The CIA is looking for more Latinos to welcome into its ranks | Opinion

Growing up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and being the first U.S.-born child of a Cuban father and a Colombian mother, serving my country meant two things: joining the military or becoming a politician. I didn’t seem cut out for either, so I gave up on a career in government and set my professional sights elsewhere. Then fate — and my mother — intervened: This year, I’ll mark 35 years of amazing experiences at the CIA.

Growing up, I was a shy child, but I dreamed of working in the big city, striking out on my own and traveling the world. I attended New York University where I pursued my love of languages with majors in French and German. My life changed senior year when a classmate pointed out that the CIA was having an employment information session downtown. He insisted that a foreign-language background would be ideal for the Agency.

I laughed. The CIA had never been on my radar. I didn’t think I fit the “profile.” After all, the spies I saw on TV were male Anglo-Saxon Ivy Leaguers, not Latinas from New Jersey. Still, I went to my expert life coach, my mother, for advice. She said, “No pierdes nada con ir.” (“What have you got to lose in going?”) So, I went to the job fair. The rest, as they say, is history.

It’s been more than three decades, and I still marvel at the wealth of opportunities at the CIA. You can be a case officer, analyst, engineer or IT developer. Spend a career as a legal, medical or financial professional. Graphic designers, language instructors, security officers and even a barber all work at CIA.

Or try different jobs on for size. I started out in the real-life version of James Bond’s “Q” branch where spy gadgetry is made. My job was to ensure our case officers and the assets they recruited looked the way they needed to look for the area of the world in which they operated. For seven years I traveled the globe and saw firsthand what actual espionage was all about. Looking for a different experience, I joined the recruitment team and discovered a passion for human resources. The Agency sent me to graduate school at night for a master’s degree, and I rose through the ranks to become one of CIA’s top executives working on talent acquisition and building the Agency’s foreign-language capabilities.

As my experience shows, CIA is a place where Latinos can thrive and make important contributions to our national security. Diversity of thought, culture, and life experiences fuel the quality of our intelligence products. I almost missed out on these opportunities, and I have made it my mission to help other Latinos discover what the Agency has to offer. To this end, I helped create the Agency’s Latino employee resource group, the Hispanic Advisory Council. Now, as the CIA’s first Executive for Hispanic Engagement, my job is to spread the word that talented Hispanics can have a bright future at the CIA.

I invite my fellow Latinos to consider a career with the Agency. Explore the CIA via our website, cia.gov. It’s a rich resource with information on our incredible student and career opportunities. If you’re an undergraduate student, the CIA offers paid internships and a chance to live in Washington, D.C., for a couple of summers. Many of our interns become full-time CIA officers.

As my beloved mother would say, “No pierdes con verlo” — “You’ve got nothing to lose by taking a look.”

Ilka Rodriguez-Diaz is the CIA’s first Executive for Hispanic Engagement.