MI5 makes it into top 100 places to work for graduates

MI5 might be the only organisation with a website that says it doesn't kill people or arrange assassinations, but that's about as exciting as it gets.

A new survey of 16,000 graduates has shown that working as a spy is now considered a top career option - reports the Daily Record.

The Government's Cheltenham listening post, GCHQ, is in the top 100 most attractive places to work.

But if applicants believe logging on to the MI5 website is their passport to spending their evenings propping up the bar in a Monte Carlo casino, they're out of luck.

Rather than looking super suave like James Bond in a dinner jacket, MI5 list integrity, honesty, reliability and dedication as their most important requirements.
Editors note: James Bond works for MI6 (foreign operations) not MI5 (UK operations), and MI6 is actually called SIS in real life..

And neither does the job description involve having to seduce the beautiful daughters of vodka-soaked Russian generals.

Instead, MI5 states its role is to gather information about people and organisations that threaten national security.

Most of the work is based in the UK and, while you may occasionally go abroad, you won't be flying to Vienna to meet another agent at 2.00am on a bridge over the Danube.

That sort of stuff is reserved for MI6, an even more secretive body who list their objectives as "obtaining secret information and conducting secret operations in support of the UK's foreign policy objectives".

But MI5 is the best option for any spies in the making.You don't need to bean army officer, to have gone to Oxford, or even a nod or a wink from that well-spoken lecturer who always talked in riddles.

Indeed, MI5 is so keen to explode the myths about what a job with them involves that their website includes diaries from workers on what makes up a typical day.

To be in with a chance of landing a job, you need a willingness to move to London, work shifts and ideally have a skill such as computers, electronics or languages.

Jobs being advertised include electronics technicians, network security specialists and scientific/technical officers. The salaries for such positions range from a somewhat measly£18,500 to a far more decent £33,911. And if you don't have the necessary skills, perhaps becoming the next Miss Moneypenny is the answer, with jobs as admin assistants on offer at £15,750.

If it's excitement you're after, working in MI5's language unit might at least be a start.

The problem is you need to be fluent in one of a number of languages such as Arabic, Urdu, or Mandarin Chinese.Then the pay is around £22,500. However, you will be spending much of your time transcribing intercepted telephone calls involving people under surveillance.

Or you could be translating documents seized from terror suspects.

It does sound more exciting but, even then, you won't get much of a chance to leave the office.

If you're dying to be out in the field, then working in surveillance is the best option.

It may involve lots of sitting around in a car watching suspects come and go, but at least you're nearer to the sharp end. The salary ranges from £23,472 to £26,960, but candidates are warned it takes a certain sort of person to work in surveillance - one who doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

That means men have to be under 5ft 11in and women under 5ft 8in.

Perhaps the makers of James Bond should take note, having rejected the 5ft 10in Ewan McGregor for the role because he was too short.

And forget about the Aston Martin. Given the nature of the job, a Ford Mondeo is about as exotic as it gets.

For more information, log on to www.mi5careers.co.uk

Thanks to `JP` and `Gary` for the alert.

Discuss this news here...