Become a Border Patrol Agent
Your entrance to becoming a Border Patrol Agent will be passing the Border Patrol exam, unless you are a federal law enforcement officer, meaning an agency such as the DEA or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Once you pass the Border Patrol exam, you will only be eligible for tentative job offers before you reach the age of 40. The age waiver available to some members of federal law enforcement agency members is not extended to Military police.
Competition is high for Border Patrol agent positions and the exam is intense. One in 30 applicants who take the written exam makes it into the Border Patrol academy. Applicants who successfully pass the written exam constitute only 40 percent of those who take the exam.
Acting assistant chief of Border Patrol training and recruitment, Todd Bryant, underlines the difficulty applicants' face in the entrance exams. He states that the test is very difficult and stresses the importance of using reliable study guides to prepare for the test. Bryant makes this clear with the warning, "If you come in cold, your chances aren't good."
Bryant explains the 4 ½ hour test is directed towards determining existing skill levels in logical reasoning, plus the applicants ability to learn a foreign language. The 3-part exam includes an artificial language test, which is instrumental in pinpointing this learning ability. Applicants who believe they are proficient in spoken Spanish will be required to pass a Spanish proficiency test instead of taking the artificial language test.
Border Patrol agent applicants may have their physical fitness and medical exams administered the same day they take their written exam, depending on the exam location or recruiting event. If not, these requirements will be scheduled for a later time. Border Patrol agent candidates must successfully perform several exercises to pass the physical fitness exam: 25 sit-ups in 60 seconds, 20 push-ups in 60 seconds, and a 5-minute step test.
A final, important step in the application process is the oral interview with a trio of experienced Border Patrol agents. Todd Bryant explains, "We will ask questions about how you would respond to certain scenarios based on real events encountered by Border Patrol agents. What would a reasonable person do in the same scenario?"
Every successful applicant, those who cleared the written, medical, and physical fitness exams, as well as the oral interview, will then need to pass a drug test and background investigation. Establishing fact from fiction through interviews with family, friends, neighbors, previous, and current employers, Border Patrol investigators are thorough in ensuring candidate credibility.
Plan to wait several months before completing the application process and hearing of a tentative job offer. Your assignment may be at duty station you have requested, but an applicant should be prepared that job opportunities may not be available at the duty station location they request.
Once an applicant accepts a Border Patrol position, they will report to their initial duty station to complete paperwork. From there, applicants proceed to the New Mexico Border Patrol Academy, where all room and board are paid for by the Border Patrol.
If you value freedom, but know there is a price. If you want to put on the uniform and serve your country. If you have the courage to do what needs to be done... then the Border Patrol may be for you... for the details that can change your life visit: Border Patrol Career
Become a Border Patrol Agent
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