Advice for college student on an 1811 position

[Dan P.]

Gentlemen:

I am a recent college graduate with a BS in Accounting and I'll be heading to graduate school in the fall to earn an MS in Forensic Accounting.

I chose Forensic Accounting because of the investigative nature of the work, and because I thought it would be a better skill set than what is offered in a Criminal Justice program. My goal is to become a federal agent, and I am not particularly picky when it comes to agencies but DEA, FBI, ICE, NCIS, ATF, and USMS all come to mind and I'm confident I'd be happy at any of them.

I've read countless times that prior LE experience is always helpful and that most federal agents were local/state LE first. What I would like to know is if it would be better to finish graduate school next year and work in an accounting firm doing audits/assurance services relating to my degrees or if my time would be better spent on patrol with a local agency for a few years.

Also, is there at least a remote possibility of getting picked up next year out of graduate school if there happens to be any agencies hiring?

If you were fresh out of grad school with an MS Forensic Accounting degree and wanted to work as a federal agent, what would you do to maximize your chances of getting hired?

Thank you in advance for your time and suggestions.

Respectfully,
Dan P.

[Citicop]

I would spend 4 years in the military, and learn to speak Chinese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic or Russian.



Seriously, military service and one of those foreign languages are going to be 2 big pluses when you apply.

-Citicop.

[Kimble]

I've read countless times that prior LE experience is always helpful and that most federal agents were local/state LE first. What I would like to know is if it would be better to finish graduate school next year and work in an accounting firm doing audits/assurance services relating to my degrees or if my time would be better spent on patrol with a local agency for a few years.

If you're single and have no family obligations you could do both, depending on your location. I worked in the private sector for a few years and also worked part-time as a reserve deputy sheriff. Reserves in my home state get the same academy training as full-time LEOs and perform the same patrol duties as full-time officers (they are just unpaid volunteers who do the job on a part-time basis where it fits into their regular schedule). I typically did 1-2 night shifts every weekend (even convinced me that local LE was a great fit for me, and I resigned from my job after being a reserve for 2 years to go full-time with a local PD). I am a 1811 with one of the agencies you named above, and definitely found my experience as a reserve to be beneficial towards my 1811 pursuit (my agency during the interviews liked I had management experience in the private sector coupled with some practical street-level LE experience). Every state is different though, some have reserve programs that are not sworn LEOs with equivalent training to full-time officers/deputies, so you'd need to do some research on your state and local departments to see if opportunities are available where you are.

Also, is there at least a remote possibility of getting picked up next year out of graduate school if there happens to be any agencies hiring?

Sure, but exactly how remote or if your chances are better than remote is anyone's guess. Only way to guarantee not landing a job you qualify for is not applying.

If you were fresh out of grad school with an MS Forensic Accounting degree and wanted to work as a federal agent, what would you do to maximize your chances of getting hired?

While Citicop makes a point about military experience and foreign languages, the fact of the matter is more 1811 agencies are involved in fraud investigations than anything else. Several agencies like FBI, ICE, US Postal Inspection Service, NCIS and others do a variety of investigative missions (and some like ATF, US Marshals and DEA primarily focus on street-level crimes), but just about every agency has a fraud mission, and Office of Inspector General agencies almost always have a primary or sole mission of fraud investigation. I think the path you're setting yourself on will allow you to have skills and credentials that will be very marketable (especially if you further pursue CPA or CFE certifications). If you were to couple that with some practical street-level LE experience (like I advised above) you would likely be a stand-out candidate. Hell, you might even end up like me after being a reserve and decide local LE is the place you could happily retire from if a 1811 offer never comes your way.

[Citicop]

Kimble-

I knew that a.) you would have more detailed info about this stuff than me and b.) that he was on a good path now already. I just knew that if he was looking to make himself even MORE attractive that military service and a foreign language would be two really good choices to do so.



-Citicop.

[Joeyd6]

He has his own TV show...he has all the info!

Get a job...work on your grad degree....and start applying...and keep applying. If you can work as a reserve somewhere volunteering, it will help.

[Dan P.]

Citicop, Kimble, and Joeyd:

Thank you for your advice and suggestions. I had not considered becoming a reserve police officer or deputy sheriff, but it sounds like an excellent way to exercise accounting career experience and gain some useful street-level experience simultaneously. I'll do some reading and searching and find out which departments offer these positions.

I'm also glad to hear fraud investigations are still a big deal for several different agencies. I do plan on earning CPA, CFE, and other professional credentials until my app looks appealing enough to get hired.

Again, thank you for your time and consideration.

[MikeG]

Not a leo, but a while back the FBI only hired accountants and lawyers. "Accountant" is still a critical skill. I suspect the old school FBI guys prefer accountants and lawyers. All those agencies seem to have varied tasks. If you are planning on doing forensic accounting as part of you career, you probably need to narrow the list a bit to those that value and use that skill extensively. I suspect that from some agencies, "accounting degree" is just a checkbox on the app under "College Degrees", for others it's a coveted skill worth more than just a degree.

If it were me, I'd focus on getting a CPA professional license and then applying at the places that would value that. A while back, that's what the FBI wanted agents to do before they were eligible (work at big 8 accounting firm out of college until they turned 23 and get CPA. Getting acquainted with real world finance was important to them then) . OIG and IRS would probably make the list and any other 1811 org charged with investigating fraud if you want to do accounting. just my 0.02.

If you want to be Tacticool Secret Squirrel, like Greg, you probably want military and language in addition to a degree. I don't know about fed government LE, jobs but private sector employers have "New College Graduate" hiring programs. They hire regardless of freezes because it's considered strategic to tap the cream of graduates. Not sure what local LE or military will do to that status if it exists.

Good luck. Not a leo and just my 0.02.

[Kimble]

I'm also glad to hear fraud investigations are still a big deal for several different agencies. I do plan on earning CPA, CFE, and other professional credentials until my app looks appealing enough to get hired.

Agencies across the federal government are pinching pennies after budget cuts, and some are dealing with an influx of additional tax dollars due to funds from the stimulus programs/TARP and healthcare overhaul. With drastic changes in budgets (whether a drastic increase or decrease), fraud will and does occur. With reduced budgets you have a stronger focus on fraud to find areas where money is going out the back door. With increased budgets you have a stronger focus on fraud because sometimes there's more money available than there are controls to ensure it's being used appropriately and legally. Even after our nation climbs out of this recession you'll still have a significant (if not majority) of federal criminal investigations having some sort of nexus to economic criminal activity (even DEA was recruiting accountants recently to go after the money trail of drug cartels/organized crime involved in money laundering).

The need for fraud investigations in the federal government isn't going away, at least not until Skynet become self aware and takes over.

[Dan P.]

Kimble:

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]I do not anticipate Skynet becoming self-aware in the near future. But with some strategic budget cuts I'm confident that we can cut it off from its economic support before it grows too powerful.[/COLOR]

With regard to Mike's comments, would a person's background cause any sort of assignment limitations after being hired? Based on your experience, do the CPA and JD agents only work certain kinds of cases or is there variety regardless of your background? Would an agent who was a CPA be asked to work on cases not relating to fraud or money laundering?

[Joeyd6]

At my agency (an OIG), we have lawyers and CPA's and every other thing except MD's. We all work everything. Luck of the draw.

I will say this, if you have masters and working on a CPA, forget about the CFE. Its not needed and not going to help with the hiring. Start applying now and keep applying.

[MikeG]

With regard to Mike's comments, would a person's background cause any sort of assignment limitations after being hired? Based on your experience, do the CPA and JD agents only work certain kinds of cases or is there variety regardless of your background? Would an agent who was a CPA be asked to work on cases not relating to fraud or money laundering?

I can't talk at all to policy or assignments. Anecdotically, I know of an FBI agent hired 25 years ago at age 23 with a Accounting degree and CPA only did it to get in. I don't think he ever did anything related to accounting ever again. His goal was to be FBI agent and that was the fastest way back then. He is still a FBI SA. I don't think his cases are matched to his background except for some very unique skillsets he obtained as an agent. Nothing related to accounting.

[Dan P.]

I was hoping to not be bound strictly to accounting and fraud, should I be fortunate enough to land myself an 1811 position.

I've been hopping around several different agency websites, and it appears none are accepting applications at the moment. Guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I see the USMS are in the process of developing a competitive civil service exam with the OPM. I'll call the District Recruiting Officer on Monday and see if he or she can tell me anything about an approximate date when such an exam will be available for applicants. In the mean time, I'll be watching usajobs.gov like a hawk.

This brings up another question. There is a satellite office near where I live; very small and probably only one or two agents. Would I appear out of line if I stopped in to ask some questions and build some rapport? Just a thought, I don't know any federal agents personally.

Thanks again for the comments.

[1depd]

Often with the feds the guys in the local office don't really get involved with hiring too much. My office director didn't even know I was coming until I called to find out the report time. I think stopping in your local office to find out more information and things you could do to make yourself a better candidate would be a good idea, but don't expect it to directly improve you chances like going to a local agency and talking with the chief.

[Joeyd6]

If you don't want to do "fraud" and "accounting," your choices are slim for 1811's. If you want to kick in some doors and get a taste of that, go uniform first. Then go to the 1811 world. Many of us did that and quite frankly, I think it helps out a lot.

If you want an 1811 job right out of the gate, I think you should come up with a list of things you want to do or would like to do, and things you have no interest in (make an arrest every week vs. do protective work vs. reviewing numbers, etc...) Do you want to travel? How often? International or just in the US? Once you have your list, we can help you narrow down what agencies mission meet your desires. This makes for a much happier you in the long run.

[Dan P.]

Joeyd:

I am most interested in making arrests, kicking in doors, working with CI's and being proactive and out of the office for at least part of the day.

My gut tells me DEA, ICE, USMS and ATF would fit this kind of profile. A few years ago I read that the DEA was actively recruiting people with Accounting backgrounds, which is essentially why I've stuck with Accounting since my sophomore year. I was hoping, however, that I wouldn't be just the guy riding a desk, but the the agent who can ride the desk for part of the investigation but be out and about with the group or task force for the rest.

I'll do fraud investigations too, as going after white collar criminals is also appealing, but going out and meeting with CI's, watching suspects and then cuffing them is most appealing. If I get to do those things while investigating fraud, then great.

All day paperwork and number crunching is not something that excites me. I'll number crunch but I don't want to do it exclusively.

I would like to travel, both in the US and abroad. I'd be happy to travel to the Middle East or any other hot spots, wherever I'm needed.

Unfortunately, a weakness of mine is that I'm a fluent English speaker only. I can make myself understood in Spanish, but have difficulty understanding what people are saying back to me since I've only conversed with other Spanish students.

I chose the Accounting path based on research I had done on what would be the "best" way to get in, not because it's the only thing I want to do while making a law enforcement career. I wanted to bring a background/skill set to the table that would be a little more unique.

What agencies would you suggest I turn my focus on?