New skills required for changing crimes

Jennifer Haberkorn Friday, July 25, 2008 As the crimes they investigate change, FBI agents in the next 100 years will require far different skills from those of the agents and employees who carried the bureau through its first century. The resumes of the FBI's earliest agents were highlighted by careers in law, accounting and electrical engineering, with fluency in Italian, Russian or Spanish. Today, the resumes landing at the top of the stack at the FBI recruiting office feature considerable international travel, fluency in Middle Eastern or Chinese languages and a background in military intelligence or computer technology. "Since 9/11, the focus [of the FBI] has shifted to counterterrorism and the role we play in the intelligence community," said John G. Raucci, assistant director of human relations at the FBI. "As we... [read full story]