How To Become A Supervisory Special Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a supervisory special agent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Special agents work for government agencies where they investigate subjects and try to find criminals. They can work in the FBI, CIA, or other intelligence agencies. Special agents are different from secret agents. The latter's employment is concealed for their mission while the former openly investigate criminal activity.

As a special agent, you can investigate many types of criminal activity, from terrorism to kidnapping. You may also be involved in catching white-collar criminals that have managed to escape local authorities.

Supervisory special agents oversee the activities of agents under their command. Supervisory special agent duties include giving assignments, holding briefings, conducting field interviews, monitoring wiretaps, and examining suspects' financial records.

The position is competitive and requires a lot of work. Basic requirements include being a US citizen aged between 23 and 37 and holds a bachelor's degree. You'll also have to take the FBI entry exam and climb the ranks.

ScoreSupervisory Special AgentUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $67,204

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 2.83%

Black or African American 11.91%

Hispanic or Latino 16.97%

Unknown 5.00%

White 62.63%

Gender

female 9.53%

male 90.47%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a supervisory special agent

Explore supervisory special agent education requirements

Most common supervisory special agent degrees

Bachelor's

66.4 %

Master's

13.3 %

Associate

12.4 %

Start to develop specific supervisory special agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Law Enforcement Agencies	18.43%
Fraud Investigations	7.43%
Criminal Investigations	7.22%
Violent Crimes	4.49%
DEA	4.48%

Complete relevant supervisory special agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New supervisorsy special agent learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a supervisory special agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real supervisory special agent resumes.

Research supervisory special agent duties and responsibilities

Manage the development of actionable investigative leads for DoD leadership; senior law enforcement and counterintelligence investigators.
Manage, review and coordinate DoD espionage investigations and counterespionage operations.
Manage numerous violent street gang investigations resulting in numerous convictions for narcotics and firearms crimes.
Conduct joint planning and manage AFOSI's criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations in northern Italy.

Prepare your supervisory special agent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your supervisory special agent resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a supervisory special agent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable supervisory special agent resume templates

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