Lynata said:

Depends on your approach - I'm personally fond of the idea that the Inquisition isn't looking for years of experience or exemplary skill... because those things can be found anywhere in the Imperium and can be commandeered with deft use of the Inquisitorial Seal. An Inquisitor's agents need to be something else, something which isn't easily found or particularly prized amongst the rest of the Imperium - doubt, curiosity and an enquiring mind. An Acolyte in service to the Inquisition is valuable because of the way he thinks and because he isn't willing to just sit back and accept things blindly. He or she must have a willingness to delve deeper into things that most people would never consider looking into, to question the things they see and hear and are told... because if they can't do that, then they're no good as Acolytes.

That sort of mindset is best found amongst the bottom rungs of mankind - those who doubt and question are either too young and inexperienced to have had it beaten out of them yet, or haven't progressed up the ranks due to an inability to accept their place and do their duty. It's that mindset which sets them apart from the masses of humanity, and prevents them fitting in, and it's that mindset that makes them valuable to the Inquisition.

I regard the Deathwatch the same way - the Imperium already has Astartes who can fight and kill... the Deathwatch needs only those who can fight and kill and think.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Like mindcleansed tools or Schola-indoctrinated orphans...

In the end, it can depend very heavily on the career. I could see that approach being pulled in specific situations, but generally it doesn't really seem compatible when we have backgrounds such as "Veteran of the Tranch War" and things which clearly do not sound like the character should be an inexperienced mook. Also, curiosity is generally seen as a bad thing in the Imperium.

I think that Inquisitorial recruitment is more like a matter of circumstances. The mindset you are referring to is just one part of the package - skill and ability do seem at least as important, else we would all start out as bakers, pilgrims or waitresses. Yet the people recruited are Arbitrators, Sororitas and Guardsmen. That precious thing that Inquisitors likely look for isn't just independence - it is the right combination of independence, skill and loyalty. And this is likely more prevalent in somewhat more experienced characters than some Hive ganger juve who got thrown into the pen for dissident graffiti before Skane came picking him up.

(gotta love Rogue Trader "MARINES LOL")

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Well, it is not the Deathwatch that selects its candidates, it's the Chapters who send them. The Emperor didn't make the Marines to think. Though I guess I'm just too used to the idea that every branch of the Imperium has its own specialty on which it should focus ... and that stuff like thousands of superhuman SWAT-Teams that travel the galaxy and engage everything that doesn't feel right does detract from the overall image of the Imperium. But that too is, as you said, a matter of approach on the setting.

Old Space Marines were awesome!