New recruitment website aimed at diversified CIA

WASHINGTON — Wanted: Spies from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Striving to further diversify its ranks, the CIA launched a website Monday to find top-tier candidates who will bring a broader range of life experiences to the nation’s premier intelligence agency.

The days of all American spies being white male graduates from Ivy League schools are gone. The CIA director is a woman, and women head all five of the agency’s branches, including the directorates of science and technology, operations and digital innovation.

But while the CIA has been diversifying for years, intelligence agencies still lag the federal workforce in minority representation. With thousands of job applicants annually, the CIA wants to do more to ensure its workforce reflects national demographics.

The revamped website has links for browsing CIA jobs with starting salaries and requirements, sections on working at the agency, and a streamlined application process.

CIA Director Gina Haspel has made recruitment a priority since she became director in May 2018. Since, the CIA has started advertising on streaming services, and launched an Instagram account and an “onion site,” a feature that makes both the information provider and the person accessing information more difficult to trace.

Last year, the CIA designated its first executive for Hispanic engagement, Ilka Rodriguez-diaz, a veteran of more than three decades with the agency. She joined after attending a CIA job fair in New Jersey.