Ms spying career began in the second half of the 1960s when the Dutch security service, the BVD (Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst) the predecessor of the present-day AIVD (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst) recruited him. It was very much like a [John] le Carr novel. While working as an insurance agent can be mentally demanding and you may have to handle many clients in a rather short period of time, you can still avoid the heavy physical work many people in other jobs have to do. People who are in it for the paycheck are better off working a career in a corporate enterprise. To his amazement, he came across a document he had completely forgotten about which he had signed himself. You will often have regular workweeks. Belfast BT2 7ES He became a double agent: by successfully pretending to be a Stasi agent, M would acquire valuable information on the personalities of his Stasi handlers for the Dutch service. Button spy camera on display at offices of East German secret Police (STASI) Museum in Berlin, Germany. New special agents must also undergo a 20-week training course at the FBI academy. Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo, in an episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship, Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literature. Since you will have free weekends, holidays and also work standard workweeks without having to work many extra hours, most insurance agents also report a pretty good work-life balance in general. He also spent seven years as an airline operations manager. Wolf had arrived at the safe house in a Volvo, the favourite car of high officials in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), escorted by motors at the front and rear. Creative freelancers have to worry about marketing themselves, handling their financials, and finding new clients. Depending on the type of insurance you sell, you can always find customers who are in need of the insurance products you have to offer. In turn, those people dont have that much time to meet up with their friends and often become socially isolated. CIA field agents may operate in large cities and small towns or out in harsh countryside or rural environments. Ms motive in sharing his story stems from his desire to learn more about certain episodes from his spying career. Until then I was engaged in all kinds of geopolitical developments, I was right on top of them. The lobby of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The job can strain your family life and psyche. Might get to have a cool job like doctor/astronaut/CIA agent. Please also note that working conditions and duties greatly vary across countries and also depend on individual circumstances. We interviewed M extensively between 2019 and 2021 about his career as a spy during the cold war. Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Naked through the corridors on my way to the interrogation room. Joining the secret service is not just necessarily a young man's game. You have potential for great advancement. While popular media tends to portray CIA spies living a glamorous life, the job is always potentially dangerous and frequently arduous. Sales methods - an agent might not sell your product or service in the way that you would like. Common areas of investigation include computer hacking, finance and accounting fraud, illegal gambling, terrorism and human trafficking. They threw me in a prison cell, and after a while they took me out again. But his attempts to contact them were unsuccessful. Hence, make sure that you are properly insured in this regard to avoid any financial consequences that could significantly harm your future life. The connections you make from your agency job can help you land the job of your dreams. But it is hard to know the full truth when it comes to the secretive world of espionage, so we have tried to highlight those areas which are impossible to verify. Let's assume that you are based in your home capital. Miksen has written a variety of technical and business articles throughout his writing career. At an agency, all of that is taken care of for you. After that I got an envelope in my pigeonhole from an anonymous government department inviting me up to London for an interview. This could place additional strain on a a family. In turn, this means that train drivers will also have to work during those hours and so do many other people. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, I knew the job wasnt going to be James Bond but I was curious to know more. A lot of being a spy is terribly mundane. $63,000 per year on average, most insurance agents make between $48,000 and $83,000 per year. A new book written by . While some clients are nice, others can really annoy you and you may have to stay polite even though those people might not deserve it. I was a soldier in the cold war.. Each agency has a different personality, a different culture. By then, he had already become familiarised with the practice of espionage, including its basic techniques, during his military service. We interviewed M extensively between 2019 and 2021 about his career as a spy during the cold war. But if you are eager enough to handle all the cons of being a creative in an advertising agency, it might be the perfect place for you. The day has clearly left a deep impression on him: I was mentally put off-balance, I couldnt wrap my mind around it. The operation, codenamed RACKETEER by the CIA, used the Personality Assessment System designed by the agencys former star psychologist John Gittinger. The idea is that you get as many reasonably intelligent and varied men and women into the job as possible. You can work indoors. Even though you may be able to make a decent living from what you are doing, you will still not get rich as an insurance agent. In most cases, a CIA field agent operating clandestinely is a spy and subject to detention,. We see the varying degrees of gratitude and recognition that the Dutch security service, the CIA and the Stasi showed for Ms work, from personal attention and verbal expressions of gratitude to material gifts. Depending on your job, agencies are known to be lenient when it comes to dress code. Thus, no job is the same and job descriptions may not completely fit your individual experiences. I was recruited in that old fashioned way, but of course these days the service has a website and a recruitment team which goes round universities and run open evenings at various places. CIA field agents operate in both friendly as well as hostile nations. A career with the FBI can have a profound effect on family life. As the largest employer of American citizens, the federal government has become synonymous with bureaucracy. It is also clear, however, that traumatic memories from that period continue to be a considerable burden to him. Bedford Street While popular media tends to portray CIA spies living a glamorous life, the job is always potentially dangerous and frequently arduous. The United States has always maintained spies in one form or another and under one organization or another since the Revolutionary War. Indeed, she told us she could see for herself how M was always completely exhausted when he came back home from these meetings, having spent several days in the company of Wolfgang and Heinz. If you're working CIA clandestine service overseas, for example, you'll receive housing as well as additional overseas service pay. Sasha Maggio specializes in topics related to psychology, fitness, nutrition, health, medicine, dentistry, and recovery after surgery, as well as cultural topics including Buddhism, Japanese culture, travel, languages and cooking. Quick promotions are guaranteed to those who shine. When M finally got access to his BVD file in the mid-2010s, he was not allowed to make notes or copies. A CIA spy must be skilled at combining what the agency calls "people and street smarts" to not only cultivate sources but also avoid capture. Benefits for CIA field agents include paid time off and federal health and life insurance as well as pensions. Resource analyst 9. As a CIA field agent or operations officer, you can expect to spend the bulk of your career working overseas. While Special Agent John Jeffries does note that such situations are fairly uncommon, being involved in them is still part of the job. In 2005, he starred with Mike Baker of the CIA in the BBC2 series Spy and wrote the book accompanying the series: Spy A Handbook. I've realized that there are three main drawbacks to being a real estate agent in this day . This lack of cooperation on the part of the AIVD intensified Ms feelings of bitterness. An FBI agent may be shot at, and encounter other life-threatening situations. Whether its playing games on the Wii, drinking beer from the tap, or getting a little too creative at after work parties, creatives know how to have fun. Before you go ahead and sign that contract, remember everything comes with a price. I was naked, tied to a hard chair with handcuffs. After completing his secondary education in the Netherlands, he spent a year at a high school in the US which proved to be a formative experience. As an insurance agent, you can rather work in a cozy office where you will even have air conditioning or heating to make your time at work as convenient as possible. For instance, your boss may tell you that you have to sell a number x of insurance products. Free weekends and holidays are quite common. CIA agents operating in Afghanistan have reported working in mountainous environments in all weather and among people ready to turn them in for the right price. Can invent something cool, have a legacy. Another benefit of working as an insurance agent is that you will also be able to work with many different clients. To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversations evidence-based news. Border officials of the German Democratic Republic on the Berlin wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in 1980. Listen to Eleni Braat and Ben de Jong talk about Ms life in an episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast. Now that weve covered the downsides, we can start talking about the various advantageous of working at a creative agency. This story is part of Conversation Insights HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:29 Surprising Facts About The Agency Business and Best 19 Agency Software Solutions to Manage Your Agency. M also received some material relating to his case that survived the destruction of the HVA archives in 1989-90, through the German government agency in Berlin that administers them. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I just said: "Yeah, sure." Finally, in early 1990 less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall the HVA cancelled a meeting abruptly, and that concluded his career as a double agent. For instance, trains cannot just stop operating just because it is Saturday or Sunday. Working in an advertising agency comes with lot of advantages and disadvantages. Having an advanced degree can be helpful for most positions, and in many instances, is required, although the CIA also offers its own relevant undergraduate programs. I found him a very friendly, amicable man At a certain point, he told me: You did important work for us, but he did not go into specifics. When M wanted to bring up his earlier unpleasant experience in the prison, Wolf cut him off by saying: We will not discuss it.. Without a doubt, it was also his bitter feelings that made him eager to share his fascinating life story with us. Kiplinger: Should You Work for Uncle Sam? Why the Stasi subjected M to such a harsh and intimidating interrogation has remained a puzzle. No, they will approach you You are appreciated for your efforts, but [these services] remain a dark cloud that you cannot enter. In fact, an increasing number of people use the internet to inform themselves about insurance and do no longer want to rely on insurance agents. Passionate about communications and client relations. This is for a number of reasons it improves your value judgment and it helps your cover because you have obviously done something before. Ms story is convincing, even though not all details can be verified, as is often the case in intelligence history. I had interesting contacts. Not everybody can handle this. In other words, his interrogators seemed to lack proof. M was forced to undergo a degrading and extremely painful cavity inspection, before being taken still naked to an interrogation room. M received messages from the Stasi through short-wave radio transmissions in code from a so-called numbers station in the GDR. If a target is in a very stressful or frightening position, for instance, the first person they talk to who shows them kindness and compassion is in a great position to glean information. Learning the tricks of selling ideas, managing clients and developing strong concepts from established agency creatives, can help to take your work to the next level. And many details in Ms story about the modus operandi of the three services he dealt with can be confirmed from other sources. Thus, if you want to make really good money, you should become a doctor or lawyer instead. Hence, if money is really important to you, a career in insurance can be one way to go. Sometimes it gets to the point where creatives are working nights to try and meet tight deadlines. We shook hands, M told us. Consequently, insurance agents dont have a high social standing and you may also get many snarky comments when you tell people about your profession. As well as a frequent commentator on espionage, Ferguson is currently helping to promote the hit US TV series The Blacklist, starring James Spader as a master criminal turned FBI informer. One advantage of working as an insurance agent is that you can make pretty good money if you know what you are doing and if you are willing to work hard. Ability to get high and fuck around hampered by increased ability to conceive of consequences. None other than Markus Wolf, the legendary chief of the HVA (dubbed The Man Without a Face) officially handed him the medal. He was then taken to another safe house where he was given an award: a Golden Distinguished Service Medal of the National Peoples Army (Verdienstmedaille der Nationalen Volksarmee). Yet, the majority of insurance agents will have a rather relaxed life and becoming an insurance agent will therefore also be great for you in case leisure is pretty important to you. You can also download this article for free as a PDF right here: Living the life of a creative artist sounds amazing doesnt it? I believe the process of earning the CIA is relatively easy for these reasons: 1. Actor Roger Moore, who played secret agent James Bond in the '70s and '80s, holds a martini. That is the old service though. More and more now, the secret service looks at people who have established themselves in other careers and are looking for a change. Looking at a gruesome crime scene, knowing that you pulled the trigger to kill a criminal, seeing pictures of horrific things that enable you to try and piece together an those things can weigh on you and cause incredible amounts of stress. Even though the medal from the chief of the HVA flattered my ego, it also contributed to mixed feelings. Collection management officer 3. Although the earnings of travel agents are not all that exorbitant, the job promises decent pay. Working in an ad agency can be tough but also beneficial to your career. You can avoid working at nighttime. Disadvantages of being an Insurance Agent Stress and pressure to sell. Another downside of working as an insurance agent is that only few mistakes can damage your reputation and ruin your career. However, Ive quit pretty soon after that since I havent found true meaning in my job. He wants to find out, in particular, why his East German handlers, whom he had managed to deceive so successfully for so many years, suddenly seemed to turn against him in the mid-1980s. While it can be lonely, you arent always in danger and a lot of the work is mundane former intelligence officer, Harry Ferguson, on a career in the secret service. Control - it can be difficult to control the agent's activities and to make sure they continually work hard on your behalf. In the end, however, he told us about it in great detail something he had never done before, not even to his wife of many years. Top sellers have been known to earn anywhere from $100,000 a year all the way up to $1 million. Not everybody can handle this. Several times after Ms return from the Eastern Bloc, she was the one who made a phone call to transmit a pre-arranged coded message to the CIA, implying that M had come back safely. I told him I was thinking of the police or the army. In fact, you will have a huge advantage in the job market if you have good contacts to people who work in many different companies since they can tell you when positions are going to be vacated and you can therefore apply before other people do and will have much better chances to get the job. Whether using commercial agents can help you develop your business often depends on the nature of your product or service and where you want to sell. It transpired that the humiliating interrogation was in fact a mock arrest led by Stasi handlers to test his mettle. Reasonably intelligent and varied men and women into the job of your dreams financial consequences that could significantly harm future. Eleni Braat and Ben de Jong talk about Ms life in an ad agency can be confirmed other... Although the earnings of travel agents are not all details can be,. Or Sunday career as a spy and subject to detention, also able! 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