SO, YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THE FBI? continued
Look for FBI
and other
special agent
jobs at
USAjobs.gov.
that among the FBI’s top hiring priorities are candidates with critical skills in accounting and computer science/information technology expertise.
But what if the FBI is not hiring or ends up hiring someone else? Students from our forensics
master’s degree programs also could qualify for special agent positions in other federal agencies
besides the FBI. Most federal agencies have some type of special agent, investigator, or background investigator position, including the Secret Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Internal Revenue Service; Postal Inspection
Service; or Inspector General offices in more than 70 federal agencies and many other offices.
What’s the Benefit of Working at the FBI?
Learn more about
Stevenson’s master’s
degree programs in
forensics at the next
Virtual Information
Session, Tuesday,
October 8 at noon.
For more information
or to register visit
accelerate.stevenson.edu.
In addition to having an interesting career, FBI employees are well compensated for their work.
Special Agent trainees at the FBI Academy are paid as GS-10, step 1 ($43,441) plus a locality
adjustment (17.5 percent) during their time at the FBI Academy, totaling $51,043 annually.
After they complete their initial training and get assigned, Special Agents get a 25 percent
increase in salary due to their requirement to average a 50-hour work week during the course of
the year. Thus, new Special Agents in their first field offices earn between $61,100 and $69,900,
depending upon the region of the country to which they are assigned. New Special Agents
assigned to certain designated high-cost offices like New York and Washington, D.C., may also
be paid a one-time relocation bonus of approximately $22,000 to help offset higher real estate
and living costs.
In addition to good pay, which results in many special agents earning well over $100,000
annually, FBI Special Agents are covered under the law enforcement officer (LEO) provisions of
the federal retirement system. That sys tem enables Special Agents to receive a full retirement at
age 50 with 20 years of federal law enforcement officer service or at any age with 25 years of such
service. A Special Agent who earned $100,000 a year for the last three years of service and
retiring with 20 years of LEO service would receive an annual pension of $34,000, adjusted
periodically for inflation.
As an FBI employee, Special Agents are also entitled to a variety of benefits, including group
health and life insurance programs, generous vacation and sick leave, and a full retirement plan.
For more information and updates about working at the FBI go to www.fbijobs.gov.
accelerate.stevenson.edu