MI5 safeguards the UK against threats to national security including terrorism, espionage and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. We also advise the Government and critical national infrastructure on the threat level and protective security measures, to help them reduce their vulnerability.
Graduates from a range of backgrounds join MI5 for demanding, stimulating and rewarding careers. Many join as Intelligence Officers, moving postings every few years to take on new challenges, gain different experience and expand their understanding of our work. Others join as Intelligence Analysts, Foreign Language Analysts and in IT roles.
Whatever your degree, it’s likely we have something that suits your skills and abilities. We need highly capable, objective and analytical graduates with outstanding communication skills and finely-balanced judgement. You’ll be patient, discreet and a team player, with strong organisation skills and a good eye for detail. You’ll be able to recognise problems and suggest solutions in a collaborative working environment and you’ll have the confidence and resilience to handle a high level of responsibility early in your career. The culture here is professional, friendly and informal and you’ll be supported by managers, peers and mentors.
We welcome applicants from all degree disciplines. Graduates who have read degrees ranging from Architecture to Zoology from 36 different universities across the UK have joined us as Intelligence Officers over the last two years. If you are considering applying for this role you should have or be expecting a 2:1 degree or equivalent.
Almost half of the joiners in our graduate roles also have postgraduate qualifications. 60% of those who have joined as Intelligence Officers over the last two years have had a Masters degree, 10% have had a PhD and others have joined with professional qualifications in subjects such as teaching, law, accountancy and journalism.
For some of the roles in our Digital Intelligence Unit you will need a degree in a relevant IT discipline as well as demonstrable practical experience.
Although we don’t offer a bespoke graduate programme, we provide extensive training and development opportunities through our training academy, personal and professional courses and work experience in a range of our departments to help you expand your skill set.
We offer a wide range of training from IT and communication skills, leadership and management to investigative, analytical and covert operational techniques.
On joining you’ll participate in a week-long induction course to learn about our values, culture, history, legal frameworks we operate within, security, health and safety and our IT systems. You may get the opportunity to complete our management training programme relatively early in your career to manage support staff in your team.
Postings may take you to our legal, policy or human resources teams as well as investigative and operational sections. There are opportunities to work in our regional offices and Northern Ireland.
Training, development and a variety of postings improves job satisfaction and promotion prospects, makes you more deployable over the course of your career and exposes you to a broader spectrum of our work.