Many people are under the impression that a criminal justice degree is required to work in law enforcement. This is not necessarily always the case. Here are a couple of examples of instances where a criminal justice degree may not be required.

In agencies such as the FBI or DEA, a bachelor’s degree is required but it can be in any discipline. If you earned a degree in business you will still meet the education requirements for a job in these types of agencies. You would not have to go back to school to earn a degree specifically in criminal justice.

Many police departments will hire high school graduates or individuals who have not yet finished their college degree. Hires often are, however, required to earn a degree by a certain date in order to maintain their position within the department. In Wisconsin, for example, police departments are implementing a rule stating that all new hires have 5 years to meet the educational requirements for their position. Each state has its own rules and time frames, and some states do not yet have education requirements for officers.

Reasons to Earn a Criminal Justice Degree

Although criminal justice degrees are not always required at the time of hire, degrees are required for better pay and better promotions. More and more law enforcement agencies are rewarding those who earn college degrees, or take advanced courses, by providing tuition assistance and pay incentives.

If you have always dreamed of working in criminal justice or are preparing specifically for a criminal justice career, it is a good idea to major in criminal justice or another related field. A degree in Criminal Justice can serve as a strong background for law enforcement and administrative duties in Police Departments, Sheriff’s Offices, State Patrols, or Federal Governments.

If you are looking for alternative ways to pay for your criminal justice education, it could be a good idea to consider a work-study program.  A work-study program is a federal financial aid program that allows students to work part-time while attending classes and use the earnings to offset their education costs. If your school participates in the work-study program, it will oversee the implementation of the program for your campus.

Work-study jobs can be fulfilled at jobs either on or off-campus. Off-campus jobs are usually with a private nonprofit company or a public agency and will benefit the community in some regard. Many criminal justice students find work study jobs at local law enforcement agencies or in campus or public safety. Jobs are usually related to your course of study if possible.

Work-study program wages vary according to school and student. Your wages will be determined by your financial need, the date you applied for the work-study program and the funding your school has. At the least, you will earn minimum wage but you may earn more depending on your skills and the type of job you have. Keep in mind that the amount you receive in work-study aid is a set amount so you cannot earn more than that amount.

To apply for a work-study program, you will need to fill out the FAFSA. If you qualify, the money you make from your work study program will help you finance your criminal justice or paralegal education. Funding can be used for online or campus programs, whichever suits your needs best.

See Also:

• Auxilary Police Officer Jobs
• Criminal Justice Internships

Whether you’ve already made the decision to enroll in a criminal justice degree program or you are still on the fence deciding if it’s right for you, it’s important to have a good idea of what you are (or could be) getting into. Although the curriculum of criminal justice degree programs will vary from university to university, most programs will require students take courses such as the ones listed below in this sample criminal justice degree curriculum.

Types of Core Courses You Can Expect to see in a Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Program:

• Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
• Criminology
• Fundamentals of Criminal Law
• Correctional Systems and Practices
• Policing
• Methods of Research
• Crime, Justice and Social Diversity
• Problem Analysis
• Courts and Criminal Procedure

Students who are majoring in forensics or crime scene investigation may also be required to take courses such as:

• Forensic Science
• Criminal Investigation
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry
• Microbiology
• Genetics

You will also need to complete the general education requirements for your school. These courses might include:

• English
• Communications
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Statistics

Your criminal justice education will not only provide you with career specific training, it will also give you a solid general education. Search to find a program that will suit your needs today!

Criminal justice degrees can lead to a wide variety of career choices. Criminal justice jobs are, however, much easier to secure with a criminal justice degree. Here are a few tips to help you secure a criminal justice job.

Earn a Degree

By earning a degree in criminal justice, you will be able to secure a job that could turn into a lifelong career. There is always a need for criminal justice professionals, and by earning your criminal justice degree you will be ready for many different types of job positions.

Pick the Field that’s Right for You

Look into criminal justice related areas such as loss prevention, security, forensics, homeland security, and corrections for the best opportunities.

Keep current on employment trends and job descriptions. Know what types of jobs you are qualified for, and where there is a need for your skill set. This will save you time in your application process.

Find the Job

Stop in at federal, state, county and municipal offices every now and then to check job postings or to ask what is available or anticipated.

CJ faculty, career services, and computer bulletin board systems are good sources for employment opportunities.

Join professional associations. Not only will this put you in contact with professionals in the field, you will also find that their newsletters can be a great source for job listings.

Utilize the people that you know. Many people find jobs through personal connections. Contact criminal justice faculty, alumni, fellow students, and professionals to see if they have any advice or suggestions on where to find work.

Get Ready to Work

Prepare for fitness testing. If you are looking for a job in law enforcement or corrections you will need to pass a fitness test. Start preparing for this test now so that you will be ready when opportunity knocks.

Make sure that you criminal history is clear of felonies and serious misdemeanors.

Last Saturday was both an interesting and informative day for potential criminal justice students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On February 20, 2010, Colorado Technical University hosted its annual CSI Day, which demonstrated to participants that real forensic work is not nearly as glamorous as it appears on TV.

CSI Day is a program offered by Colorado Technical University that introduces people to the school’s crime scene investigation program. It’s a free program and is open to everyone who is interested in the field. Participants learned about crime scene investigation, toured the CTU crime lab, collected evidence from mock crime scenes, and watched finger printing demonstrations. These activities are all part of what CTU’s crime scene investigation degree programs have to offer.

Events like CSI day are a great way to find out if crime scene investigation is really the career path you wish to take. Colorado Technical University will most likely hold similar events in the future.

How did you become interested in this field?

When I was a kid I loved creative story writing about fictional detectives. They sparked my interest for criminal justice.

What type of training or education prepared you for your work in this position?

My undergraduate degree, the police academy, and real world experience as an officer best prepared me for my work. Formal education builds the foundation, but, the craft of the practitioner fortified the rest of the construction.  You can’t sit in the ivory towers of academia and truly understand what you’re talking about.  It happens every day though, and people, who think they know what they’re talking about, write textbooks. The real practitioners are out there every day dealing with real people, applying the classroom to see if it works.

What is an average day at work like for you?

Interacting with students who feel they have a calling to a career in criminal justice, debating, researching and writing to advance the field of criminology.

What do you like most about your job?

Criminal justice students and researching the craft of criminology; interacting with other practitioners; avoiding the theorists!

What advice do you have for those who are interested in working in this field?

Work hard, study hard, be creative, become a critical thinker, think for yourself, loosen up and question things, develop a serious affinity for the investigative process; get that degree and go to the police academy, then walk in the shoes of the practitioner!

Real world experiences and hands-on training are crucial to careers in law and criminal justice. Quality degree programs, like the Monroe College School of Criminal Justice, are increasingly incorporating practical training and skill development into a solid general education. In order to make the most out of your criminal justice school experience, be sure to find a criminal justice program that will give you the training you need to succeed in this field and help you reach your career goals.

When it comes to counterterrorist agents, very few people are as qualified and as skillful as Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer, as many of us know from Fox Television’s Popular TV show 24, is indeed a jack of all trades. He has trained and worked as a government agent, was a member of the US Army Delta Force, worked for the LAPD, the CIA- you name it. Did I mention that he also speaks Spanish and Russian?

So how did Jack land his dream job of working for the US government in the Los Angeles Counter Terrorism Unit? It could have had something to do with his strong resume and wide range of experience within the field of criminal justice.

So what would you find on Jack’s resume?

Jack started by earning his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of California in Los Angeles. He then went on to earn his Master’s degree in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley where he developed a strong interest in government and criminal justice. Upon graduation, Jack entered the US Army and eventually became a part of the elite Delta Force. From there he landed a job in the LAPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics unit. The experiences he had working on the SWAT team prepared him for his work in the CIA, and it was during his time in the CIA that he was recruited into the CTU.

Jack might also want to call out that he has additional skills in fire arms, explosives, electronic devices, resistance to torture, and flying planes and helicopters. Not bad, right?

What we can learn from Jack Bauer:

While not all of us can say that we’ve been a member of the LAPD SWAT unit or are able to navigate a helicopter, there are steps you can take to improve your resume so that you can also land your dream job.

• Use your resume to market yourself as if you were a product. What are your features or benefits? What makes you unique? The fact that Jack speaks multiple languages is definitely unique and would set him apart from other people applying for the same job.
• Showcase your strengths. Most resumes are reviewed quickly so be sure that your best attributes stand out the most. Jack may want to highlight the fact that he has skills in handling firearms, more so than his ability to resist torture.
• Apply for positions that match your skill set. I don’t know about you, but if Jack applied to an elementary education position that I was hiring for, I probably wouldn’t be interested! (Especially since it seems that the people that Jack is close to are often targeted by terrorists!)
• Highlight your breadth of knowledge and prior experience in related fields. Jack would want to showcase his extensive background in the criminal justice field. There will be no doubt that he is qualified for any position in criminal justice when you look at his past work experiences.

Another important step? Earn a college degree. By earning your degree you will be qualified for more job opportunities, salary increases and promotions. Jack Bauer started it all by earning his college degree, and look where he is now!

So that’s what Jack Bauer would do in terms of advancing his career. What he does on the job is a very different story…