Up Close and Personal with Analyst Christina Greene

Considered a Career as an FBI Intelligence Analyst?
Here’s What It’s Like: Up Close and Personal

02/25/05

Christina Greene’s first case as an FBI intelligence analyst was daunting: an organization upset with its designation as a terrorist group was suing the United States, and Greene’s job was to help defend the government’s case. She interviewed agents, scoured case files, and drafted a letter to the Department of Justice that summed up the results of multiple FBI investigations. She later briefed the Attorney General on the organization’s threat to the U.S. It’s that kind of excitement and reward that motivated the former lawyer to choose a career three years ago in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

Q. Christina, can you tell us what you like best about the job?
Christine: I actually like the unpredictability of it. I’m constantly faced with new issues and new problems that require solutions. Plus, this job lets me use my legal training in ways I couldn’t imagine when I went to law school. I can help find a terrorist or put together information that helps put a dangerous person in prison. I get paid to do what I really like: research and analysis.

Q. Can you describe a typical working day?
Christina: No—it could be anything! I always make time to research current events in my specific areas of expertise, the countries and terrorist organizations I follow. But some days I walk through that door and find something in my research that completely changes my plan. It’s impossible to predict.

Q. Does your work involve any travel?
Christina: Yes, from time to time. I’ve traveled within the U.S. to brief members of Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) and our own agents and analysts on critical issues and to give case-specific support. I’ve also traveled overseas to meet with my counterparts on cases and for specific briefings.

Q. Any advice for prospective FBI recruits?
Christina: Yes, and straight from the heart. Be sure you have an open mind that loves to absorb mountains of conflicting information and to make sense of it. Be sure you’re dedicated and patient. Come in and be prepared to keep chipping away at a problem, even if it seems there is no solution. The FBI can be a challenging place to work, by every definition of the word. The one thing that the FBI is not is boring!

Interested in joining us? Go straight to fbijobs.gov.