Thursday, September 25, 2008

Still a Nerd

A couple posts back I had mentioned about a friend interviewing with the C (filler to prevent google search) I (stupid, I know) A. Well, then I took it out because indeed that friend was in fact myself and I didn't want to compromise anything. Sadly, I regret to inform you that I will no longer be considered for the position, so my tell all book will arrive early in the form of this post.



For those that didn't know, I applied for a position as a clandestime servcie offcier (intentionally misspelled, you never know), or in other words, a spy. It had always been my dream to sit in a café in Paris, scoping out some terrorist a few tables away. Perhaps take pictures of him, develop them in my apartment (black and white of course), and deliver them in a manila envelope to my superiors, preferably at a park bench.

I applied for the job not expecting anything to come of it. I just didn't want to be on my death bed some day, regretting that I never tried to be a spy (I'll have plenty of other regrets to take me into the hereafter). So, I filled out the necessary forms online and waited. I got a call about a month ago informing me that they would like to talk. So I had a 30 minute phone interview with a gentleman at Langley, after which he said they would discuss, at their monthly meeting, my profile(the contents of which I can only assume were a small photo paper-clipped to the folder, my resume, some stats, and perhaps a few pictures I drew in grade school).

In our phone interview, he of course started off by asking me why I wanted to join the agency. As a word of advice for any potential candidates, don't reference "Men in Black" at any time in your answer, no good can come of it. He also asked about my mission. I recounted the stories of Arabs attacking me in France, Elder Bender's pasta surprise, and other mission tragedies.

The coolest question was the following (keep in mind this was at the end of August): What event in the last month do you think is of greatest importance to US foreign policy makers?

I suppose there could be many answers, but I chose the Russia/Georgia conflict. He then asked me to describe the situation. I was going to crack some Peach state joke but by this point I was starting to realize that this guy doesn't appreciate sarcasm as much I do. So I just did my best, throwing some key words out that I thought would impress him, like South Ossetia, Medvedev, and Glasnost. I think he was impressed.

He then asked me: The Russians viewed the whole ordeal as no different than the US and UN's involvement where? For whatever reason, I didn't hear the UN part, so I started going through US history and had nothing. I was getting frustrated, thinking perhaps the Civil War because they wanted to breakaway? No…or maybe when we invaded Canada during the War of 1812? I doubt Russia even knows that. Anyway, add your guess as a comment if you'd like, but the UN thing should help.

I guess in the end, this is for the better. Oh well, back to this trial balance.

6 comments:

Kellie Knapp said...

sorry you're dreams of being a super duper Bad A$$ see eye a spy didn't work out.. rich applied for that position 2 years ago... close, but no cigar...something you may want to think about it the eff bee eye... Rich just passed his 3rd round in the interview view process, and only has a physical fitness test, physical exam, poly(i'm not sure this could get picked up)graph and background check left...then of course 5 months in dc for training... anyways.. they are in need on smarty pants money business type guys...( i.e. you and Rich) email me at ilovemyredhead@hotmail.com if you feel so inlclined to obtain more info :) I love your blog and the pics of you and the benders rockin guitar hero brought a tear to my eye :) this is really long...peace out.

Sarah said...

I would guess Iraq or Kuwait. Is it recent history, or further back? No doubt it has something to do with a Bush administration?

laura said...

Yeah, my first thought was Iraq, but what do I know? The only section of the newspaper I read is Datebook.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing that during the interview you didn't bond with him over the new season of "Gossip Girl"?

Jeff and Jess said...

For those still curious, the answer was Kosovo. "ohhhhh yeah..."

Chris and Tenielle said...

I'm not convinced. How do we REALLY know that you're not just saying that, eh?