What if you became a spy? The Directorate General of Foreign Intelligence, better known by its acronym DGSE, has launched a major recruitment campaign with the aim of hiring 800 people before the end of the year, in various sectors.
"Operational Security Auditor", "Telecom Network Investigator", "HPC Systems Engineer", etc. Usually discreet, the DGSE struggles on social networks and offers a multitude of positions in various fields on platforms such as LinkedIn, JobTeaser or Welcome to the jungle, and in specialized fairs.
To achieve its ends, the administration, which is looking for "ordinary women and men ready to secretly accomplish extraordinary missions", does not hesitate to resort to the collective imagination of espionage, with nods to the "Bureau des Légendes", the successful French television series, which features DGSE agents on mission.
"Enter the legend"
"Enter your legend, join the French secret service!" reads the subtitle of the organization's LinkedInpage, the "legends" being the fabricated identities behind which hide the heroes of the series carried by Mathieu Kassovitz, aka "Malotru".
"You could say we're aggressive. We want to recruit the best and we are in an extremely competitive world, "says to Ouest-France the director of administration, responsible for human resources services of the organization, which seeks to attract new talent, especially in the cyber professions, an increasingly crucial aspect in the world of intelligence, but also science and technology, and foreign languages.
On its classified ads, the DGSE highlights the benefits it guarantees to its employees, namely 48 to 50 days of leave and 12 days of training per year, opportunities for development, a plethora of cultural and sports activities, the possibility of working remotely and "delicious dishes cooked on site".
The DGSE: a "technological locomotive"
This recruitment campaign is a direct repercussion of the vote, last July, of the new military programming law (LPM), which plans the spending of the French State in terms of defense for the period 2024-2030. A legislation that gives pride of place to intelligence and in particular to the DGSE, which should welcome 700 new personnel by the end of the decade. More generally, the annual budget allocated to the French intelligence services will double and reach the billion euro mark per year.
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"The DGSE must be the technological locomotive for the entire intelligence community. We must be competent everywhere: analysis, major shared programs, foreign languages, cyber... "said Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, before the National Defence and Armed Forces Commission.
Such growth forces the organization to leave its mythical headquarters on Boulevard Mortier, in Paris, to settle in Fort Neuf de Vincennes in 2028, offering twice as much space.
