Good response to job ads spooks MI5 paymasters

More than 4,000 people have reportedly answered the Government’s call for
more secret agents to help with the UK’s ongoing fight against terrorism.

The would-be spies present the recruitment agency being used by MI5 with a
huge challenge in selecting the right people and filtering out unsuitable
applicants.

Diversity will also be a key issue, with foreign language speakers and
ethnic minorities thought to be desperately needed in the fight against
Al-Queda.

Earlier this month, home secretary David Blunkett announced a major
recruitment drive at MI5 which is now looking to hire an extra 1,000
intelligence officers.

However, former MI5 intelligence officer and whistleblower David Shayler
criticised the agency’s HR practices and claims its upper class image is well
justified.

"Intelligence officers tend to be public school and Oxbridge
educated," he said.

He said the entire HR function should be outsourced to improve the way MI5
deals with personnel issues.

www.mi5.gov.uk

To see our special feature on MI5 go to www.personneltoday.com/goto/22906

How spooky can you get?

Have you got what it takes to be an MI5 spook? With the Government looking
for 1,000 extra intelligence officers, Personnel Today has teamed up with
psychometric testing experts Personality Assessment Solutions to devise a test
to identify if you’ve got the aptitude to serve queen and country in secret.

We have studied the websites of MI5 to try to identify what
personality traits and behaviours are associated with success in the
‘intelligence’ community. We then related those traits and behaviours to ‘The
Big Five Personality Model’ and created a short test to measure them.

Although we can’t promise respondents an actual job at MI5
we’ve got the next best thing. The person with the closest match to a secret
service recruit can either enjoy a 007-style BMW driving experience at
Rockingham race course or be pampered like a Bond girl on a deluxe spa day.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Think you’ve got what it takes? Then
take the test. GO TO www.testsonthenet.com/mi5.htm

For terms and conditions visit: www.personneltoday.com/goto/22907