Back to: Career Ideas | COOL Career of the Month Archive

Corporate Spy

Spying at the international level is well documented and now includes industrial espionage as well as the more traditional probing for military or diplomatic secrets.

Domestic corporations are now recruiting "competitive intelligence practitioners" to help them learn more about activities within other firms in their industry as well as to help protect themselves against spies from competitors. As a part of their work, these specialists try to probe within the ranks of their employer - just to see how easy it would be for outsiders. Then they try to plug the leaks before actual spies from other companies can do real damage.

There's even a professional organization for the field, the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.

Training Required:

May who work in the field learned their craft while working for the CIA or a related federal agency. They've honed their skills against some of the best spies on earth and often find their new work a bit easier.

Information Source:

Career Opportunity News, Chicago: Ferguson Publishing.