(Click on photos for links.) The best insight I have gotten about a career in the FBI is from an actual FBI agent. Within my interview, I asked the following questions regarding his experience in the academy, psychological aspects in his job, the reality of his job, criminal profiling, and advice to young people. Below were his responses:

What is the agency’s stance on profiling and what dangers (if any) do you see in that?

He does not see dangers in it considering how the FBI uses it, which is as an investigative tool. Profiling does not provide a definitive answer, and the FBI assumes everyone as innocent until proven guilty.
Behavioral analysis is used to create effective interview and interrogation strategies to get someone to explain as much as what will benefit the FBI to solving an investigation.
Behavioral analysis will not cause the FBI to say a person who matches those behaviors is guilty, but will aid investigators and help them to provide information to the general public. There could be ten behavioral indicators of a mass shooter and a person could go ten for ten but not be a mass shooter.
What did you expect going into training? Did anything surprise you? What kind of readings and preparation did you do? What is the curriculum? What historical events do you have to study?
He met an FBI agent on his flag football team just before he went to the academy. One of his teammates was already an agent, so he got to go to the academy a week before he would have gone as a student. It helped to talk to someone and understand what to expect.
The recruiters for the FBI manage your application process and tell you what to get ready for.
The FBI wants people with life experience. People applying should have a diversity of experiences in their life.
He says that in the academy, he expected the FBI to be a lot more paramilitary. He expected a very strict experience, including uniform inspections, room inspections, etc. He says there is none of that and that the FBI treats their employees as adults. The minimum age to get hired is 23, but almost nobody gets hired at 23. The average age of hiring is 29-30, and it has been that way for 50 years.
He says the FBI is very different from certain police departments in that they are not as abusive and aggressive towards their employees due to pay cuts.
He says there is originally an expectation that the FBI is very paramilitary, but it isn’t. He says it is similar to college but with more practical skills.
He says FBI agents leave the academy feeling like they know what they’re doing. They know how cases work, the basics of interviews, interrogations, surveillance, how to process crime scenes, shoot, fight, etc. He says that he found himself looking at agents who had been in the FBI for ten/fifteen years and felt like he had no idea what he was doing.
For the first four months, he was in New York doing background investigations and trying to figure out how New York City works.
The FBI gives students many details because they don’t know what field they will be working yet. This makes it so that the curriculum is very broad.
He said the first weekend year at the FBI academy, he showed up on a Monday to do onboarding stuff. Students were allowed to leave the academy after the second weekend assuming they had passed the entry fitness test. If they didn’t pass, they weren’t allowed to leave the academy until they did.
The first weekend he was there, all of the agents from a class were bussed to the Holocaust Museum. They were taken there to receive private tours in groups of ten. They were spoken to about the role of the police department in Germany as they transitioned from a democratic system to Hitler’s system. They learned about the role the police played in that by oppressing people, and how FBI employees must have independent mindsets and understand lawful and unlawful orders, and they must only follow lawful orders.
He studied many historical FBI cases and was told stories from the instructors who were all former case agents. The instructors would discuss certain cases and techniques they used in those cases.
FBI academy students work a mock case when there. There is a full case where they interview role players and tackle scenarios to gain experience. He worked on the Billy Ray Hankins case that he still remembers twenty years later.
Have you noticed any patterns in someone who has committed a crime’s traits or characteristics?
The BAU produces behavioral indicators for certain types of criminals. For example, most mass shooters exhibit mass shooter characteristics. These indicators can be found on public FBI documents.

The indicators are very telling, but even if someone has all of those indicators, it does not mean they will commit a mass shooting.
Classic cases of bullying resulting in a mass shooting in which the shooter kills their bullies can be an example of a connection to their grievance.
Grievances (motives) are common among mass shooters, but connection to the grievance is not always present. For example, if someone hates all American people and wants to kill them all, shooting a group of American people will not solve the problem. Mass shooters often have a problem they want to solve by killing people.
FBI agents want to figure out if they can identify and solve the grievance that a mass shooter has.
How exactly would FBI agents go about profiling a serial killer?
He is not as familiar with that field, but knows that the FBI wants to collect evidence through the case.
People in the BAU will have to link certain murders to one person, which can be hard to do.
In order to identify a serial killer, a BAU profiler will have to find a connection between every person who was killed.
What are some common misconceptions about becoming or being an FBI agent? How is this different from or the same as what is shown in popular culture?
He says that this is a difficult question to answer, considering that he isn’t very aware of the misconceptions because he knows his own experiences. He doesn’t watch a lot of the FBI related television shows because they are inaccurate, but he understands what it takes to make a good television show and that’s what show writers are trying to do, and he does not have any animosity towards people who tell stories of the FBI whether they paint them in a good light or don’t.
He says that one of the popular misconceptions within popular culture is that FBI agents kill people everyday, and he does not do that. He also says that he notices an idea that FBI agents can resolve things in a very easy manner. He says the speed in which they solve cases on television shows is convenient for the show, but is not accurate to real life.
There is no such thing as many of the investigative strategies in popular culture. For example, if an FBI agent believes I am a criminal and have criminal activity in my phone, they cannot just go through my phone. There is a long journey of communicating with other law enforcement officers, getting a search warrant, and carrying out the process.
In terms of the portrayal of the excitement that comes with being an FBI agent, he says that he loves the work that they do. He says there is a massive purview of things that they do, and there is not enough appreciation for how diverse having an FBI career is. He loves how he could change his field of work just by requesting.
He says that the job can be very exciting and interesting, but things such as surveillance shifts can be less exciting. For example, if the FBI thinks someone is a bad person, they could follow the person everywhere they go. If the FBI is on a surveillance shift from 10 PM-6 AM, they are just waiting outside of the house in a car and watching the door, waiting for the person to hopefully come out and get into a car so they can follow them. If no one comes out, it was just a group of people sitting in cars for eight hours where nothing happens. He says the level of excitement wanes when certain things like that happen.
He says most cases are not filled with excitement. He enjoyed how it was described in the academy, which was that there are bad guys and good guys in the world, and oftentimes, you only meet the bad guy once when you’re arresting them. You get to know these people, their families, personal lives, and criminal activity, and then meet them for the first time when you arrest them.
He says most cases are a “slog",” being interviews, interrogations, surveillance, bank records, phone records, email analysis, and many other things that go into trying to get a full picture of a crime in order to prove that a person has committed it and should be held accountable.
A lot of had work, sitting at a desk, office stuff, and figuring things out. It is not always running around and getting in car chases.
What is the code of ethics as an FBI agent?
He says that there is a very significant cold of ethics that they have there. One of the classes you receive at the FBI academy is an ethics class. It goes on for weeks and is a full academic session that everyone is required to pass. Their ethical responsibilities are not just following the law, but asking the question, “Is what you’re doing an ethical use of resources?”
There is the idea that the FBI can not only ensure they are doing things ethically, but make sure the appearance of that is that they are doing things ethically. If he has a relationship with a confidential human source, they know he is an FBI agent, he knows who they are, and they have a covert relationship. Things have to be very honest. For example, the confidential human source cannot give him a gift. It would be unethical for him to accept it because of his formal relationship with the person.
FBI agents are governed by the Hatch Act in which they are not allowed to join a political party. He can vote in elections and be a registered Democrat, Republican, etc, but he cannot go to a rally and hold up a sign or put a sign in his front yard. People in his community know who he is and what he does for work, so they can’t get the idea that the FBI supports Biden, Trump, Harris, etc. He also cannot actively participate in local elections because the public won’t separate him and his beliefs from the fact that he is a special agent in the FBI.
Some of his rights as a US citizen are taken from him because he is employed as an FBI agent and can’t be seen making decisions that would somehow influence the FBI.
What understanding of psychology did you need to have before entering the unit (if any)?
He says you do not need an understanding of psychology in order to join the FBI. They give you understanding of this at the academy to give students information about what the Behavioral Analysis Unit is capable of.
The instructors make sure that students know that the profilers are a resource to them no matter what they are working in the FBI. They can be used, but there are limits. It will not always tell you who committed a crime. The BAU is an important tool in the FBI.
The FBI gets involved with people suffering from massive mental health crisis and are potentially on the line of committing a federal crime.
He has worked a case on a 15-year-old who’s school district spoke to the FBI and said he was a child in crisis. Based on behavioral indicators that the FBI provided to them, they concluded that the child was on his way to violence. The BAU got involved, spoke to the parents and school, and got the kid into counseling. They did a search warrant on his phone, and everything was hyper-violent. The BAU helped to off-ramp the kid so that he would not commit violence.
When the FBI is engaged with someone who is dangerous/potentially dangerous how do they go about making judgements and decisions?
He says that they do it collaboratively. There is not one person making a decision.
There are certain questions such as “What do I do when I’m in a room with someone who is violent?” versus “What do I do when I’m working a case with someone who is violent?”
In a certain case that he was involved in, he was actively hunting a man who was shooting and robbing people. Every night the person they were hunting was committing violence. In a case like that, the FBI doesn’t stop. They may not be going home for a few days and work the case 24/7 because every moment they aren’t finding the person is another moment where an innocent bystander may get killed.
There are also people who support violence. The FBI investigates to see if the person is financially or technologically supporting a violence group to see if they would possibly conduct their own attack.
Occasionally a phone call comes in to FBI agents that they have to do in that moment. They will sometimes need to come up with an arrest plan for a person the day that they get a call about a case.
He says that if he is in a room with someone who is violent, he needs to present them with a situation that gives them two options. Choice one is that they do what they are told, and choice number two is that they fight and possibly get killed. In reality, the person has many more choices, but the FBI designs these options so that only a suicidal person would fight them.
If someone is willing to fight the FBI, they have escalation and de escalation tools to present them with. The FBI often has negotiators that come with them on every SWAT job to have people with experience to talk to violent people.
The FBI wants to maximize mission success and minimize risk of force at all times. Sometimes, he may have to go into a house with guns in order to force someone to do something if they are refusing. That can be dangerous, so that is avoided by spending extra time speaking to someone who is stubborn.
Are there any stories you can tell about a difficult situation where you had to apply your understanding of psychology?
In late 2009/early 2010, he was called up by the US attorneys office in New York city regarding a complaint that came to the office.
The complaint was that of the probation officers had called a family member of a person that had been convicted and started to engage the person in a very inappropriate sexual conversation. The woman on the call went along with it because she didn’t want the officer to write a report saying that her family member was guilty of a crime. The officer had leveraged his position to commit a sex crime.
He sat down with many other agents and crafted an interview strategy that would allow the person making the phone calls to confess. Everyone agreed that there must had been other times he had engaged in sexual conversations on the phone with people. The man making the calls was a federal law enforcement officer and knew it was not in his best interest to confess to them.
The FBI agent I interviewed and his squad interviewed the man who was making the calls. They started by telling him that they were there to help him. They told him that they knew the names of all of the victims (even though they only knew the one).
They lied to him and told him that in order for them to help him, they would give him the opportunity to confess to all of the other victims so it looked to the judge like he was immediately remorseful and cooperative.
They told him the one name, and the man started crying. He confessed to dozens and dozens of victims.
They had to use an investigative strategy using the psychology of the man in order to get him, as a law enforcement officer, who knew it was not in his best interest to confess, to confess, which was not easy.
What’s one or two things you think a young person should know before they try to get involved in this type of law enforcement?
He says they should know that this is hard work. It is not glamour, press releases, or high fives.
They get paid well, but not well enough to get rich: nobody gets rich working in the FBI.
They get paid to do very real and serious work that is very unseen.
The work must be done by dedicated, committed, and smart people.
They must be committed not only when it’s convenient for them, but committed 24/7 until they retire. By policy, the only time an FBI agent is not available is when they are overseas on personal travel because they cannot bring their work phone because that would be a counterintelligence vulnerability.
He has had to leave personal events and experiences in order to investigate a case.

How to become a Criminal Profiler/FBI agent

The FBI is looking for individuals who have strong intuition and analytical skills, have experience conducting research and investigations (most important), have an understanding of psychology and criminal minds, and are able to emotionally detach.
Criminal profilers, investigators, and detective’s salaries vary. The average annual salary for criminal detectives and investigators is $95,930.
The average criminal profiler working for the US government has an average salary of $87,226.
Requirements of becoming a profiler include:
Graduating from high school (four years). High school students interested in this career are encouraged to check with their local police departments for internships or other opportunities to get experience working with crime, forensics, investigations, etc.
Getting a bachelor’s degree in forensics, criminal justice, psychology, or a related major/discipline (four years). Studying one of these disciplines is a requirement and puts you in the best place to be prepared for the work you later plan to do.
Attending a law enforcement academy (five months). Successful profilers have an immense amount of experience in investigations. Hands-on training in the field is crucial. Many of these agencies require you to be a US citizen, have college experience, be at least 18-21 years old, and have a driver’s license and no felony convictions.
Experience in field (several years). Profilers in the BAU usually have seven to fifteen years of investigation experience before joining the unit.
Ongoing training (depends). Experienced criminal profilers have additional training in forensics, human behavior, crime scene analysis, legal issues, etc.
These requirements can allow you to attend an FBI academy for four months and join the FBI![11]

Hiring Process:

You must fill out documents, pass background investigation and urinalysis, have all taxes filed, be a US citizen, and more in order to qualify to apply to be in the FBI.
There are many different exams, including:
FBI Phase 1 exam, a multiple-choice exam testing your cognitive, behavior, and reasoning logic skills.
Since you need a bachelor’s degree, you also need a high school diploma. Some schools that you are getting your bachelor’s from may require your high school GPA and SAT scores. Competitive schools will require a GPA of 3.5 or higher, but other school accept lower GPAs that can heighten your chance of admission with higher SAT/ACT scores.[12]
Physical fitness tests, Phase 2 Exam, duty medical exam, and more. Read more about the specifics HERE:[13]

QUIZ!

Test what you’ve learned with a quiz! (answers at the end)

Who was the first recorded criminal profile for?

A) Ted Bundy

B) David Meirhofer

C) Jack The Ripper

D) John Wayne Gacy

2. You’re an FBI agent going to deal with a possibly dangerous criminal. Who do you bring to talk them out of their behavior?

A) The police

B) Negotiators

C) Lawyers

D) Forensic Psychologists

3. You’re an FBI agent working a case in which you must profile a serial killer. What makes someone a serial killer?

A) Someone who kills multiple people over an extended period of time

B) Someone who kills a family member

C) Someone who kills for revenge

D) Someone who kills multiple people all at once

4. You’re an FBI agent trying to get someone to confess. How do you get them to?

A) Threaten to arrest them if they don’t

B) Threaten to fight them if they don’t

C) Tell them they are going to jail either way

D) Give them limited options

5. What are common factors that can make someone murder?

A) Genetics: the MAOA gene

B) A traumatic childhood in an abusive household

C) Neurological differences & brain damage

D) All of the above

6. What are common traits & characteristics associated with serial killers?

A) Unorganized, smart, diagnosed with ADHD

B) Charming, friendly, social

C) Lack of empathy, antisocial, sadistic

D) Organized, anxious, fit

7. What part of the brain is often damaged among psychopaths?

A) Orbitofrontal cortex

B) Cerebellum

C) Thalamus

D) Hypothalamus

ANSWERS:

C
B
A
C
D
D
A

FBI in TV vs FBI in real life

Solve a case!!

After all that you’ve learned about being in the FBI, investigating crimes, and criminal psychology, it’s time to be an FBI agent and show what you know.

CASE: It’s the mid-late 1970s, and young women with dark hair have been disappearing and found dead across many states.

Clue #1: The victims often have signs of blunt force trauma to the head.

Clue #2: It’s 1974, and a young woman has been kidnapped from the University of Washington. She was found strangled to death.

Clue #3: It’s still 1974, and a young woman has disappeared and been murdered at Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Clue #4: It’s still 1974, and a young woman from Oregon State University has been abducted and killed.

PATTERN: Young women on the Pacific Coast are being abducted from their college campuses and killed. They are all White young women with dark hair. This means that it could very well be one person doing the killing since the killer has a pattern in their victims. The killer must either have animosity towards or be attracted to his victims due to how they look. Could this killer have hatred towards or be attracted to someone who looks like them?

Clue #5: It’s July of 1974, and two young women have been abducted and killed in Washington State. Witnesses describe a handsome young man who calls himself “Ted”. Police are able to identify his method of luring his victims, which is pretending to have a broken arm by wearing a sling and asking for help. Women have started to disappear in Utah in late 1974. Bodies are discovered in 1975.

THE SUSPECT AND HIS STRATEGY: We are given the name and gender of the possible killer, as well as his method for luring his victims.

The killer was…

11. Jocelyn Blore, “Requirements for How to Become a Criminal Profiler,” Forensics Colleges, May 16, 2024, https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/htb/how-to-become-criminal-profiler.

12. MJ Grenzow, “How to Become an FBI Agent,” All Criminal Justice Schools, n.d., https://www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com/federal-law-enforcement/fbi-agent/.

13. Jenna Ladouceur, “How Do You Get into the FBI? A Guide to Passing the FBI Exam,” Peterson’s, February 11, 2025, https://www.petersons.com/blog/how-do-you-get-into-the-fbi-a-guide-to-passing-the-fbi-exam/.

“Criminal Minds” FBI BAU office

Charles Manson in “Mindhunter”

FBI agents in “Criminal Minds”

Real FBI BAU office

Charles Manson in real life

FBI agents in real life

Ted Bundy