How do I know what I want to do with a Criminal Justice degree?
Reality Check
How about some good news?
So how do I find out about job openings?
What about graduate school or law school?
OK - but now, how do I decide what I want to do with my life?
Final thoughts
Individual Faculty Comments

How do I know what I want to do with a Criminal Justice degree?  

First of all, if you do not have your entire life planned out that is not a cause for concern. However, it could be useful to have some basic information to consider when thinking about what you want to do when you leave BGSU. Therefore, the following comments are to help criminal justice majors think about the variety of career options that await them upon graduation. It is part reality check, and partially designed to open your eyes to potential careers that you may not have considered before. This is not comprehensive, rather it is a beginning point for you to think about future careers. There are a number of reference books available that provide rather detailed information about specific occupations and contact information such as, Your Criminal Justice Career (2000) by the Justice Research Association, and Careers in Criminal Justice (1999) by W. Richard Stephens, Jr. The library and individual faculty members have these or similar books available for your review. Like other majors, many CJ graduates will never work in the field that they studied. There is no law (yet) that says you must work in the field in which you got your degree. There are many police officers with history and business degrees, just like there are bank employees and people in the computer industry with criminal justice degrees! The following is to help answer some common questions and concerns for those of you that have no idea what you want to be when you grow up.

Reality Check  

Perhaps you already know this, but someone must be honest with you: the "cool" criminal justice jobs that you see on TV and in films are largely a fantasy. There are very, very few people whose sole job it is to investigate serial killers. Similarly, the media image of what detectives and federal agents actually do (and how they dress!) is grossly misleading. Let's lay down a few basics:

1. Most careers in the criminal justice system require that individuals start at the bottom and work their way up to investigative or supervisory positions. This means that most jobs will require work experience as a patrol officer, probation/parole officer, or correctional officer. In some cases, military experience can count as field experience, but not always. Nearly all detectives, undercover officers, and special agents began their careers as patrol officers. While the federal government does not have "patrol" officers, most federal law enforcement agents have had some previous state law enforcement or military experience.
2. By far the most competitive jobs in law enforcement are those in the federal government. Remember that the vast majority of crime in this country is a state/local matter, not federal. Therefore, most people who work in the criminal justice system work for local and state agencies. When federal agencies have job openings, they often receive numerous applications from candidates who have bachelor's or master's degrees AND years of experience working at the state or local level. Military experience can sometimes make one more competitive but not always. While having a graduate degree may make you more competitive for federal law enforcement, field experience in law enforcement is often considered more important. It is our experience that many students' "dream" jobs require previous law enforcement experience. Again, nearly everyone starts at the bottom.
3. Many jobs in criminal justice - especially some of the more "exciting" ones - require specialized degrees or backgrounds in areas other than criminal justice. For the past several years it has been the case that the FBI has primarily been interested in hiring accountants, lawyers, and those individuals with computer expertise. Similarly, forensic and arson investigation almost always require a background in chemistry or other science-related areas. Working with offenders who exhibit mental illness or psychiatric problems often requires graduate study in psychology. These are very specialized jobs that require unique skills and knowledge. Students interested in those careers (or others such as food, occupational, or environmental safety and enforcement) should consider degrees in those areas, a dual degree, or graduate study.

How about some good news?  

Despite the previous comments there are a number of careers in criminal justice that actually are available to those with an undergraduate degree in criminal justice! Although not all city, county, and state police agencies require that you have an undergraduate degree, there is an increasing trend of law enforcement agencies seeking applicants with college degrees. Working as a probation/parole officer with juveniles or adults is another common career choice for our students and typically require a bachelor's degree. There are also positions within county, state, and federal institutions, not all of which are typical prison settings. Finally, there are a variety of jobs within the human services field such as working with juveniles or at-risk families. Clearly some of these will pay better than others, but they all tend to be challenging and rewarding jobs. The issue of salary is addressed below in more detail.

While the above positions are directly related to the criminal justice system, there are other agencies that deal with issues related to human services, corporate operations, domestic and foreign policies and various regulations and laws. Many of these jobs will require you to work near the state capital or Washington, D.C. where most agencies' headquarters are located. Examples of these include working for a legislative agency, in a department of state, or a human services agency. Finding these positions will likely require more searching and may require that you have a grasp of a particular area, such as foreign policy or state government, but these should be familiar to many of you. Finally, there are jobs in the private security and investigation fields. These can range from hunting down worker's compensation fraud to working in a firm that provides corporate security. The knowledge and experiences required of these will depend on the specifics of the position.

So how do I find out about job openings?  

Where you need to search will depend on the type of job. State and federal openings are usually posted at the web site of the personnel department of either the entire state (as in Ohio) or on the web site for the specific agency (e.g. US Customs). It is also possible to go to the office of the agency or personnel department and ask about openings. Many city or county agencies are required by law to advertise job openings in the local papers. You may also look through the job listings at the city or county personnel office. Jobs with private security or investigations firms are more like a business job search. You should check the help wanted ads or visit the office in person to inquire. Another source of information is the bulletin board outside of Dr. Lab's office on the second floor of the Health Center. We post job-opening announcements that are sent to the program on the board for student information. Although not comprehensive, these tend to be jobs that are within the state and positions for which agencies are actively seeking candidates.

With the exception of jobs in private security or investigations, it is our experience that job "head hunters" or career services are not of great value to students looking for careers in the criminal justice system. Government jobs tend to follow a specific process and are very formalized. This includes public notice of any job openings. Being prepared and diligent in your job search and application efforts will greatly improve your chances of success.

What about graduate school or law school?  

Every year several of our students go on to graduate school or law school. These can be rewarding experiences both professionally and personally. However, these are time-, money-, and effort-intensive endeavors and should be considered thoroughly. Graduate degrees in criminal justice, public administration, business, and psychology can benefit criminal justice professions. As previously noted, depending on the specific career, simply having the degree will not guarantee obtaining your ideal job. It can, however, improve your chances of career advancement - though you may still need to start initially at the bottom. A master's degree will likely take you 3 to 4 full time semesters and many programs allow students to enroll on a part-time basis. Going on for a Ph.D. is a major commitment, usually requiring a total of 3 to 4 years of full time study. Doctorates in CJ usually go into teaching or research, while those in psychology and social work can teach, have private practices or work at top positions in state agencies.

Law school is another area of interest for many of our students. Law school involves 3 years of full time coursework and students usually cannot work during the first two years of study due to the heavy course requirements. Contrary to popular belief among CJ students, most people who go to law school do not work in the field of criminal law after graduation. Most undergraduates who go on to graduate from law school practice in areas such as public interest law, copyright, civil rights, corporate law, etc., that may be of interest to you. Law students often identify an area of specialty while at law school and not before. Top law schools tend to be very competitive and expensive, though it may be worth it. If you know you are interested in a certain type of law, perhaps you should consider applying to a school that is highly regarded in that area. There are reference books and ratings on the web that provide this information.

Both graduate school and law school require entrance exams prior to admission. Graduate school requires the GRE and law school the LSAT. There are courses to help you prepare for the exams offered by the BGSU Office of Continuing Education as well as private courses, though the latter tend to be very expensive. Law school in particular is quite competitive. Law schools and graduate schools tend to focus primarily on your GPA and exam score. The lower your GPA the higher your exam score needs to be and vice versa. There is usually no absolute minimum, but a GPA below 3.0 will require an exceptional exam score for both graduate and law school. Students should plan on taking their exam nine to twelve months prior to when they want to begin the program. For most of you this will be the Fall semester of your senior year since many programs (especially law school) only admit students in the Fall semester.

OK - but now, how do I decide what I want to do with my life?  

What you finally decide to do after graduation will likely be the result of considering a number of factors. We cannot tell you what you should do - but we can offer you some suggestions to help you decide for yourself. The following list is to help you think about what type of career you will find the most rewarding.

1. How comfortable would you be carrying a firearm? This is an important question. If you are not comfortable around firearms and do not believe you could use one against another person, even if the circumstances required it, then you should avoid jobs that will require this. This includes policing (patrol and detectives), parole in some states, and several federal law enforcement agencies.
2. How comfortable would you be working with offenders? Careers in corrections (probation, parole, and work within institutions) and counseling/psychology in the criminal justice system will require daily interaction with offenders, many of whom have committed serious offenses. This is different from the work of police who typically have little interaction with offenders and usually for only for brief encounters.
3. How important is salary? This is a tough question to answer and will likely require balancing other considerations (e.g. how much you enjoy what you do, benefits, hours, etc..). Careers in criminal justice tend to pay reasonably well. However, you will not become wealthy working in the criminal justice system. If earning six figures is important to you, you should change majors or attend law school and focus on areas other than the criminal law. Salaries for police officers are becoming increasingly competitive and many larger police departments begin officer salaries in the upper $30K (and some over $40K) plus the potential for overtime. Despite what popular culture tells us, this is a substantial sum of money - and is more than many criminal lawyers and Ph.D.'s earn! Probation and parole officers tend to start at the mid to upper $20K per year. Careers working with juveniles are usually some of the lower paying jobs, though they clearly have the potential to be rewarding in a number of other ways.
4. Personal values and identity. This refers to a number of issues and questions that all students should think about when making major decisions that will affect their lives and the lives of others. Remember that most people change jobs and or careers during their lifetime. There is no reason why your first job out of college must be the one you stay with until retirement! There are however, some basic questions you can think about to decide whether you would be happy with a particular job. People tend to be happiest in their work when it is consistent with and reinforces their own beliefs, values, goals, and principles. So what is important to you? What type of person are you? Would you feel more comfortable in a law enforcing role, a counseling role, or a combination of the two? Do you like to work with others or would you rather rely own your skills and abilities? What kind of life do you want? What type of job would you find rewarding - protecting people, helping others, being in a position of authority and responsibility, being intellectually or physically challenged? There is no single answer and it is likely that no job will match perfectly with your expectations. Perhaps this is a process of elimination more than anything else and you could always change jobs or careers if you are not happy.

Final thoughts  

Hopefully this has been helpful in at least getting you to think about career options. There are a number of resources that describe particular jobs related to criminal justice. Visit the library or one of the faculty and we will help you find such material. There are several final suggestions that may help you to think about career choices and looking for a job.

First, use your internship to investigate a job that you may be interested in pursuing. If you know you will not be seeking a career in criminal justice, then the choice of internship is a matter of convenience and preference. However, if you are interested in a particular field or are not sure, seek out an internship that will give you some background upon which to make future decisions. It will also give you important contacts and potential references.

Second, be prepared for the time delay. The hiring process for government jobs in particular is rather lengthy. It is not uncommon for the time between interviewing and your first paycheck to exceed 3 months and perhaps even longer. Jobs in the private sector can move faster, but government positions require several formal procedures and can take some time. If it is essential that you have a job waiting for you upon graduation, then you should begin to search early in your last semester. Also realize that some departments and agencies have very limited windows during which they accept applications. The Ohio Adult Parole Authority for example only accepts applications for parole officer positions during a one-month period that may change from year to year. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to investigate job openings and requirements several months in advance of graduation to avoid missing any deadlines or opportunities. Search the appropriate government agency's web sites or visit the personnel office for more information.

Third, be mobile. To work in the criminal justice field, especially federal law enforcement, it is common for people to have to relocate to their job. The more place-bound you are, the more difficult it will to be to find a job. You should also be flexible in choosing your first job. Not everyone's first job was their first choice or their dream job. However, simply working in a particular field will open up opportunities and help you identify other jobs that you may find more interesting.

Hopefully, this information has been useful. Remember that life is unpredictable and no amount of planning will guarantee a particular outcome. That does not mean that thinking about these issues or setting specific goals and objectives is not valuable. On the contrary, it may make all the difference in you finding your true calling in life. However, do not expect that the plans and ideas you have the day after graduation will necessarily be the same ones you will have a year later.

To further help our students, individual faculty members have created "advice columns" to address issues that they find particularly important and that may answer a number of questions. You may find each faculty members comments by clicking on the below links. If you have questions or comments please e-mail or drop by and see any of our faculty.

Individual Faculty Comments  

Career Advice from Dr. King for Criminal Justice Majors.

1. Don't flip out. One of the most common behaviors I see 2nd semester seniors, and most CJ graduates do is "flip out." Sometime during your senior year you notice that other majors across campus (e.g., education, business) are interviewing and getting job offers. Odds are you (as a CJ major) aren't. You start to worry.

As you graduate, odds are you still won't have a job lined up. Now you start to flip out. Perhaps you have moved back home, but you are unemployed. Perhaps you're working a full-time job, but it's the same job you held in college. You start to wonder what your 4+ years at college were good for.

Let me violate a tenant of Verbal Judo and offer some advice. CALM DOWN! Very few CJ majors graduate with a job. Many good jobs require that you have a degree in hand before they will consider your application. You have to be patient. I have seen very good CJ students take up to a year to land a GOOD CJ job. In one case one of our very best graduates waited one and a half years to get a job with the one police department she wanted to work for. She had to wait tables during the fifteen months between graduation and starting the police academy. How long you must wait is related to how picky you are, if you're willing to relocate, etc.

I have seen many CJ grads make one of two mistakes when the flip out. First, many give up. They become frightened that their degree is really useless, so they start working at any old job, or the job they held during college. Working for a living is hard. Quickly you settle into a routine where you work 40 hours a week, come home, and relax. You don't have the time or energy to send your resume, look for jobs, or call prospective employers. Your dream of landing that great CJ job withers under the cruel heel of your "temporary" job.

My advice here isn't that you shouldn't work after graduation. Get real. You have to pay bills too. But you must continue to search for jobs, find time to go on interviews, mail your resume and call people, etc. Sure, it's hard to come home from work and then work on getting another job. But you are used to hard work because you are a BGSU CJ graduate. Think of how hard you worked on term papers and projects. That was training for this phase of your life. Giving up is a trap that culls many CJ graduates (especially those from other universities) from the job market. They give up. You should not.

The second mistake people make before, or after graduation is to latch onto something quickly. Often this "something" is going to graduate school or law school. Granted, both of these are fine avenues to further your education. But finding a job with a masters isn't much easier than finding a job with a bachelors degree. Be patient and realize that finding a good, real, CJ job takes time and patience.

2. Wait before you drop anchor. This second post-graduation tid-bit of advice is less pointed than the first. In reality, it's your life and you can do what you please after graduation. However, I've seen many promising graduates make the mistake of dropping an anchor too quickly. Two examples will illustrate this mistake.

The first is buying something expensive (particularly a new car) immediately after you graduate. A new car is a great way to reward yourself for your time at college. However, the new car payments require that you work. And having debt is more likely to trap you in a job that you may realize (after working there for a couple months) you really do not enjoy. That CJ dream job may not be so dreamy after 6 months, but you will feel trapped by you new car (or motorcycle, or flashy lifestyle). My advice is to put-off buying a new car until you are sure you like your CJ job.

The second anchor I see graduates drop is planting roots too quickly. I've talked to countless cops who after years of anxious waiting were finally offered jobs with the DEA or BATF. They're still cops because they had built a life while they waited for their dream job. That life involved marrying, maybe kids, maybe a house, friends, etc. Once their dream job called, they could not leave their life behind to attend training and get reassigned somewhere. Hey, it's your life and you decide how to live it. My advice is to avoid planting roots too quickly. You waited for four (or more) years of college to start your career. Do not rush into buying a house, starting a family, etc. Give your career some time.