My day at a CSIS job fair

In search of Canada’s James Bond. It’s an assignment which exuded intrigue and piqued my curiosity.

I walked into Delta Hotels Toronto on Simcoe Street around noon Friday. While it might have initially felt like your run-of-the-mill job fair, it quickly became apparent the professional event I walked into was anything but ordinary.

I was greeted by the gracious Tahera Mufti, spokeswoman for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

“We work in a top secret environment so we can’t really tell you a lot about what we do,” she said.

Not words that generally inspire confidence in a journalist. However after agreeing not to show anyone’s faces in our television story, including applicants, Mufti and her colleagues agreed to speak with me and explained the need to be discreet.

“The current threat environment in Canada has never been this imminent and our job is to keep Canadians safe,” she said. “That includes our employees and our potential employees.”

More than 1,000 applicants came through, anxious to learn about the world of intelligence, with high-stakes jobs on the table.

Mufti said CSIS is seeking to fill a variety of roles from intelligence officers, cybersecurity professionals and surveillance officers, to administrative and human resources roles.

When I hear the title “intelligence officer,” I can’t help but hum the James Bond theme song. But Mufti assured me they’re not looking for the next 007 — though applicants do need a specific skill set.

“We’re looking for someone with a university education, someone who can be discreet, Canadian citizens,” she said.

“You need a driver’s licence for some intelligence officer jobs, but you also have to have some sort of intrigue, attention to detail and good interpersonal skills.”

Communication skills are actually high on the list according to Mufti

“Our job is to talk to people,” she said. “We’re human intelligence and we need to go out there, talk to Canadians and make sure that we have a proper conversation about the security of our country in order to keep all of us safe.”

Jokes aside, it’s a serious job with a serious vetting process.

If you want to be part of CSIS, you might want to dust off those skeletons in your closet because they might end up on display.

CSIS performs a nine-step background check that can take up to 18 months.