Israel's Mossad headhunters to attend college job fair

In highly unusual move, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency will dispatch recruiters to interview prospective candidates in a job fair at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in the Negev on Monday, the Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. While its U.S. counterpart, the Central Intelligence Agency, has been recruiting on college campuses across America for decades, the fabled Mossad, which for the most part of its existence had opted to remain deep in the shadows, had only begun approaching graduating seniors in person in recent years. The adoption of the CIA's favorite recruiting method could hint at the increasing competition posed by the private sector, which offers higher salaries and no risk. Although the Mossad is relatively unfamiliar with job fairs, the agency, like the Shin Bet security service, has made recruiting new personnel a top priority, placing periodic advertisements in newspapers and receiving applications via its official website since 2005. According to the report, some 30 of Israel's leading hi-tech and defense companies will also be sending their own representatives to Monday's fair to lure the best graduates, including Intel, EMC, Check Point, Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. Prof. Moshe Kaspi, dean of students at BGU, said that the Israeli job market has seen instability in recent months, with companies laying off workers. "Nonetheless, we are seeing greater demand on the part of employers who want to hire more quality students in the fields of technology, health care, medicine and sales," the report quoted him as saying.