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MI5 places job adverts on buses
and Tube
Philip Johnston
London
Telegraph
Tuesday May 15, 2007
MI5 is to advertise on the London Underground and on buses for
intelligence officers and support staff.
The security service aims to recruit more than 500 additional staff
over the next year as part of a huge expansion to cope with the
terrorist threat.
It wants to fill a range of jobs from caterers to drivers, linguists,
surveillance officers and technology experts.
Last year, MI5 placed adverts in the female changing rooms of health
clubs in a bid to find women surveillance officers.
Applicants face initial screening by a recruitment agency and then
must pass a series of interviews and other hurdles before facing
six to eight months of security vetting. It is especially interested
in fluent or native speakers of languages like Arabic and Urdu.
MI6, the secret intelligence service, is also seeking to recruit
more women and has launched a campaign to emphasise the ''family
friendly'' atmosphere of its work.
The number of women working for both MI5 and MI6 has fallen significantly
in recent years - with the image projected by the TV series Spooks
thought to be one of the causes.
Recruiters believe the programme may have encouraged a perception
that working for MI5 is dangerous.
Women are thought to be more adept at watching Islamist targets
because they are less likely to be noticed by radicals.
MI5 recruiters are perplexed by the fall in women applicants, not
least because two of the last three heads - Dame Stella Rimington
and Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller - have been women.
Other explanations for the fall include stiffer competition from
City law firms and finance companies.
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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