CIA launches online streaming service recruitment campaign

The CIA is recruiting on streaming services like Hulu for the first time in an effort to attract a wider diversity of agents.

A video titled "Discover the CIA: Your Nation Is Counting On You" will run in 15 second, 60, second, and 90 second versions.

It shows new young officers learning their craft and being told that "most people will never see your work".

They try to find information "only known to three people in the world" and take part in a "dead drop" in which a crucial flash drive is handed over.

Some of the action takes place at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It ends with a CIA officer saying "I'll call the White House."

Gina Haspel, the CIA Director, said: “Since becoming director, I prioritised how, where, and whom we recruit to be the next generation of CIA officers.

"Advertising on streaming services is an important step forward to reach talented Americans with the diversity of experiences we require."

The move follows the CIA's launch on Instagram last year.

Sheronda Dorsey, head of CIA Talent Acquisition, said: "We’re meeting Americans right where they are -­ on streaming platforms -­ to share a glimpse of an exciting CIA career."

Writing for Foreign Policy the former senior CIA analyst Ned Price said the advert "presents a level of diversity, especially in terms of race, that today’s CIA could only dream of."

He added: "Is the ad all that realistic? Not particularly. The ad portrays orientation as universally enthralling, rather than what it is: a roller coaster whose steep, and often long, climbs through bureaucratese are occasionally rewarded with thrilling revelations."