Computer hacker stealing data from a laptop concept for network security.

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is an intelligence agency in the Department of Defence and is currently advertising several “covert” positions on its website.

The ASD is responsible for the collection of foreign intelligence by interception while “stopping others from doing the same to us” and protecting our government’s information and cyber security. Its mission is to “reveal their secrets — protect our own”.

The spy agency is currently seeking to recruit offensive and defensive cyber specialists to “catch Australia’s phishing foes” and “defend Australia from the dark side”.

“Do you want to do things that most people cannot? Do you like to grapple with complex and unusual problems? Can you be counted on to find innovative and clever solutions?” the advertisement reads.

“ASD operates in incredibly challenging and dynamic technical and operational environments. As such it requires a rare mix of staff with skills, adaptability and imagination.

“These abilities are needed to out-think and out-imagine some of the most testing adversaries and problems imaginable.”

But it’s no easy feat to become a government spy. The selection process can be gruelling. Applicants must be Australian citizens and undergo a “comprehensive security assessment covering your whole life”. They are asked to “be discreet discussing your application”. Those who pass background and security checks will be subjected to a psychological assessment which determines whether or not the applicant has the “professional capacity to work in a high-security environment”.

“Most people only need to know that you have applied for a job with Defence,” the advertisement reads.

“If you want to work with other smart, skilled people, consider ASD for your career. If you consider yourself one of the best, then we are interested in you.”

In Australia, there are two primary organisations responsible for intelligence services: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the more aptly low profile Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS).

Both organisations work in intelligence gathering with ASIO focused on the domestic sphere while ASIS is international and based out of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

If you’re interested in spy work, there’s a trove of information available on the organisations’ websites, which is now their main recruitment portal. There are also information nights, commonly on university campuses.

The whole recruitment process can take between six months and a year with “security assessments taking some time to complete”. But the chances of success are slim. Assuming you’ve met all the initial criteria, approximately one in every 100 hundred applicants for ASIS and around one in every 50 for ASIO actually get hired.