I got an email recently with a “from” line that said: “CIA Careers.”

The email was touting jobs at the Central Intelligence Agency in an array of areas including science, engineering and technology.

Ever-changing challenges around the world demand that the CIA stay ahead of fast-paced global technology developments, meeting the Agency’s foreign intelligence mission through leadership in a wide range of scientific and technical disciplines. This presents a truly unique opportunity for science and engineering experts to work in a goal-oriented environment highly focused on issues of national importance.

Always the skeptic I looked a bit closer and saw that the email was actually from: “CIA Careers”@brinkpinkgoodnotions.com.

I’m figuring the clandestine agency did not have a website called “BrinkPinkGoodNotions” so I called the CIA to find out myself what the heck was going on.

At first Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the CIA, wasn’t sure if the email was legit or not, but she did say the agency was indeed recruiting big time and the job openings go beyond science and tech.

In fact, the CIA wants you former Wall Streeters pronto to work as economic analysts for the government.

Turns out the agency has a pretty big portfolio to manage given their spying activities and Harf says financial skills “are applicable to many aspects of our vital intelligence mission.”. (You know James Bond’s gadgets and lifestyle costs a pretty penny.)

“We currently have openings available for highly qualified individuals with financial community skills,” she says. “To make those employment opportunities known, we have recently placed a number of advertisements, including on Bloomberg Radio, Forbes.com, and Marketwatch.com.”

Those of you that are interested better move quickly. You have to apply online for an interview in New York by June 22. Here’s a link that talks about the process.

If you’re not the financial type, take heart. There are a wide range of opportunities at the CIA.

Only a small number of CIA employees actually work undercover. There are analysts and operations officers, linguists, engineers, doctors, human resource experts and scientists. The agency has also reached out to Arab Americas recently to help bring the under-represented population into the government fold.

Here’s a great link that will offer you an overview on the different jobs and information on how to apply.

The competition for jobs at the CIA is fierce for sure. “Over the past several months of Fiscal Year 2009, we’ve seen a pattern that, if it holds, would result in at least a 40-50% increase in applications over last year,” Harf explains. “Last year, we received over 120,000 job applications online—where everybody who wants to work here has to apply.”

And all the jobs require you relocate to Washington DC; and remember, you’re going to go through an extensive background check.

But go ahead, apply. What do you have to lose? Turns out the agency is desperate to find the best and brightest.

The email I got wasn’t directly from the CIA but it was sent by a college recruiting company that works with the agency.

I typically tell my readers never to take these unsolicited job emails seriously because they’re typically scams. I still say most are scams. But just to be safe, when you apply to any jobs you hear about via email from strangers make sure you go directly to the agency or corporation’s website before filling out anything.

Always put your spy hat on when you get these things. If you already do, great. Maybe the CIA is right for you.

I always wanted to go undercover. Alas, they’re not in the market for journalists.