Below you can find articles related to finding a job in or understanding the sector.
Job Titles
Job titles can be range from meaningful to frustrating. They can tell us a lot or very little, and sometimes almost nothing at all about a role. They can provide a sense of importance, create hierarchy, and as a way to differentiate between people within the same role. This is true of almost any industry, and the security & intelligence sector is no different. Having seen hundreds of positions at different companies, it doesn't always make the process of understanding what you're signing up to easier. I once worked for a company where I was given the title of ‘Intelligence Analyst’. I worked with a number of others in the same role, and we shared the same work and responsibilities, but others were given the title ‘Investigations Analyst’. While I can’t know for sure, I am confident that this was the manager’s way of increasing my interest during the hiring process to better match my expectations and ideals for joining the company, with me aiming to ‘break into’ the intelligence industry at the time. Similarly, I’ve worked as a country ‘Threat Analyst’, however, the majority of ‘Threat Analyst’ positions fall within a cyber security role and have little to do with non-cyber roles. Context can go a long way in determining roles - is it an intelligence company, a technical organisation, or perhaps a large corporation that needs in house cyber security?
Example Titles
As you can see, all of this can make it very difficult to navigate when searching for roles, so to assist with searching, here are a list of common (and some less common) titles used within the industry:
- Political Risk Analyst
- Country Risk Analyst
- Intelligence Analyst
- Intelligence Operative
- Due Diligence Researcher
- Investigator
- Risk Analyst
- Threat Analyst
- Security Analyst
The word "Analyst" can also be replaced with "consultant", "researcher". With almost all of these, you can prefix with Junior, Associate, Senior etc if there is a more defined hierarchy at the organisation. The "Associate" role has different levels within different companies. To one organisation it might be equivalent to a junior/entry level role, and to another a promotion after some years of service.
Free Courses
Training and education are important in any role, and intelligence is no different. Many people, especially when starting or planning to begin a career in intelligence or the security sector, often ask for recommendations on training courses. They usually have tool or skills-based courses (often OSINT) in mind, which is unsurprising, given then lack of technical skills related to intelligence or information gathering. Coming from university backgrounds where intelligence is taught, if at all, usually in the context of history or from a national security perspective, without the deeper understanding of how to ‘do it’ practically. Having worked in many companies, and with an OSINT background, I’ve seen how most of the people I’ve worked with (granted, limited to the UK private sector) are self-taught, with companies providing little to no training outside of internal processes/workflows and acess to their knowledge of sources. Some do send employees on an external courses, but these may be snapshots .
While ‘tools based’ courses may be more engaging and easier to grasp, they may not be as useful in the long term. There are of course, exceptions, if you wish to enter into an area that requires understanding of complex tools that may not be as accessible such as GIS, then it makes a lot of sense. But diving in without a clear goal may not be the best way.
It can be difficult to know how good a course is before going on it, particularly if the course is costly. Following are some free courses & tutorials on various subjects related to intelligence and OSINT. These are not the only courses available, nor is this list indicating they are the best, but they should allow you to dip into OSINT and related subjects by spending only time, and hopefully helping you understand where you may want to continue your education. If you have suggestions for other courses or comments about the list, please contact us on the Home Page.
Courses
The following are courses that provide structured (online) self learning on specific topics. Many or all should provide a certificate or some type of evidence of completion too. It is by no means a complete list of courses, but may be updated or added to in the future.
Introduction to OSINT
By Security Team Blue on their website.
"gain a look into the world of intelligence gathering and exploitation for activities such as target information gathering, public exposure checks, and investigations by security teams and Law Enforcement entities." An introduction to OSINT as stated. If you are struggling where to start, then this may help.
Open-source Intelligence
By the Basel Institute of Governance hosted on their website.
"This course equips you with the skills and tools needed to efficiently conduct OSINT investigations, extract meaningful data, and compile actionable intelligence." In fact, the organisation has many free (more niche) courses as well, such as Combating Terrorism Financing.
Cyber Threat Intelligence 101
By arcX on their website.
"an essential introduction to the world of cyber threat intelligence (CTI). Discover the basics and gain a new appreciation for this ever-growing area within cyber security." If you want to dip into cyber security while still wearing a (non-technical) intelligence hat, then this offers a nice introduction.
Introduction to International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
By the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Kaya.
"An introductory course on the basics of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). It is principally addressed to humanitarian practitioners, policy-makers and other professionals who are keen on understanding how and when this body of law applies, and whom it protects." Recommended for roles that have humanitarian elements, such as journalists or conflict analysts. It’s a good crash course in the basics of understanding IHL and when you might be observing breaches during research.