As security concerns rise, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO, is conducting its largest-ever recruiting drive to raise its staff size.
The first stage to become an agent is a set of extremely challenging problems that anyone may attempt to answer if they’ve always seen yourself as an international man or woman of mystery.
However, ASIO has reminded potential recruits that the agency is not solely seeking for mathematical prodigies and not to be thrown off if they find any of the tasks to be simply too difficult.
‘Rather than applying for specific roles, applicants are applying to join the mission,’ a spokeswoman said..
People that advance to the interview round will be questioned about their backgrounds and potential areas of fit within the organization.
The representative told the Herald Sun, “Applicant will inform us about their abilities and experiences and we will help them discover their match.”
All of our teams—from finance and infrastructure to psychology and strategy—contribute to achieving our goal.
After a buddy was involved in a terrorist event overseas, Agent Ally (not her actual name) decided to join the covert organization.
That made her think about how she could help protect Australians, so she applied for an ASIO position and was successful.
‘It is not until you start that you find out what the job really is. But it is not as scary as it looks. It is really interesting and a cool place to work.’
Though her closest family members know what she does for a living, for the rest of the world she has a cover story.
‘It can be tricky at times, but you get a lot of guidance,’ Ally said.
She said there are occasional ‘double takes’ in corridors when people unexpectedly come across someone they know.
‘I ran into my old primary school teacher and neither of us knew the other one was working at ASIO,’ she said.
Ally said she is proud of the work ASIO does, including recently catching a foreign spy after starting with very little information, and stopping a terrorist attack.
ASIO’s website makes it clears you don’t have to imagine yourself as a James Bond-type character to want to work there.
‘A lot of people think ASIO employees are a bit like the spies you see in movies –wearing trench coats and dark glasses – but really, we’re regular people.
‘We have all kinds of backgrounds, from teachers, nurses and musicians to sports people, computer programmers and even fire fighters.’