Social networking has become the hip new platform for many professionals such as marketers, musicians, writers, tech evangelists, and a multitude of others. It seems that now the U.S. Government has taken notice of social networks and their recruitment potential.

Specifically, you can add the CIA to the list of those who have jumped onto the social networking bandwagon.

Social networks have been the focus of much speculation, banter, analysis and ire over the past six months, with special emphasis focused on the word-of-mouth marketing and SEO potential (inbound links) that these online communities can offer to both small and enterprise level companies looking to bolster their online presence.

Sites like LinkedIn have given focus to the professional aspect of social networking, providing employers with a new resource to find potential candidates to fill positions in their organizations.

The CIA has taken it a step further though, and is employing Facebook as a method of all-out recruitment.

Chaddus Bruce over at Wired has more on the nature of the positions the CIA is looking to fill and the Facebook group:

The NCS, one of the four directorates of the CIA, was established following 9/11 to gather intelligence from sources both domestic and abroad. In 2004, President Bush directed the CIA to increase the “human intelligence capabilities” of the agency and hire more officers that can “blend more easily in foreign cities.”

The search for better spies led the NCS to set up shop on Facebook, which is used primarily by college students. Every Facebook user has her or his own page, and users can choose to join Facebook “groups,” which can be created by individuals or sponsored by companies as paid promotions. The NCS-sponsored Facebook group was launched on Dec. 19, 2006 and will stay active for two months. The group currently has over 2,100 members, up from around 200 one week after its debut.
According to the CIA’s Facebook profile, the following criteria must be met in order to apply for a position within the organization:

•   Requires GPA of 3.0 or above
•   US Citizenship required
•   Foreign language skills a plus
•   All applicants must undergo several personal interviews, medical and psychological exams, aptitude testing, polygraph interview        and  an intensive background investigation.

One can never quite tell when Big Brother might be watching.