AAAll-Source Analyst
AA
Career

All-Source Analyst

By the numbers
Typical pay
$93,790 / yr
Education to start
High school diploma or equivalent
Future demand
-0.7% by 2034
People in this job
114K
Figures shown for ·closest of 2 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour
07:00
Overnight read-in

Scan overnight cables and alerts; flag anything that shifted the threat picture.

07:45
Morning brief prep

Pull updated reporting, sharpen the lead assessment, cut anything unconfirmed.

08:30
Senior brief

Walk leadership through findings, confidence levels, and key intelligence gaps.

09:15
Source triage

Two reports contradict each other — decide if they're gaps or deception.

10:00
Deep analysis

Fuse HUMINT, SIGINT, and imagery into one coherent threat assessment draft.

12:30
Interagency sync

Coordinate with partner analysts to fill collection gaps and share raw leads.

13:30
Pattern review

Stress-test a suspected trend — real signal or confirmation bias?

15:00
Report & edit

Write the finished intelligence product; every claim sourced, every hedge precise.

16:30
Threat update

Revise standing assessments as late-day reporting comes in; flag urgent changes.

Things you do
  • Fuse reports from spies, satellites, and intercepted signals into one clear picture.
  • Spot hidden patterns in data that signal an emerging threat or attack.
  • Write concise intelligence briefs that help commanders make fast decisions.
  • Brief senior officials on threats, walking them through your findings and confidence levels.
  • Dig through mountains of raw intelligence to separate reliable facts from noise.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Do these two sources contradict each other, or are they describing different pieces of the same truth?
  • Is this pattern a real emerging threat, or am I seeing what I expect to see?
  • Do I have enough confidence in this assessment to brief leadership, or do I need more time?
  • Should I flag this gap in our intelligence now, or will raising it derail the whole report?
  • Is this source credible, or could someone be feeding us bad information on purpose?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in Less than 5 years, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:Intelligence Analysts · 97% related
If you like this, also look at