U.S. Marine Corps MOS Career Guide

0211 — Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence Specialist:
Civilian Career Guide

Marine Corps 0211 experience can support civilian counterintelligence, investigations, insider-threat, compliance, and risk-analysis work. The strongest transition separates investigative tradecraft from military authority, protects classified details, verifies clearance status, and shows employers how interviews, assessments, reporting, liaison, and source evaluation produced defensible decisions.

Detectives and criminal investigators median: $93,580

Information security analysts median: $124,910

NAVMC 1200.1L entry and FY27 continuity verified

NAVMC source note

NAVMC 1200.1L assigns 0211 Marines to plan and conduct HUMINT operations, counterintelligence activities, and other sensitive activities. The entry includes source-network operations, foreign intelligence and insider-threat concerns, CI incident assessments, analysis, collection, functional services, reporting, and support to Marine, joint, departmental, and critical-infrastructure customers.

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Choose the part you need first.

Counterintelligence / Investigations Specialist$48k – $120kBLS projects 3% growth for police and detectives

Insider Threat Analyst$70k – $186kBLS projects 29% growth for information security analysts

Corporate / Private Investigator$37k – $99kBLS projects 6% growth for private investigators

Compliance / Internal Investigations Officer$46k – $130kBLS projects 3% growth and 33,300 openings per year

Intelligence Risk / Management Analyst$60k – $174kBLS projects 9% growth for management analysts

See full role breakdowns: demand data, hiring notes, and employer expectations →

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Section 01

Top Civilian Role Matches for 0211

Counterintelligence / Investigations Specialist Closest mission match

$48k – $120k

This is the closest mission match for 0211 Marines who can document interviews, incident assessments, collection support, liaison, case coordination, and written findings without revealing protected operations. Federal agencies and defense contractors screen for judgment, reporting quality, clearance eligibility, and role-specific qualifications. Military CI/HUMINT experience does not automatically confer federal law-enforcement authority or appointment to a 0132 or 1811 position. Use releasable case volume, reports, customers, timelines, and outcomes to show investigative scope.

CounterintelligenceInvestigationsCase supportCleared work

BLS projects 3% growth for police and detectives

Source: BLS OOH: Police and Detectives · Detectives and criminal investigators median $93,580 (May 2024)

Insider Threat Analyst

$70k – $186k

0211 work involving insider threats, foreign intelligence targeting, incident assessment, and multidisciplinary coordination can translate into insider-risk programs. Employers need analysts who can evaluate behavioral, personnel, physical-security, and cyber indicators while respecting privacy, civil-liberty, and investigative boundaries. Technical positions may also require networking, user-activity monitoring, or security-tool experience. Show triage criteria, referrals, records reviewed, partners coordinated, findings documented, and risks reduced, but never imply access to military systems or authorities transfers with you.

Insider riskThreat assessmentSecurityMultidisciplinary

BLS projects 29% growth for information security analysts

Source: BLS OOH: Information Security Analysts · Median $124,910 (May 2024) · 29% projected growth

Corporate / Private Investigator

$37k – $99k

Structured interviewing, evidence awareness, source evaluation, surveillance familiarity, and report writing can support corporate or private-investigation work. Civilian cases may involve workplace misconduct, fraud, due diligence, loss prevention, insurance, or background research rather than national-security collection. Many states regulate private investigators, and military experience does not replace a required license, registration, or supervised-hours rule. Target employers whose case types fit your releasable experience, then quantify interviews, leads developed, reports completed, deadlines met, and stakeholders briefed.

Corporate investigationsInterviewsEvidenceLicensing

BLS projects 6% growth for private investigators

Source: BLS OOH: Private Detectives and Investigators · Median $52,370 (May 2024) · 6% projected growth

Compliance / Internal Investigations Officer

$46k – $130k

0211 Marines who prefer a non-cleared market can translate policy interpretation, interview planning, documentation, fact development, and written findings into compliance or internal-investigation roles. Employers may investigate ethics complaints, conflicts of interest, fraud indicators, export-control concerns, or workplace conduct. The value is disciplined process, not military authority. Show how you handled sensitive information, separated facts from assumptions, maintained records, met reporting deadlines, coordinated legal or security stakeholders, and delivered findings that supported a documented decision.

ComplianceInternal investigationsReportingPolicy

BLS projects 3% growth and 33,300 openings per year

Source: BLS OOH: Compliance Officers · Median $78,420 (May 2024) · 33,300 projected openings annually

Intelligence Risk / Management Analyst

$60k – $174k

Analysis, collection planning, source evaluation, stakeholder liaison, and executive briefing can support intelligence-risk or management-analysis work outside traditional CI. Corporate security, critical infrastructure, consulting, and defense organizations need people who can define questions, identify information gaps, compare evidence, assess uncertainty, and recommend action. The bridge becomes credible when you add civilian data tools and business context. Quantify assessments, customers, briefings, partner organizations, turnaround time, and decisions informed while keeping operational identities, methods, and classified details off the resume.

Risk analysisDecision supportResearchBriefing

BLS projects 9% growth for management analysts

Source: BLS OOH: Management Analysts · Median $101,190 (May 2024) · 9% projected growth

Section 02

Transferable Strengths: What Civilian Investigations Employers See

Interview and Elicitation Discipline

0211 work requires preparation, listening, follow-up, documentation, and judgment about reliability. Civilian employers value that discipline when it is framed as structured interviews, information development, corroboration, and defensible reporting rather than unexplained operational terminology.

Counter-Threat Assessment

Foreign intelligence, terrorism, insider-threat, and critical-infrastructure concerns build a habit of connecting indicators to risk. Translate that into threat triage, vulnerability awareness, referral decisions, and documented assessment while respecting civilian legal and policy limits.

Sensitive Case Management

Handling restricted information, sources, reports, and partner coordination requires careful access control and record discipline. Civilian investigations teams need professionals who can protect privacy, preserve integrity, meet deadlines, and maintain an auditable case trail.

Liaison Across Organizations

CI/HUMINT outcomes often depend on relationships across commands, agencies, analysts, operators, and security functions. Employers see stakeholder management when the resume explains who needed the work, how coordination occurred, and what decision the collaboration supported.

Analytic Writing Under Uncertainty

0211 Marines must separate reporting from judgment and communicate confidence, gaps, and implications. That transfers to investigations, compliance, risk, and intelligence roles where leaders need concise findings without unsupported certainty.

Section 03

Common Mistakes 0211 Marines Make in the Civilian Job Search

Hiding Everything Behind Classification

Protected facts stay protected, but the professional process can still be specific. Name the interview count, report type, customer level, assessment method, coordination scope, deadline, and releasable outcome. A resume that only says sensitive operations gives employers nothing they can evaluate.

Treating Military Authority as a Civilian Credential

CI status does not automatically grant arrest authority, private-investigator licensure, federal appointment, or permission to use restricted databases. State rules and employer requirements still apply. Present the tradecraft and judgment honestly, then identify the civilian credential or hiring gate.

Leading With a Clearance Instead of Capability

Eligibility can help in cleared hiring, but status must be verified and it does not replace evidence of interviews, assessments, reports, tools, customers, and results. Build the resume around capability, then state clearance eligibility accurately without promising transfer or continued access.

Section 04

Credentials That Strengthen a 0211 Transition

ASIS Professional Certified Investigator (PCI)

Cost $580 ASIS member; $910 nonmemberTime Requires 3-5 years of investigations experienceFormat Proctored certification exam

ASIS PCI validates case management, evidence collection, and reporting knowledge. ASIS requires at least two years in case management within the qualifying investigations experience, so confirm eligibility before paying.

Investigations signal · Best for experienced case managers

Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

Cost $480 application and first exam attemptsTime Preparation varies; eligibility approval requiredFormat Live-proctored remote or test-center exam

ACFE CFE supports fraud, ethics, and internal-investigation paths. The fee covers the first attempt at each exam section; credential eligibility includes separate education, experience, and point requirements.

Fraud bridge · Strong for corporate and compliance investigations

ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)

Cost $199 exam in the AmericasTime Entry-level; preparation variesFormat Pearson VUE certification exam

ISC2 CC builds baseline cyber-security vocabulary for insider-threat and security operations teams. It does not prove user-activity-monitoring or incident-response depth, so pair it with technical training and releasable examples.

Cyber foundation · Useful for technical insider-threat teams

Section 05

Resume Translation: From CI/HUMINT Tradecraft to Civilian Evidence

The 0211 resume should reveal professional scope without exposing sources, methods, identities, operations, or classified findings.

Before: Protected but too vague

Conducted CI/HUMINT operations, managed sources, investigated threats, coordinated with agencies, wrote reports, and briefed commanders in support of mission requirements.

After: Releasable civilian investigations language

Planned and conducted structured interviews, counter-threat assessments, and sensitive case-support activities for operational and executive customers. Evaluated reporting, identified information gaps, documented findings, and coordinated referrals across intelligence, security, legal, and operational stakeholders while protecting restricted information and individual privacy. Produced time-sensitive written assessments and briefings that separated verified facts, source reliability, assumptions, and analytic judgments. Managed multiple requirements and reporting deadlines, maintained auditable records, and supported decisions involving insider risk, foreign-intelligence concerns, critical assets, and organizational vulnerabilities. Quantified work using releasable totals for interviews, assessments, reports, briefings, customers, partner organizations, turnaround time, and training delivered without naming protected persons, sources, methods, targets, systems, or operations.

The 0211 Translation Formula

Military term	Civilian translation	Proof to show
CI incident assessment	structured counter-threat triage, fact development, referral, and documented findings	assessments completed, response time, stakeholders coordinated, and decisions supported
Source operations	sensitive relationship management, information collection, reliability evaluation, and reporting	requirements supported, reports produced, timelines met, and quality controls applied
Debriefing or screening	planned interviews using structured questioning, documentation, corroboration, and follow-up	interviews conducted, leads developed, discrepancies resolved, and reports completed
CI/HUMINT reporting	evidence-based investigative and intelligence reporting with source, confidence, and releasability controls	products delivered, revisions reduced, customers supported, and deadlines achieved
Agency liaison	cross-functional coordination among security, legal, intelligence, operations, and leadership stakeholders	partner organizations, cases coordinated, briefings delivered, and actions aligned

Always quantify interviews, assessments, reports, briefings, customers, partner organizations, requirements, turnaround time, training, and releasable outcomes

Last updated July 2026 using BLS May 2024 Police and Detectives data, BLS Information Security Analysts data, BLS Private Detectives and Investigators data, BLS Compliance Officers data, and BLS Management Analysts data. Credential details were checked against ASIS PCI pricing and eligibility, ACFE CFE exam information, and ISC2 exam pricing. Duties were verified against NAVMC 1200.1L MOS 0211 and current FY27 Marine Corps continuity notices.

Section 06

0211 Civilian Career FAQs

What civilian job is closest to Marine Corps 0211?

Counterintelligence or investigations specialist is usually the closest match, especially in federal and defense-contractor settings. Insider-threat analyst, corporate investigator, compliance investigator, and intelligence-risk analyst can also fit. The best target depends on releasable case experience, clearance status, technical depth, education, and civilian licensing requirements.

Does 0211 experience qualify someone as a civilian investigator?

It provides valuable investigative experience, but it does not automatically grant federal appointment, law-enforcement authority, or a state private-investigator license. Review each employer and state requirement, document qualifying experience, and complete any application, exam, supervised-hours, or training requirement before representing yourself as licensed.

How should a 0211 discuss classified work on a resume?

Describe professional process and scale, not protected content. Use releasable counts for interviews, assessments, reports, briefings, customers, and deadlines. Explain methods at a general level, such as source evaluation or structured interviewing, while omitting identities, operations, targets, locations, systems, collection details, and classified outcomes.

Is a clearance enough to get an 0211 veteran hired?

No. Clearance eligibility can improve access to cleared opportunities, but status must be verified and employers still assess tradecraft, judgment, writing, tools, mission familiarity, and role qualifications. Lead with documented capability and use accurate language about current eligibility rather than treating a past clearance as permanently active.

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