First of all I don't want to hear from everyone saying how the FBI sucks...Waco...Ruby Ridge...NICS...etc.  I am well aware of what the FBI does, and do not agree with their involvement and actions in some past incidents.  I do fully support RKBA and the constitution of the United States of America.  If I do ever become an agent I would refuse to do anything that violated the constitution.

Right now I am still early in my college career, and in the national guard (Infantry).  What kinds of things should I do to prepare myself to be an agent?  According to the FBI website you can apply under one of four specialties (Law, Accounting, Language, and Diversified).  Has anyone applied under diversified?  What languages are in demand if I am starting from scratch learning a language?  

What types of college classes should I take?  Do classes in law enforcement look good in addition to accounting or language, or do they want someone to start from ground zero in the experience department?
If you have any other info you could give me, or if you have any links that are helpful I would appreciate it, thanks.

Ask them.

For languages, Arabic or Persian probably would help you out.  It is quite difficult to get into the F.I.B. (sorry, couln't help it) without some real world experience whether it be in law enforcement or another profession.  Keep your background clean, and keep your grades up.  They've had a surge of applicants since 9/11.  Good luck.

Go to college, get out and become a Marine officer, then FBI.
It'll be easy if you take that route.

Go in with a degree in either criminal justice and a minor in psychology or a degree in psychology.

As for the languages, Arabic, Japanese, Spanish. If you don't already know one, I would consider going in under the law branch.

What branch do you want to be in?  Accounting is going over people's records and books, language is translation, and diversified I am not sure about.  Hit their site and drop them an email.

Good luck future JBT, j/k.

[url]http://www.fbi.gov/employment/agent.htm[/url]

That link will tell you most of what you need.  
AS for what you can do to start preparing yuorself...  The NG is a good start.  Also, if you aren't already a runner, start running on a regular basis.  (I say this only cause I could never get myself into the habit of running enough to meet the requirements without feeling like I was going to die.  Not that the requirements are that difficult (1.5 miles in ~12 min, don't rememnber the exact time).  I just hate running)

For languages, if you ask them, they will tell you which ones are in demand, but that is always changing, so what't in demand now likely won't be by the time you apply, so don't let that influence what language you learn.  Spanish, Russian, and now, Afghan dialects, among others, would proably all be good language choices, even if you don't apply under the language option.

As for what classes to take:  Obvioulsy law or accounting if you choose one of those options.  Anything that interests you and could be applicable can't hurt (pych, sociology, law enforcement, forensics).  Keep in mind that it's unlikely you be selected right out of college, so plan on having a job or two between college and the Bureau, preferably one in accounting, law, law enforement, or something else that will build applicable experience when yuo do apply with the FBI.

Hope that helps.  Good luck.

I had a friend that went to school at Harding University in Searcy AR. He said the FBI recruited bigtime at that school because most of the students were accounting majors. He was told that the FBI heavily investigates financial records.

As of about 5 years ago, degrees in either Law or accounting were MANDATORY.

Another route, as above, is prior military service.  

I applied under the diversified field.  I would suggest you get a degree in accounting or law since the agents interviewing you during the second phase of testing will most likely be accountants and attorneys.  I seemed to have had some difficulty relating my experiences as an engineer to these guys.

The foreign language route is very difficult.  During the first phase of testing they recommended that we not request to take the test unless you were extremely fluent in the language.  The person administering the first phase indicated she have several years of French in college and even lived in France and she didn't feel she would be qualified to take the test.  Your best bet for list route is a military language school.  

You should start to keep track of some information so you can fill out the full application if you pass the first phase of testing.  I took me over a week to find all the information required for the application.  Some of the stuff you will need includes; the names of any foreign nationals you know, a list of countries visited and dates,  addresses for places of residence, names and addresses of roommates, a complete summary of your employment history, and a list of any arrests or tickets including speeding tickets.

Ditto to what was said previously just call them and talk to someone at a local office they can be fairly helpful.

Edited to add

I know several military EOD guys that went to work for the Secret Service after they retired or their enlsitment was up.  Active duty EOD actually fill support roles for the Secret Service. If was younger I would probably try this route to gain some rather interesting experience with a Federal Agency

You have to be a KGB agent first...

Last time we looked into it Accounting seemed the way to go.  

However, you should think about what you want to do in the FBI: white collar crime, organized crime, homocides, etc.  If you major in accounting plan on being assigned to financial crimes.  If you join the marines & become an officer with specialized training in "methods" then you may be assigned on other, more dangerous, crimes.

What you want to do in the FBI may be a guide as to what path you take to try & get in.  If you do get in, keep an open mind since you may not get the type of assignment you want immediately.

Also, be prepared to move around the country as dictated by the agency.  If you are married you should consider this eventuality & how it may affect your wife's career.  

Try & speak with agents that are in the FBI currently & joined recently.  The FBI of today is very different from FBI of decades ago.

Good luck.  If you want it bad enough it'll happen.

I am no so sure about some of the posts relating specific experience with the type  of work one will do in the FBI. I have friend that was a geologist before joining the FBI. The last time I spoke with him he was doing Bank Robberies.

Never any harm with more pro-RKBA'ers in the FBI. good luck to you HKer.

i remember seeing on the boob tube what new FBI recruits have to go through. quite gruelling with tons of "book digging". i recommend learning how to speed read as well[:)]



lib

Sorry to hear about your job choice..It would do you well to write down how you feel now..and read it every once in a while if you make it in.
Transfer into a guard unit that uses linguists..go to the def lang inst. in monterrey...knowing spanish will help too..

Although all the above posters do have good insights, I still have to say this:  get some real world work experience under your belt before you apply.  Few agents make it in straight out of school.  The bottom line is that you've got to be able to offer them more than just a college degree to be competitive.

However, suffice it to say that good bets would be to start off with any branch of the military, US Marshals, or DEA before trying to lateral in.

Go back to EVERYONE you ever came in contact with.....and be extra nice to them, or when the FBI talks to sister mary agness O'niel,your 5th grade teacher your sunk!