Susannah Hutcheson

Special to USA TODAY

Our series “How I became a …” digs into the stories of accomplished and influential people, finding out how they got to where they are in their careers.

As an intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID), Alison McGriff covers the Transnational Organized Crime Western Hemisphere (TOC W), helping to gather information and intelligence from those who pose a significant threat to the national security of the United States. With significant briefing experience and years as a lawyer under her belt, McGriff’s wheelhouse is a strong one.

USA TODAY caught up with McGriff to talk about everything from briefing senior leadership to the importance of finding out what you enjoy.

Question: How did you get your start with the FBI?

Alison McGriff: I was actually a science major in undergrad – graduated with a degree in chemistry and then went to law school since I decided I didn’t want to be a scientist, per se. I thought when I went to law school initially that I would practice patent law, but my first year in law school we did an advocacy class, and I enjoyed that so much that I decided I wanted to do trial work.

When I actually finished law school, I started practicing doing mostly medical malpractice cases. I did that during my time in private practice, and I was very fortunate that when I started my career I was in a medium-sized firm, so they had a lot of small cases, essentially bench trials as opposed to full-blown jury trials, which were very good for brand new attorneys to cut their teeth in terms of learning how to try a case. I graduated from that to jury trials, all civil, so I was fortunate to do a lot of that and was looking to do something different. I happened to come across the FBI and gave them my resume, and then they contacted me to see if I would be interested in applying as an intelligence analyst.

Q: What exactly does your job entail?

McGriff: The simplest way I can describe it is this: My job as an intelligence analyst is to take in information and then to synthesize it, make assessments and present it to policymakers for them to make a decision. So, on any particular issue we try to look at what’s available in terms of information, give them sources of information, are there any reasons we should find those sources of information reliable or less reliable? Then, we try to make a determination based on that information. What does that mean for us in terms of a particular crime issue, for example, and then are there any recommendations or things of that nature we can make to policymakers, who ultimately make the decisions?

Q: What does a typical workday look like for you?

McGriff: I think one of the things I like about this job is there isn’t necessarily a typical day. Some days I come in and it’s just quiet, so I can just sit down, read, get through my emails, and clean up my desk. Some days, though not too many days, I’m nonstop from start to finish and I hope I can remember to grab a meal or two while I’m here. I like that there’s variety.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?

McGriff: In addition to the written materials we produce, we also often have opportunities to actually brief those to either immediate leadership or more senior-level leaders. As someone with my background as a trial attorney and someone who’s always been comfortable with public speaking, briefing is an environment I’m comfortable in. I think you get a sense of fulfillment in essentially conveying information in a discussion that hopefully is helping to inform someone who is going to be making the ultimate discussion.

Q: What do you credit to your success?

McGriff: There are a lot of people to whom I owe thanks for getting me to where I am today, starting with my parents who always pushed me. Education is very important in our family overall, so certainly my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles took great interest in and made sure that I was being serious about my studies.

I’ve just been fortunate to have some of the people I’ve met along the way – even though we didn’t have a formal mentor/mentee relationship, they took an interest in me and were willing to say, ‘Hey, we think this might be something that you’re good at,’ or ‘Perhaps you’d consider that.’ I’ve just been fortunate to work with some very good people. I think in any job, no matter what you’re doing, it’s always more enjoyable if you like the people you work with. It tends to make the job more enjoyable in times when what you’re doing isn’t fun, but I think you can also learn a lot from the folks you’re working with as well.

Q: How do you balance work and life with such a busy schedule?

McGriff: I don’t know that anybody has mastered that, but I will say that one nice thing in my experience at the FBI is that in addition to being a job and a career, we also think of ourselves as a family. I can certainly say that when I’ve had things going on in my personal life that either meant I wasn’t as focused at work or they were stressing me, there’s never been an issue in terms of taking time to deal with that so that I could come back to work and just be focused on work.

In part, since I’m fortunate to work with people that I like and would socialize with outside of work, there are times where we’re all focused strictly on work and where we do things outside of work, too. Since we are a family-oriented organization, I’d say your leadership always reminds you to take time to spend with your family.

Q: What has been your most fascinating experience so far on-the-job?

McGriff: One of the most interesting things has certainly been the opportunity to brief some of our more senior-level policymakers. When you just kind of step back and look at the bigger picture of the federal government – how many people are employed – when you actually have an opportunity to interact with some of the more senior-level policymakers it really gives you a different perspective in terms of all that they have to see and understand versus the very small piece of the puzzle that I’m working on in my domain.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

McGriff: I think the very nice thing about my career specifically as an analyst, but even just more generally in terms of the people working here at the FBI, is we come from such myriad backgrounds. It’s truly fascinating to talk to people and find out some of the things they’ve done before the bureau.

I think some of the best advice is to find something you enjoy, and follow that where it takes you. I think, ultimately, that’s really how I ended up here at the FBI – just following what I enjoyed and what I was good at, and it turned out that this was a good place where the two met.

Quick hits

• What is your coffee order? I am a tea drinker, so my morning caffeine usually comes in the form of Earl Grey with a little honey and nonfat milk.

• What is your favorite book? The Harry Potter series – I think she (J. K. Rowling) created a fantastic world that truly engages the imagination.

• What is your favorite song of the moment? “I Like It Like That” by Cardi B.

• Who is one of your biggest mentors? I don’t know that I’ve had specific mentors per se, but I have been fortunate over the course of my career that several of the folks that I’ve worked for have taken a personal interest in me and both tried to help develop me and also to give me guidance and pointers along the way.

• What is the coolest thing you’ve ever done? I did a cruise around South America starting in Chile and finishing in Argentina, so we went through the Strait of Magellan and stopped in Ushuaia, where a lot of the ships leave that are headed out to Antarctica. It’s pretty awesome to see that part of the world – coming through the straits is almost like open sea. It gives you a good sense of how small we are in the bigger picture of things, certainly in the physical world.