The ideal NSI candidate will be able to answer "yes" to each one of these questions:

1. Are you a U.S. citizen?
2. Are you currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate accredited college degree program with rising junior, senior, or graduate standing?
3. Have you declared a major, minor or concentration in one or more of the following: International Relations, Homeland Security Studies, Political Science or Area Studies: Arabic, Middle East, Near East or South Asian?
4. Do you have a minimum 3.0 GPA?
5. Do you speak Arabic and do you have a rating score of 1+ or higher in Arabic speaking proficiency as measured according to the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) skill level description? See ILR Speaking 1+ description below.
6. Are you capable of passing all background investigations including successfully passing a polygraph test and adherence to the FBI application policy criteria such as Employment Criteria and Employment Drug Policy listed below?
7. Have you lived, worked or studied abroad? (Considered a bonus)
8. Have you had experience working with ethnic or religious minority groups? (Considered a bonus)

If you can answer "yes" to these questions, we encourage you to apply to the National Security Internship.

Please note:  All candidates who progress forward into FBI background investigations will have a scheduled interview, drug test, and polygraph examination. The polygraph examination will check the truthfulness of all of your responses.

(Photo courtesy of The George Washington University)

ILR Speaking 1+ Description   |   Disqualifiers   |   Drug Policy   |   Background Investigation

ILR Speaking 1+ (Elementary Proficiency, Plus)

Candidate can initiate and maintain predictable face-to-face conversations and satisfy limited social demands. He/she may, however, have little understanding of the social conventions of conversation. The interlocutor is generally required to strain and employ real-world knowledge to understand even some simple speech. The speaker at this level may hesitate and may have to change subjects due to lack of language resources. Range and control of the language are limited. Speech largely consists of a series of short, discrete utterances.

Examples: The individual is able to satisfy most travel and accommodation needs and a limited range of social demands beyond exchange of skeletal biographic information. Speaking ability may extend beyond immediate survival needs. Accuracy in basic grammatical relations is evident, although not consistent. May exhibit the more common forms of verb tenses, for example, but may make frequent errors in formation and selection. While some structures are established, errors occur in more complex patterns. The individual typically cannot sustain coherent structures in longer utterances or unfamiliar situations. Ability to describe and give precise information is limited. Person, space and time references are often used incorrectly. Pronunciation is understandable to natives used to dealing with foreigners. Can combine most significant sounds with reasonable comprehensibility, but has difficulty in producing certain sounds in certain positions or in certain combinations. Speech will usually be labored. Frequently has to repeat utterances to be understood by the general public.

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Employment Disqualifiers

There are specific elements that will automatically disqualify candidates for participation in the NSI program, with DHS or FBI. As all NSI candidate applications will be reviewed by the FBI, the FBI Employment Disqualifiers are:

• Conviction of a felony
• Use of illegal drugs in violation of the FBI Employment Drug Policy (see the FBI Employment Drug Policy below)
• Default of a student loan (insured by the U.S. Government)
• Failure of an FBI-administered urinalysis drug test
• Failure to register with the Selective Service System (for males only)

Please note that if you are disqualified by any of the above tests, you are not eligible for participation in the NSI program. All of these disqualifiers are extensively researched during the FBI Background Investigation Process. Please make sure you can meet FBI employment requirements and pass all disqualifiers before you apply to the NSI program.

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Drug Policy

The FBI is firmly committed to a drug-free society and work place. Therefore, the unlawful use of drugs by FBI employees is not tolerated. Furthermore, applicants for employment with the FBI who currently use illegal drugs will be found unsuitable for employment. The FBI does not condone any prior unlawful drug use by applicants. We realize, however, some otherwise qualified applicants may have used drugs at some point in their pasts. The following policy sets forth the criteria for determining whether any prior drug use makes an applicant unsuitable for employment, balancing the needs of the FBI to maintain a drug-free workplace and the public integrity necessary to accomplish the FBI's intelligence and law enforcement missions. Applicants who do not meet the listed criteria should not apply for any FBI position.

Criteria

Under the FBI's current Employment Drug Policy, an applicant will be found unsuitable for employment if they:

1. Have used any illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991), other than marijuana, within the past ten years, or engaged in more than minimal experimentation in their lifetime. In making the determination about an applicant's suitability for FBI employment, all relevant facts, including the frequency of use, will be evaluated.
2. Have used marijuana/cannabis within the past three years, or have extensively used marijuana/cannabis or over a substantial period of time. In making the determination about an applicant's suitability for FBI employment, all relevant facts, including the recency and frequency of use, will be evaluated.

You can easily determine whether you meet the FBI's illegal drug policy by answering the following questions:

• Have you used marijuana at all within the last three years?
• Have you used any other illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991) at all in the past 10 years?
• Have you ever sold any illegal drug for profit?
• Have you ever used an illegal drug (no matter how many times or how long ago) while in a law enforcement or prosecutorial position, or in a position which carries with it a high level of responsibility or public trust?

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Background Investigation Process

All candidates must receive an FBI Top Secret Clearance before they can begin employment with the FBI. Once you have been instructed to do so, you will initiate the FBI background investigation process by completing the appropriate FBI Background Investigation Forms.

As soon as the FBI receives a fully complete set of background investigation forms (your Human Resources point-of-contact will provide you with an address), the FBI will commence with your background investigation. You will be contacted by the FBI office that is processing your background to schedule your interview, drug test, and polygraph examination. The polygraph will check the truthfulness of all of your responses on the FBI Background Investigation Forms. In the next phase of the process, the FBI will perform extensive records checks (e.g., credit checks, police records checks, etc.), and FBI investigators will interview current and former colleagues, neighbors, friends, professors, etc.

Please note that because of the thoroughness of the background investigation process, it can take several months or more to receive your FBI Top Secret Security Clearance.

For and in-depth overview of the entire application process, including background procedures, please view this process map:
[NSI Process Map]

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