I Spy

UK intelligence agencies – MI5, Mi6 and GCHQ are enticing more women to join.

16:47 13 June 2016

UK intelligence agencies, which are known historically as man’s world, are now looking into hiring more female spies not just for legal or ethical reasons but also to make the country safer.

 

Former Mi5 officer Annie Machon provided insights as to which of the agencies is best for women based on their interests and personality.

 

Those who are team players, she says, will more likely to excel at MI5. Interested applicants must be able to influence people easily and gain their trust.

 

For MI6, the ability to operate abroad and alone in hostile environments is crucial while GCHQ needs applicants who are technically brilliant at things like coding and encryption.

 

Machon, who resigned with her former partner David Shayler as part of a whistle-blowing operation in 1996, talked about the recruitment process she had gone through. She said: "I applied for a job at the Foreign Office and got a letter saying we might have something more interesting for you." She guessed it might be for the secret service.

 

"It's a really tough recruitment process. The first interview is about three hours long, covering your life since you were 12. Then there's a two-day course competing against other candidates - you have to analyse written data and role play around the case."