Find solution
How to be an intelligence analyst?

How does one write reports as well as an intelligence analyst?

  • I have noticed that intelligence reports are amazingly written. Maximum information in minimum amount of words. How can we learn to write reports like that?

  • Answer:

    I think the most important thing is to first understand your customer. That is, who is the person who will be reading your reports? What do they want to know, what do they care about? Once you do that you can cater your product towards them. Then when you write a report you have to make it relevant. You have to make something that your customer cares about and actually wants to read, aka: the "give-a-shit" factor. Oh, country x has chemical weapons? So what? Oh, in the past they threatened to disrupt the security in a region y if they did get said weapons? Now I give a shit because I just so happen to work in region y! I've noticed that the news sites/tv tend to just report on the who, what, when, where, but almost never do they say why, how, or why I should even give a shit. They essentially just report what happened, but rarely do they provide any real analysis. I'd say lastly you need to eliminate "fluff". You're writing a report, not a story or news article, you're not trying to increase ratings, clicks, or pageviews, you're trying to give actionable intelligence to someone who needs it to do their job more effectively. You need to get to the point as quickly and as concisely as possible, because often times someone's life is at stake. You should get rid of words that try to scare people or incite any sort of emotion. Basically just give pragmatic, accurate information without imposing any of your own judgement, because at the end of the day you're not wring an opinion paper, you're just there to give facts so that the customer can make their own decisions, and take their own actions.

Charlie Weaver at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

When doing any writing it is imperative to remember that your report addresses the who, what, when, where, how and why.  In addition, adding a commentary but making clear it is a comment can also enhance a report for greater clarification and understanding.  If a report is lengthy, then it is important to have a summary of the key important issues.  Last but not least, figure that the reader may not have a lot of time so ensure the most important time critical and perishable information is cited upfront and center.  This is all basic good journalism.

Carol Fleming

Starting with the Kennedy era, there was a practice of intelligence reports intended for White House use being a maximum of 1 page. President Kennedy told Allen Dulles that he would not read any intelligence briefing longer than 1 page. That worked so well JFK escalated it to the entire Daily Brief being 1 page. By the time of Nixon, the President just wanted the Daily Brief, without the CIA Director explaining it. If an intelligence analyst knows that the only hope he has of  his report having influence is to be brief, he and his superiors will edit it down to the essentials.

Fred Landis

Students occasionally write to me and ask for advice on getting a job in the Intelligence Community. (I became an intelligence analyst at DIA after undergrad. I was there for about three years, and after that, I did a few years of consulting for various intel agencies.) The below is a gist of that advice. It is heavily biased by my own experience, and none of the below is meant to be universal. Before I tell people how to get a job in intelligence, I make sure they actually want to. Many people are attracted to the Intelligence Community because of its depictions in popular culture. That’s fine. But if you want a lasting career in intelligence analysis, you need to get past the superficial intrigue and be happy with the desk job that remains. Intelligence analysis is a research job, pure and simple. Popular depictions of intelligence analysis–just like popular depictions of police work or emergency rooms–exaggerate the frequency of dramatic, nail-biting case work. The work can be dramatic at times, but most of the time, it is routine and ordinary. You do it from a cubicle. So if you’re not a researcher-at-heart who loves digging through stacks of information, don’t go through the arduous process of getting the security clearance. It will waste your time and your taxpayer dollars.   http://www.grabmyessayonline.com/

Jillian Wyatt

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.