Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Section 31
7. Section 31's Recruitment Techniques Could Be...Questionable
Section 31 isn't going to have a booth at your school's job fair. Their questionable recruitment methods include kidnapping, faking people's deaths, and traumatizing loyalty tests .
However, sometimes they just asked. For example, Malcolm Reed was recruited by Section 31 shortly after graduating from Starfleet Academy. He enjoyed clandestine missions but left the organization just before his assignment to the Enterprise. He later discovered leaving Section 31 didn't mean they left him.
After the Klingon/Federation War, a Section 31 operative piqued mirror universe Georgiou's interest and casually left her a badge. She was the former Terran Emperor looking for a new sinister purpose for her life, so she accepted the new job.
In 2374, Section 31 operative Luther Sloan took interest in Dr. Julian Bashir, kidnapped him, and put him through a soul-crushing loyalty test before asking him to become an operative. Although the idealistic doctor initially rejected Sloan, he later aided him on a mission. He soon learned that their missions were detrimental to one's moral sense.
In 2381, Section 31 faked the death of William Boimler, Brad Boimler's transporter duplicate. Although William briefly questioned Section 31's melodramatic tactics, he joined when his life was threatened. He then laughed maniacally.