New Zealand’s spy boss Rebecca Kitteridge is on a recruitment drive and rather than looking for 007-types, one of her top sought-after qualities she is life experience.

“We have people who used to be school principals, lawyers, retailers, engineers, whatever … very diverse backgrounds,” she told New Zealand’s Fairfax media.

Kitteridge is director of the country’s Security Intelligence Service.

The recruitment drive comes after the government pumped an extra NZ$7m (£2.97m) into the intelligence agency following the introduction of legislation targeting foreign fighters. In other words, Kiwis attracted to the Islamic State cause.

She told the publication the agency had been “recruiting as fast as we can” to keep ahead of the foreign fighter threat, and on the "operation enablement side", which included listening devices and "other kit".

Any would-be recruits were warned to expect the unexpected from a job interview. 

Kitteridge put herself through the assessment process to see what applicants might face and found herself in a role-playing situation where she was expected to elicit certain information from people without raising any red flags.

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