That holds true for many other areas across the country, and with many other languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. You can’t develop sources, gather evidence, or perform many of an agent’s basic tasks,” says Gulotta. “You can’t do a thorough investigation in many U.S. “The FBI is probably one of the largest consumers of Spanish in the government.” In addition to foreign bureaus in Spanish-speaking countries, the FBI needs Spanish speakers to conduct its regular business in many cities within the United States. Of those, Spanish is always in demand,” says Gulotta. “We routinely deal with over 100 languages. The FBI has offices all over the world, so the agency needs proficiency in every major language. They may also be called upon to do verbatim translations and testify if a case in which they are involved goes to court. Gulotta describes the position as “every kind of foreign language job rolled into one.” Linguists develop reports on the material they analyze that are then accessed by agents across the country with the need to know this information. A linguist’s day-to-day work might include interpretation, translation, monitoring and summarizing audio material, analysis and serving as a subject matter expert on cultural issues. Language skills may factor into where a new hire is placed. Every applicant must take a comprehensive language test battery to qualify. Linguists are hired through the FBI’s field offices and then placed around the country. Our linguists are the foreign language and cultural experts for the Bureau,” she says. “We call them language analysts because they do a significant amount of language and cultural analysis in addition to translation and interpretation. She explains that FBI linguists are not simply translators. We hire people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond,” says Gulotta. While there is an age cutoff for agents, you can become a linguist at any age. “Becoming a linguist is a wonderful second career. The agency regularly recruits at the ACTFL Annual Convention. The FBI hired approximately 175 language analysts and contract linguists last year, many of whom are former language teachers. When hiring special agents, the FBI considers foreign language proficiency a critical skill, just like accounting, computer science, engineering, and intelligence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Security Agency (NSA) all hire hundreds of foreign language professionals each year to work as agents, linguists, and language analysts.Ĭareers in Government Federal Bureau of Investigation “Studying a foreign language can open up so many doors in the intelligence community and law enforcement field,” says Margaret Gulotta, chief of the Language Services Section for the FBI. In fact, national security is a fast-growing and exciting career area for those with strong foreign language skills, offering a wide variety of opportunities that stretch beyond translation and interpretation. Department of Defense-a fact that might surprise many people. The largest employer for language professionals in this country is the U.S.
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