Ask Molly: All Languages are Mission Critical

Dear Molly,I am a first-generation American who is fluent in Spanish. I would love to use my language fluency in a career with CIA, but I’ve heard that CIA prioritizes the hiring of “mission critical” language speakers (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Pashto, etc.). Does CIA still need speakers of other languages?~ Spy Talk* * * * *Dear Spy Talk,I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: in order to effectively execute CIA’s global mission, we need officers who are familiar with, and can operate in, every corner of the world. Our success as an organization depends on our people and their ability to address emerging threats, wherever they may be. There is no skill more valuable to reaching that goal than language fluency and cultural understanding, and as a first-generation American and a fluent Spanish speaker, you would bring both to the table from day one.Your point is well taken, though. A lot of attention in the past decade or more has been paid to “mission critical” languages such as...