MI5 Hiring Teachers

To teach? No, of course not – to spy. The British security agency MI5, whose mission is to frustrate terrorism, stop foreign espionage and prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, has decided that Britain’s teachers have just the skills set they’re looking for in future employees.

In its most recent recruitment efforts, the agency has sought to attract school teachers by placing an ad in their trade newspaper – the Times Educational Supplement. The recruitment ad says that teachers’ people skills make them an ideal fit for a career as operational intelligence officers.

Literally: “Your experience of dealing with people means you can build trust and relationships with all sorts of individuals, which makes you the ideal candidate for developing a career securing the information we need to protect national security.”

Job responsibilities include developing relationships with people who can “provide information of relevance to national security,” writing reports and delivering briefings.

It’s a big jump from keeping a class of kindergartners in check to convincing terrorists to confide in you, but we’re sure MI5 has a solid training program in place for teachers who choose to make the switch from the classroom to intelligence gathering in the war on terror.

What can these folks expect to be paid? GBP 35,425 (about $58,000), which is about the same as a rather experienced high school teacher makes in the UK.

Of course, the government’s official PR take on MI5 targeting teachers, is that they’re not. They place ads in all sorts of trade publications and mainstream media to get a diverse group of candidates who may have the right skills and experience.

images courtesy of dorisday.net and directnews.co.uk