Graeme Dobell (GD): Paul Symon, welcome to ASPI. are between humans, and will always be that way. This makes it difficult to recruit the right people to work in the fields of intelligence and espionage, she said. We have a whole area. Held to accountpolitically by my Minister, the Foreign Minister, to whom I am answerable. Grab your best stationery with this. To get a recruiter to be interested in you, your resume should clearly, concisely, and , Sometimes, your impression of an interviewer can be more important than your actual qualifications. For those in the diplomatic service in the early years, I can read into the history a very real anxiety about having the overt and covert elements of government working in parallel. Below are extracts from the first two interviews, the last just becomng available this week. GD: Where does human intelligence fit in the cyber age / the digital age?Well, humans are a social animal. For the first time in the 68 year history of Australia's overseas spy service, the top spy Paul Symon has gone before the camera for a four-part series of video interviews, conducted by distinguished journalist Graeme Dobell on behalf of The Australian Strategic Policy Institute. From there, the public culture and purpose of the military and the secret culture of spies go different ways. The way special operations were defined was very much in the manner in. When anyone in the B&T office is dunking their hobnobs or ginger nuts, rest assured a Tetleys won't be too far off. ASIS is one of six intelligence agencies overseen by senior members of the government in Canberra and the defense department. Greenpeace turns its attention from saving the whales & onto Toyota. Answerable in an accountability sense to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who has the powers of a standing royal commission. ASIS offers our people attractive salaries, salary packaging and workplace learning. Both send the press into a feeding frenzy. We accept risk, we cant be cavalier. Both, replied Symon: A blessing because on holidays its a darn good read or darn good movie. No flies on programatic's back either. GD: What does ASIS do today?PS: Three main functions. He said he is concerned about unrest in Sri Lanka and potential dangers for people if they fall in the hands of human traffickers as they try to make their way into Australia. Paul. If people become leaders of everything in their country, if power is concentrated and centralised, then ultimately you become responsible for everything. Spies and the military share an operational disposition, he says, and an understanding of risk as the heart and soul of what theyre trained to do. The campaignhasalready featured onSunrise,The Project,TodayandSky News. Or the Virus for the Vaccine? Meta has labelled the News Media Bargaining Code as an "untidy short-term compromise". In its early decades, ASIS HQ wasnt in Canberra, but at Melbournes Victoria Barracks. The face of Australia's overseas intelligence gathering efforts, ASIS Intelligence Officers plan, develop and manage intelligence operations. VIVID will inject pace, emotion, creativity, and visual thinking into reputation management and purpose campaigns. There is human along with other forms of intelligence, you mentioned cyber. ASIS agent primary duties How is It Used? Were a component. Well-informed, thoughtful individuals will recognise and appreciate what they say over telecommunications devices and what they say by way of email, that there are agencies thatcan collect that type of intelligence, and a lot of people know that and therefore avoid that form of communication. I think weve got it about right, in terms of, strong thread of risk, right through the organisation in the way. But while the interview might be a simulation, it also has real-world implications, with high-performing candidates receiving an application code that they can use to inform ASIS assessors of their performance. What's going on with the Germans? So when youre trying to understand senior leaders around the region, or further afield, youre trying to understand the way theyre thinking, their vision for their country, the risks that they see, and the opportunities they see. By Graeme Dobell with the Australian Strategic Policy For the first time in the 68 year history of Australia's overseas spy service, the top spy Paul Symon has gone before the camera for a four-part series of video interviews, conducted by distinguished journalist Graeme Dobell on behalf of The Australian Strategic Policy Institute. As the only member of ASIS whose name can be publicly revealed, Symon isnt so much coming from the shadows as turning up the lights. Some examples of AI areexpert , If your cover letter and resume are impressive enough to be considered for a job, , If you arent prepared, the tell me about myself interview question may be difficult to , Are you prepared to excel in your next job interview? And as the only ASIS officer who can be named, he sees the need for more public conversations. Share your interview experience Interview experience Based on one interview Favourable Interview difficulty Based on one interview Difficult Interview process length Not yet available The very worst are at the pub moaning about their colleagues. The fact that we have counterpart organisations almost in every country of the worldintelligence agencies talk to intelligence agencies, they share information. We are the Australian people, we are comprised of them.. Intriguingly, it has also gained rapid global interest appearing on CNN NY and news programs in Germany, France and Spain. 2023 The Misfits Media Company Pty Limited. Insight Working at ASIS is not like James Bond. By Phil Mercer June 30, 2022. politically by my Minister, the Foreign Minister, to whom I am answerable. All this distorts sensible discussion.. We, as a collection agency, are working to the intelligence requirements of the assessment agencies. Hopes second royal commission looked at a bungled ASIS training exercise in 1983 at Melbournes Sheraton Hotel. Thats the legal basis on which we are held to account. Prime Minister Menzies signed off on the charter for the Australian Secret Service as it was known originally and that charter is framed in my office. Well, humans are a social animal. Airlines, utes & petrol firms declare we've given up even trying. If you think you have what it takes to be a spy, then you should consider heading over to the testing page to put yourself through the test. How much harder is it, how much riskier is it, to actuallyget human intelligence now?PS: Well there has always been risk involved. See what employees say it's like to work at Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Theres a lot happening, a lot of bandwidth, there is a lot of noise. Prime Minister Menzies signed off on the charter for the Australian Secret Service as it was known originally and that charter is framed in my office. Symon says ASIS has a good story to tell the Australian people. Some of us cannot have enough of either. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI), Exactly? We have a whole areaseparate of the operational line-areas that undertake compliance and risk management, so they oversight operations independently to ensure that risk management techniques are adopted in the way that many organisations think about risk management. That's because while there are plenty of unique things about working for us, you'd be more surprised by our similarities than our differences. You have to be resilient, be prepared to work overseas but always acting in Australias national interest., The classified nature of the agencys work, combined with Hollywood spy-movie stereotypes, often gives the public a false impression of what working in intelligence is actually like. But there are a lot of people that dont. GD: Where does human intelligence fit in the cyber age / the digital age? As Symon concludes in the first of the ASPI interviews, ASIS is in the people business, operating in the intelligence market for the cultivation, the recruitment and the validation of agents who are betraying the secrets of their nation. We are Australia's overseas secret intelligence agency. Yet, the joke may well be on him when he sends the invoice in. So at any time if they have concerns about legality or propriety of what we are doing they can actually go in and have a look. They will often have conversations where that line of communication can be on some very sensitive subjects that the diplomats prefer not to have or. The second royal commission killed off ASISs special operations or attack function, meaning that for a couple of decades Australias spies couldnt carry guns. Then to Parliament through the Parliamentary JointCommittee of Intelligence and Security who looks more at our administrative aspects of the Service. As we did on the 13 May 1952, we continue to obtain for our government, intelligence from overseas.The second function is what I broadly describe as intelligence diplomacy. Register for Free and receive the Campaign Brief Daily Bulletin. 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Symon sees a dynamic but positive tension between assessment and collection: There is a risk if collection and assessment are merged, that one can contaminate the other. This makes it difficult to recruit the right people to work in the fields of intelligence and espionage. Instagram rolls out age verification In Australia. A corporate role at ASIS will challenge your career in unexpected and exciting ways. Those activities I cant authorise, they have to be authorised by the Minister and the way the Act is writtenis that the Minister authorises an activity like that, she also needs to consult other Ministers including the Prime Minister, who may be affected or impacted by those activities that we do. Symon had a 35-year career in the Australian Army, culminating in his achieving the rank of major general and serving as deputy chief of the army and as director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation. Shame the agency felt the need to replicate the Best Job In The World formula. Meaning it won't be performing at this year's Eurovision. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) is hiring recruit spies with a different approach. I think weve got it about right, in terms of, strong thread of risk, right through the organisation in the waywe plan activitiesbut an agility through the delegation through to overall risk that lets us generate activities quite quickly, certainly at the more low-to-moderate end. We think we do it well, we do it legally, we do it with propriety, we do it conscientiously. Section 6, which relates to the roles and functions of ASIS, amended quite recently, all of those amendments are in there. The cornucopiacacophony line drew the most amused raised eyebrow from Australias chief spy in our interviews. So at any time if they have concerns about legality or propriety of what we are doing they can actually go in and have a look. But while the interview might be a simulation, it also has real-world implications, with high performing candidates receiving an application code that they can use to inform ASIS assessors of their performance. We reckon the interview needs a few tweaks. Information is power, and the head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service has for the first time appeared on national television to explain how his secretive organization operates,. Copyright 2023, The Australian Secret Intelligence Service speaks, The making of the Australian intelligence community, Keeping Australians and their civil liberties safe: The future of the Hope model, Intelligence oversight or out of sight? Risk has always been part and parcel of what weve done, but I would say itis deeply entrenched in the way we think about our activities and operations, and depending on the overall risk at the end, the overall risk determines who ultimately is the delegate is to approve anactivity or operation. They have developed an online interactive test to separate the wheat from the chaff at the first stage. People come from all over Australia to live and work at ASIS's office in the nation's capital. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service: Brand: The Australian Secret Intelligence Service: Want to see all the credits ? With ASIS having cover departments like Defence and like External Affairs, it brings to the fore concerns about Well, if mistakes are made, who carries the can? And probably in the early days when the service hadnt built up the centre of gravity that you need to be a foreign espionage service, I think there was probably very real concern that the risks outweighed the benefits and that any gems of intelligence that we provided for the Australian government were going to be very few and far between. The head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, in a rare television interview, has outlined concerns about Chinas economic and military ambitions. New research finds attention-optimised digital ads produce 63% less CO2. In the ASIS interviews with ASPI, Australia's chief spy has covered the formation of the service and its purposes and principles. Learn to separate a handle from a concept and you might land a full time job. It would appear The Project is continuing to win in the hotly contested 18-39 demographic & the religious nut jobs one. (A new window from LinkedIn should open for you to authorize the B&T login. Well we're pretty interested in what you do too. It also demonstrates that working in secret intelligence requires a more human type of intelligence not a chiselled jaw or action-movie reflexes.. Thats the legal basis on which we are held to account. Firstly it collects intelligence. Curse, because theres so much wrongtheres so much wrong with the way he performs his function. Chaser's Chris Taylor delivers his first column for B&T. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) has launched a recruitment campaign aimed at attracting the nation's next generation of intelligence officers via Cummins&Partners. can collect that type of intelligence, and a lot of people know that and therefore avoid that form of communication. TEAM LEWIS has today launchedVIVID, a new global reputation and impact consultancy, designed to respond to the rapidly changing, fast-moving, digital-first world. The idea to pressure test candidates with a job interview came from some now infamous recruitment techniques of the worlds largest corporations, according to Ward. Their job includes providing the information to help the Australian government navigate various geopolitical challenges. But my follow-on line (Theres a lot of noise out there.) worked because, apparently, that touches concepts ASIS is using, as Symon explains: There are jewels there, and thats what drives usto find those jewels. If you were to walk into our offices right now, they probably wouldn't look all that different to your own workplace. There is a very strong thread of education, knowledge and understanding about risk management. There is a relationship that builds. So there is an interesting medium to long term dimension to this, as a general rule closed societies run the risk of a greater number of individuals willing to betray the secrets of their country, because they are not happy, they dont get a voice.