The profession of a competitive intelligence officer attracts specialists from various fields, including former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, mathematicians, IT specialists, journalists, economists, lawyers, psychologists and political scientists. Despite the diversity of professional backgrounds, freelance work in this field is practically non-existent. Freelance specialists are distrusted by companies, as they may have access to sensitive information and be subject to intelligence from competitors.
Full-time competitive intelligence professionals are employed by companies under a variety of titles, such as strategic analysts, researchers, economists, internet activity monitoring and information security specialists, or human resources analysts.
You can search for competitive shareholder data package intelligence vacancies on specialized job search sites using the keywords: "competitive intelligence", "media analysis", "business intelligence" and "reputation management". Companies rarely directly state the need for competitive intelligence in vacancies, but this can be understood from the context. The most common disguised titles for business intelligence in Russia are "analyst" and "researcher".
Requirements for the experience and skills of business intelligence officers may vary from company to company. Junior specialists often have to solve non-standard problems, formulated abstractly, but with a specific solution, even before the interview.
Competitive Intelligence Service Specialist
The requirements for competitive intelligence officers vary greatly depending on the company's industry, and therefore different skills and responsibilities may be required.
Some companies may require analysis of counterparty data from open sources, as well as the ability to find vulnerabilities on test websites or analyze financial documents.
In IT companies, knowledge of web application and network vulnerability testing will be key skills. This is usually required of computer security engineers.
Here, specialists with economic and legal education who are able to work with registers and databases are important. The key skill for the employer is the ability to analyze economic and legal documents.
Experience with social networks and the ability to conduct analysis in this area are important.
Companies specializing in finding cybercriminals can conduct the selection through their website or Telegram channel. This requires skills in using open sources to find information about individuals and analyze the activities of entrepreneurs.
One example involved a test task where applicants were asked to analyze the activities of two legal entities. This task was difficult, and only two out of 256 participants completed it successfully. Surprisingly, one of them was a former bailiff with an interest in analytical work, and the other was a student at a financial and economic university. Even among the colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, and FSB analysts, no one was able to complete this task successfully. Some refused to participate in the testing at all, considering it below their level.
Training of competitive intelligence officers in a company usually includes training in working with automated workstations of analysts (AWP) and passing a course on open network intelligence (OSINT). After this training, young specialists begin to work under the guidance of a mentor, and the overall training process takes from one and a half to two years.