On the surface, FBI Agents and CIA Officers sound pretty similar. They both catch bad guys, work undercover, and probably look really cool in a pair of aviator sunglasses, right? Not necessarily, although we’re sure the part about the sunglasses is true!
Employees of these three-letter agencies may have a common goal of protecting American citizens, but they have completely different missions, and their employees work in different ways. Think you know the differences between a CIA Officer and an FBI Agent? See how you do in our quiz!
The FBI officially started in 1935, while the CIA came along a bit later in 1947, though both of these agencies had their root in earlier organizations.
CIA Officers aren’t necessarily working undercover. They may not even have to work nights and weekends or fly off to foreign lands unexpectedly. Most of them work right in the Washington, DC area and have a “typical” day job doing things like accounting, working on vehicles, curating items for the museum, and more. Their mission involves preempting threats to U.S. security by collecting foreign intelligence, providing analysis, conducting covert operations, and keeping secrets, but not every CIA Officer works in all of those roles.
FBI Agents, on the other hand, could be stationed at one of 56 field offices across the United States or Puerto Rico. They’re most likely carrying a weapon, and have undergone months of training in academics, firearms, operations, and case exercises. Their mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.
The differences don’t end there. They undergo different types of training and require that employees have different levels of experience and education. But despite their differences, the employees at both of these agencies do imperative work on behalf of the people of the United States.
