Celebrating Women Special Agents: Jennifer T. (2012)

Video Transcript

I have been a special agent in the FBI for the last eight and a half years and I began my journey to become a special agent after 9-11. I really started thinking about it. I spent about eight years post graduating with my Bachelor’s, I spent eight years as a consultant for an engineering and environmental company, the first four years as a geologist for them.

My goals were how can I use my environmental. Everyone said, well, we prosecute environmental crimes and you can use that. I have that backing and that knowledge and the training for that to be able to put that to good use. But really when you get out of Quantico you don’t have a whole lot of say in where you go, so you get assigned somewhere and you start doing that work and you do the best you can in that particular job. And if it’s not for you then you can move forward into something else.

I was assigned to the Newark Division and from there all new agents going into the Newark Division work applicants. So for the first three months we rotate into that, into the applicant squad and help on background investigations and you also help other squads out during that time as a probationary agent, when another squad needs help. After that I was assigned to a counterterrorism squad where my focus was domestic terrorism and specifically an animal rights type group.

It was good work and we ended up with a great prosecution and convictions. But I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to continue in. An opportunity came out in the Newark Division to put in for an applicant coordinator position and I knew I would be good at it. I’m very detailed and detail oriented and I knew I could process and handle that kind of job. So I did put in for it and I received it which I was very pleased about.

I’ve seen hundreds of new agents, sent hundreds of new agents to new agent class in Quantico and it’s an amazing feeling to make that call, to make a call to someone and say hey you’ve got a class date. I’ve had everything from silence at the other end of the phone to a scream to crying to yelling to the other people that were around them.

That feeling of telling someone that they have a job is a great feeling and it’s one of the reasons why I haven’t moved from what I’m doing. It’s tough to think that I’d have to go back, you know, and start catching criminals again when I’m providing such a good benefit to the FBI right now by bringing good people in.