harm's way if a criminal or terrorist decides to target the agent personally. No matter the position, when you are working at CIA you are contributing to the work of a nation at the center of intelligence. What other pros and cons do you see? Bedford Street Decent since good insurance agents are needed right now. According to M, only treason within the CIA could explain it that a mole within the American intelligence service had betrayed him as a double agent to the Soviet KGB. It contributed, in his view, to his ensuing depression and nervous breakdown in the early 1990s for which he would receive psychiatric treatment. Ms meetings with them often took place in East Berlin, and sometimes in other venues in the Eastern Bloc such as Bulgaria or Yugoslavia. Disadvantages of being an Insurance Agent Stress and pressure to sell. New publications on the Stasi and the HVA started coming out in large numbers after the collapse of the GDR. Due to the nature of the work, and the general high-stress that goes with being in law enforcement, FBI agents may experience stress-related health issues such as depression, anxiety, heart problems, digestive problems, chronic pain, sleep difficulties and poor nutrition. That does grind people down over time. You will also be able to build a strong network as an insurance agent. Intelligence collector 3. It concerned his transfer to the CIA in 1981. Insurance companies may also set pretty ambitious goals for you which you have to meet. Others are known for their competitive kickball teams. Sure, not all insurance products make sense and whether one kind of insurance is suitable for you also depends on your individual circumstances. As you can see from the previous discussion, there are many advantages and disadvantages to working as an insurance agent. Bedford Square The Top 100 Advertising Blogs and their Best Posts. I have to assume you mean is there a Disadvantage to being an Military Intelligence Servicemember as opposed to being in the Intelligence business as a civilian. As an employee, the client needs to be your number one concern as well. Now that weve covered the downsides, we can start talking about the various advantageous of working at a creative agency. Until then I was engaged in all kinds of geopolitical developments, I was right on top of them. Common areas of investigation include computer hacking, finance and accounting fraud, illegal gambling, terrorism and human trafficking. [The separation from my handlers] was really a turning point. Harry Ferguson is a former MI6 intelligence officer and was an undercover agent for the National Investigation Service (NIS). Creative agencies are not for everybody. In the end, with a bit of luck, M managed to find help at an institution that specialises in the treatment of war veterans. Consequently, if the message spreads that you sell dodgy insurance policies, you may no longer be able to work in this field and may have to go for another career path instead, even though your intention might have been good. In the long run, you may become pretty bored with what you are doing and many insurance agents secretly wish to work in a different field instead. This information can help you make a fairly well-informed decision about applying to the FBI. $53,000 per year on average, most travel agents make between $45,000 and $68,000 per year. He told us: The BVD abandoned me completely after all those years that I had risked my life This document came to play a role in his dealings with the Dutch service after his spying career had ended. Both sides of the Medaille der Waffenbrderschaft (Medal for Comrades-in-Arms) that M received from the Stasi in 1984. Ability to think yourself out of jams. When it comes to insurance, many people out there also dont have any idea whats important and what they have to pay attention to. Since you will be able to make decent money as an insurance agent, you will also be able to save and invest some money and this may protect you from old-age poverty and the related unpleasant consequences. If you are producing an easily recognisable product or service for a local market then there may be little point in appointing an agent. The CIA accepts only qualified candidates, and college degrees and foreign language skills are preferred. His former CIA handler (who M managed to get back in touch with in recent years) advised him in an email: Let it go, man, let it go. But this was clearly to no avail. There is no "spy type" that secret service recruiters look for. Your typical day will vary from agency to agency. To be a successful operations officer in the CIA, you must always be able to deal with fast-moving, ambiguous and unstructured situations. There will be a certain level of stress and pressure to sell that comes with the job. Due to the mass number of projects, account managers need to communicate the needs of the client to the creative. They look for independent, self-driven people, who do not fit into a particular pigeonhole. Although working for a government agency such as the FBI can provide many benefits, there may be some disadvantages. Keeping together such a large and complex system requires an equally complex set of rules, regulations and red tape. CIA field agents may operate in large cities and small towns or out in harsh countryside or rural environments. He currently owns and operates a vending business. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. You could get called out anywhere and your target could be anyone. While it can be lonely, you arent always in danger and a lot of the work is mundane former intelligence officer, Harry Ferguson, on a career in the secret service. 1. Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Travel agents sell flights, stays and trips to their clients and make sure that they plan their vacations the best way possible. When he became engaged to his future wife, M confided during an intimate dinner at a restaurant that he was working as an agent against the Stasi. You are ordered to undress completely. This flexibility gives agents the opportunity to fit work around their lives easier than other professionals. But you have to balance that out with the buzz of working in the secret world. Whether your goal is to become a senior creative director or become an agency executive, you have potential for great advancement. Located in Pittsburgh, Chris Miksen has been writing instructional articles on a wide range of topics for online publications since 2007. Knowing someone else was imprisoned, tortured or killed because you didn't do your job properly is a terrible burden. One advantage of working as an insurance agent is that you can make pretty good money if you know what you are doing and if you are willing to work hard. Real estate agents decide how many clients they take on, which means they are in charge of how much they can make per year. In the winter of 1967-68, during an internship in Israel that was part of his studies, a somewhat older German-speaking man introducing himself as Gerber approached M and invited him for dinner. Not everybody can handle this. As an insurance agent, you may also be able to work from home. Potential approaches of KGB officers were preceded by psychological assessments that could estimate their willingness to collaborate. We checked and cross-referenced his account and our research has been peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. Creative agencies are known for providing social environments for their creatives to thrive in. However, if you are a rather extroverted personality with strong selling skills, chances are that you will find your dream job as an insurance agent since you can combine your passion for selling with your outgoing character and this combination will often lead to significant success in this field. While M spoke eagerly of the excitement and disillusionment he felt as a result of his spying career, he initially was reluctant to talk about this traumatising mock arrest. CIA operations officers belong to the agency's clandestine service, which the CIA bills as "the ultimate international career." This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. What are your experiences? Some people may shrug these types of experiences off and go on without missing a beat. If you ever get a client you cant handle, or you hit a creative block, your colleagues have your back. This is not how they should treat people that have worked for them for so many years. At a meeting in East Berlin shortly after his marriage, Wolfgang and Heinz asked M if he would appreciate a Frauenbesuch (a female visitor) on a particular evening. This is a disadvantage that doesn't affect everyone equally. M was supplied with a number of fake passports to carry out his undercover work. M worked for the Dutch service for many years and subsequently for the CIA. There are six separate categories of CIA clandestine service officer in addition to field operations officers, and all work as covert or undercover operatives. The Pay Scale of a Veterans Service Officer. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, LLC. At an agency you might get the feeling like youre just a number. Working in an advertising agency comes with lot of advantages and disadvantages. Yet, the majority of insurance agents will have a rather relaxed life and becoming an insurance agent will therefore also be great for you in case leisure is pretty important to you. Changes are high youll find the perfect match. If you like quick organizational change and seeing your ideas rapidly turn into action, you may be unhappy working for the FBI. When you start off as a young recruit, you think, 'Fine, that suits me.' The Career Bliss website says the average salary for CIA special agents is $61,000 annually. It can be hard to receive recognition when the Account Manager, or the Executive Team, is taking credit for the sleepless nights that you sacrificed. Let's assume that you are based in your home capital. As an insurance agent, your level of success will also significantly depend on your trustworthiness. In some cases, using an agent can be a cost-effective way to test a new market. FBI agents are well trained and carry firearms, but they are also put in harm's way whenever they are investigating crimes. As an insurance agent, you can rather work in a cozy office where you will even have air conditioning or heating to make your time at work as convenient as possible. In 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency was officially established, and the CIA in large part has since carried out the nation's foreign clandestine services activities. After all, I went behind the Iron Curtain for them on many occasions. Such meetings are called brush passes in spy-speak. Creative agencies offer relatively safe jobs. All that has changed since the 1990s. Its important to underline just how rare it is for a former secret service agent to open up and talk on the record about their experiences. Stick with me since I will show you all the pros and cons of being an insurance agent so that you can better decide whether you still want to work in this field or if you want to go for other career options instead. But suddenly, in 1988, Ms relationship with Wolfgang and Heinz cooled. Many people also mistrust insurance agents since they have made bad experiences with them in the past. We shook hands, M told us. Resource analyst 9. Whether using commercial agents can help you develop your business often depends on the nature of your product or service and where you want to sell. More and more now, the secret service looks at people who have established themselves in other careers and are looking for a change. While you may take this for granted, there are still many people out there who are not able to enjoy the luxury of working indoors. As a creative in an advertising agency, you are expected to come up with great ideas on a regular base. One problem with being an insurance agent is that you will often have to sell insurance products you actually dont believe in.

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