OSINFO - Open Sources Information

The Government's West-based "spy centre" has started a recruitment campaign aimed at filling IT and intelligence vacancies, while changing the image of GCHQ.

A new jobs website has been devised to give the Government Communications Headquarters a makeover and sell the attractions of life in Cheltenham.

Prospective candidates are told the role of GCHQ along with MI5 and MI6 is to "counter threats to British people and interest" through signals intelligence and protect the Government's communication and information systems".

The launch follows the news that social networking site Facebook is being used to recruit secret MI6 agents. The Secret Intelligence Service has begun advertising on the website as part of its campaign to recruit operational officers. More than 5,000 people already work at the high-security complex outside Cheltenham, known as the Doughnut.

The website states "there are many misconceptions about working at GCHQ", before adding: "Some people think we're somehow a 'secret' business, where brainy 'boffins' work in darkened rooms, talk in hushed tones and avoid contact with the outside world. Others watch popular TV shows like Spooks and take it at face value. The reality is of course rather different. The first thing to remember is we're a Civil Service department."

Salaries range from around £25,000 for information specialists and intelligence analysts to about £35,000 for network defence specialists.

Visit www.gchq-careers.co.uk.