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Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
Pathways Internship Program
The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pathways Internship Program is among the smartest ways to become a Special Agent. It specifically targets college students, offers them an internship and subsequently converts them non-competitively to Special Agent Trainees upon satisfactory performance. This program is similar to the Secret Service Pathways Internship Program.
For those of you that may have trouble understanding what I wrote above, let me explain in layman terms. If you get the internship and do a good job, then you
automatically become a Special Agent trainee! Those very same college students would likely find themselves ineligible for any other vacancy announcement. The Pathways Internship Program is a great way for agencies to get motivated young talent into their workforce, however it is a limited opportunity that rewards the "go-getters."
Some Additional Information
The Pathways Internship is a pilot program which allows undergraduate college students (Series 1899-Student Trainee) the opportunity to intern for select pilot HSI offices, and non-competitively convert into Special Agents (1811) pending satisfactory performance and eligibility. Below is a tentative summary of the program.
Tentative Pathways Launch Time Frame:
- September/October 2022. Please keep in mind this timeframe may change depending on the hiring priorities of HSI.
- Application will be launched on USAJobs Website.
Uniqueness of Pathways Internship:
- Paid flexible internship for students to non-competitively convert into Special Agents.
- Offices are encouraged to recruit locally within their AOR and may see this as an opportunity to address specific talent needs (STEM degrees, foreign language skills, non-traditional students, etc…).
Tentative Pathways Eligibility:
- Series/Grade: 1899 (GS 3, 4, or 5)
- Academic Eligibility: Undergraduate Juniors or Seniors enrolled at a qualified institution on at least a half-time basis.
- Minimum GPA: 2.3
- Location: Applicant will select one SAC Office when applying. Upon selection, interns can be placed in any office within the SAC.
- Prospective Interns should be aware of the Special Agent job eligibility requirements (fitness test, drug test, polygraph, etc…) as an intern who does not meet these requirements would not be an ideal target for the program.
2022 Pilot Locations (Note: These are high cost of living areas and will likely always be in demand).
- SAC San Francisco
- SAC Seattle
- SAC Phoenix
- SAC Detroit
- SAC Boston
- SAC New York
- SAC Washington DC
- SAC San Juan
- SAC Honolulu
Review this Pathways Flyer to learn more. Additionally, you can send an email to "HSIPathwaysInternship@hsi.dhs.gov" for all additional questions.
Good luck with your applications!
