finding jobs in Criminal Justice profession

GreenLantern

Well, the girlfriend just graduated about a week ago. She's got a B.A. in Criminal Justice, focusing in social work and social sciences. She did some cursory job searching before the end of the semester but didn't find much. Now she's looking a little harder but becoming a little discouraged because she doesn't see many opportunities available. There seems to be a number of LEOs here and always a wealth of information, so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions about where to look for jobs and what types of jobs would be in line with her educational background? Thanks a lot!!

nunn

Most of the people I know with such degrees are cops, or parole officers, or probation officers, or CPS investigators. Or, they go into a field unrelated to their degree when they find the jobs available don't pay very well.

I work with a number of degreed individuals. I have a high school diploma and a lot of life experience. The guys with the degrees don't make a nickel more than I do, and sometimes they make less.

SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net

sodbuster

Green Lantern,,My wife went down this road, her being a deputy sheriff and then Chief Detention Officer at the county Jail was about a 9.00 to 10.00 an hour job. However she then moved into a state funded job with the Department of Corrections as an Intensive Supervision Officer and the spread was more like 12.00 to 16.00 per hour with better benefits. Have you checked your states official website? Kansas has one that lists state funded jobs. It lists job description, pay and location. Also with the social work and social science, mental health is an area where at least locally they are begging for employees. Of course the main thing is her finding a job that she is happy with. I wish the best of luck for her.

"Just my opinion."

idsman75

Nunn--I was three years into a degree when I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. I talked to enough people and suddenly came to the conclusion that I already had enough college behind me to work in law enforcement and now needed some concrete experience. I joined the Army and am now considering a 20-year+ career with the military. Two years from now (when I am done with recruiting) will be the true turning point in my life. I've met so many people with Bachelors degrees that can't find work that they are willing to do so they go back to college so that their loans get deferred and get a Masters degree. When they complete that they're still overqualified for any job that is offered to them because they haven't gained a lick of experience. I'm not saying that this applies to your wife. I'm just citing common examples that I routinely run into.

Does your wife like foreign languages? How would she feel about a $20,000 signing bonus to go to one of the nations premier language institutes to learn a new language and work in intelligence? I'm sure the Army wouldn't mind paying of all of her college loans in the process if she wanted to do that. After her college loans are paid off she could put in for an Officer Candidate School application. Because she already would have a background in Intelligence she would probably have no difficulty getting selected to be an Intelligence officer. If she doesn't have any loans to pay off and if the bonus isn't important to her, tell her to consider going to an Army recruiting office to do an OCS packet right away. I'm going to put an OCS candidate in the Army this month. She has a 4-year degree from a local college and she doesn't have any student loans. If she did have significant loans out, I would have told her to enlist first to get her loans paid off quickly and then put in the OCS packet.

It's just an idea. The officer's corps is hurting badly due to the high demand in the civilian job market for people with that experience. An old classmate of mine resigned his commission 18 months ago to work for the U.S. Marshalls.

Edited by - idsman75 on 05/30/2002 23:17:45

4wheeler

My daughter has the same degree. She has a job as an admissions director at a health care facility,which is in the social services field.She did not want to leave the area for a better job so she chose the social services field. The money is pretty good for this area,only draw back is it is stressful. Good luck and do not give up.

"It was like that when I got here".

Rickstir

Know any politicians? About the only legitimate reason to associate with THOSE people is for the influence they have. I got my first programming job thanks to a State Representative that did a favor for a school superintendent in the capital. He called for me and I got the job the next day. If you don't know any, start cultivating a relationship. Show up at his rallys, etc. Make yourself known by the staff in the local office. You don't have to contribute large sums, but any amount/volunteering you do is a down payment for a future favor. Just like the godfather. It's the system, play it.

Like in the NFL, defense is the key.