Recruiting spies is Pretty Mother in lawseldom a public exercise, but Australia's intelligence agency is doing something different.

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), equivalent to the CIA and Britain's MI6, has launched an online interactive test to discover people who are cut out for the job.

Through a series of visual and aural exercises, the test seeks to identify suitable applicants that have the perception and empathy to work in the service.

You'll be required to pick out a missing number from a sequence, pick out faces in a crowd, and try and decipher information while three people are talking at the same time.

"What we are looking for is people from diverse range of backgrounds. People who have got a curious outlook, who are obviously intelligent -- it's an intelligence service," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told TV program Sunrise.

"People who are observant, bright, able to form relationships. Be prepared to be deployed overseas and act in Australia's national interest."

If you've got the attributes recruiters are looking for, you'll be given a code for your application to let them know you've done well on the test (there's also another code if you've done not so well).

Just don't tell anyone else you're applying, obviously.

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