Case studies: Intelligence analyst, GCHQ: Sarah

Sarah studied for a BA in Modern Languages at the University of Sheffield. She is an intelligence analyst at GCHQ

I've always had an interest in current affairs and through my course I came to realise how important the work of the intelligence services is to the infrastructure of the country. I attended my university's main careers fair at the start of my final year and met GCHQ representatives on their stand.

They were really passionate about their work and this inspired me to check out their recruitment website. I was fortunate to discover they were advertising for analyst posts so completed an online application form. It took a while to get in, due to security clearances, but now I'm here I understand why!

What I learnt on my degree really doesn't relate to what I do. However, the skills I developed during my studies have been helpful, such as researching and analysing a range of information, picking out relevant facts and data, and communicating/presenting this back in an effective way (utilising written skills). Due to the nature of GCHQ's work they fully expect not to be able to recruit trained analysts, so they're often just looking for the right sort of aptitude.

Part of the role also involves interaction with other government departments and agencies. So I may have to take time out to prepare for this, particularly if I have to deliver a presentation around what I've been investigating recently.

I joined as an analyst four and a half years ago and spent time training in an 'academy'. This equipped me with the necessary skills to perform in an analytical function. Following this initial training period I then spent two years in counter-terrorism honing my skills and I've recently applied for temporary promotion as a senior analyst supporting military troops stationed overseas. In the long term, I would like to take on responsibility for a team of analysts in order to develop my management skills.

As with any job, there are some drawbacks and the main one in a public sector organisation is that you will probably not earn as much as in private industry. That said, the overall package (e.g. flexi-time, pension) and the wealth of opportunities to progress whilst doing something incredibly interesting made it an easy choice for me. There aren't many roles like mine where I get the opportunity to impact on current affairs and make a real difference to the world every day. It's incredibly rewarding and satisfying to see and hear how the intelligence I have produced has helped safeguard the UK or our troops.

It can be frustrating spending hours working through material only to realise that there was nothing of value in it. Also, being faced with delivering the occasional brief to a minister or to an audience of fifty peers and managers can be a little daunting, but it's having these sorts of opportunities that help you develop so it's just a case of really knowing your subject matter…and then calming the nerves!

It's a very satisfying role - to know you've made a 'difference' or to know that you were responsible for finding a key piece of intelligence that nobody else had and that this led to colleagues being able to break ground on a new event or topic is incredibly rewarding.