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Go to the FBI's website and read about the hiring process for Special Agents. In order to even be considered you must have a 4 yr degree PLUS you must possess a critical skill that the FBI needs, which currently includes accounting experience (CPA), foreign language fluency, law degree, or intelligence experience.
Yes, you are right. Your degree doesn't define who you are but how many Criminal Justice majors do you know of who are the CEOs of companies? How many CJ majors are on Wall Street working as stock brokers?
With the economy the way it is, a CJ major applying for jobs outside the CJ field doesn't stand much of a chance unless the CJ major is applying to do manual labor for minimum wage or work as a janitor. Let me ask you this: If you contributed to a mutual fund, who would you want managing your money? A accounting/finance major who studied the stock market and knows the in's and out's of finance or a CJ major who doesn't know jack s**** about finance.
Let's face it. A criminal justice degree doesn't really teach you many tangible skills you can use to make an honest living. Most of the classes are nothing more than a bunch of theories about crime and police operations. CJ is nothing more than a specialized branch of sociology (another worthless major).
It all fairness, asking that is as arbitrary as asking how many CEO's are police commissioners, Sargents, lieutenants, captains and detectives.
Go to the FBI's website and read about the hiring process for Special Agents. In order to even be considered you must have a 4 yr degree PLUS you must possess a critical skill that the FBI needs, which currently includes accounting experience (CPA), foreign language fluency, law degree, or intelligence experience.
Yes, you are right. Your degree doesn't define who you are but how many Criminal Justice majors do you know of who are the CEOs of companies? How many CJ majors are on Wall Street working as stock brokers?
With the economy the way it is, a CJ major applying for jobs outside the CJ field doesn't stand much of a chance unless the CJ major is applying to do manual labor for minimum wage or work as a janitor.
Let me ask you this: If you contributed to a mutual fund, who would you want managing your money? A accounting/finance major who studied the stock market and knows the in's and out's of finance or a CJ major who doesn't know jack s**** about finance.
Let's face it. A criminal justice degree doesn't really teach you many tangible skills you can use to make an honest living. Most of the classes are nothing more than a bunch of theories about crime and police operations. CJ is nothing more than a specialized branch of sociology (another worthless major).
About the FBI...wrong. You need any degree plus relevant experience. There is an entrance category called diversified. Crtical skill only lets you bypass the experience requirement....if it is critical enough at the time. If you think about it law and CPA don't actually bypass it because they require just as much time as getting the experience does. The language requirement isn't based on major but on fluency, which are not neccesarily the same thing. So really the IT/Compsci is the only critical skill that you qualify for by a specific major that lets you bypass the degree plus experience requirement.
By the way FBI is one of a tiny percentage of law enforcement agencies (less than 1%) that requires a 4 year degree plus something else.
I don't have the time to look up each and every CEO, but I do know that several have an undergrad degree you consider "useless". Drive and leadership ability matter far more than what your major is once you get a job. At any rate, the chances of becoming a CEO are extremley slim for anyone.
No CJ majors do not work in mutual funds on Wall Street. But neither do accounting majors or compsci majors. That is a very specific field that is mostly limited to graduates of top business schools. CJ majors (and history and accounting...etc) can work in the fields where only a degree is required and the type is not specified, such as insurance.
In this economy no one without experience can get hired. The unemployment rate for 18-25 is somewhere between 35 and 50% depending on location. A lot of that has to do with experience. Relevant experience trumps degree type almost all the time when a specific degree is not required for the job. Most hiring managers would pick a CJ major with 3 years of relevant experience over a business or accounting major fresh out of college. If they both have experience, references and performance are going to be weighed a lot more than what their major is.
Tangible skills...if that was the point of college we would not have it. The number of undergrad majors that teach "tangible skills" at the undergrad level can be counted on both hands.
About the FBI...wrong. You need any degree plus relevant experience. There is an entrance category called diversified. Crtical skill only lets you bypass the experience requirement....if it is critical enough at the time. If you think about it law and CPA don't actually bypass it because they require just as much time as getting the experience does. The language requirement isn't based on major but on fluency, which are not neccesarily the same thing. So really the IT/Compsci is the only critical skill that you qualify for by a specific major that lets you bypass the degree plus experience requirement.
By the way FBI is one of a tiny percentage of law enforcement agencies (less than 1%) that requires a 4 year degree plus something else.
I don't have the time to look up each and every CEO, but I do know that several have an undergrad degree you consider "useless". Drive and leadership ability matter far more than what your major is once you get a job. At any rate, the chances of becoming a CEO are extremley slim for anyone.
No CJ majors do not work in mutual funds on Wall Street. But neither do accounting majors or compsci majors. That is a very specific field that is mostly limited to graduates of top business schools. CJ majors (and history and accounting...etc) can work in the fields where only a degree is required and the type is not specified, such as insurance.
In this economy no one without experience can get hired. The unemployment rate for 18-25 is somewhere between 35 and 50% depending on location. A lot of that has to do with experience. Relevant experience trumps degree type almost all the time when a specific degree is not required for the job. Most hiring managers would pick a CJ major with 3 years of relevant experience over a business or accounting major fresh out of college. If they both have experience, references and performance are going to be weighed a lot more than what their major is.
Tangible skills...if that was the point of college we would not have it. The number of undergrad majors that teach "tangible skills" at the undergrad level can be counted on both hands.
Yup. Plus from what was explained to me during my recruitment is that with a Master's you need 2 years full time work experience under diversified and 3 years full time "professional" work experience with a bachelors. All critical skills generally require experience simply by default due to the tenure of actually attaining that title. SO in essence my advice, as I explained to the OP is to major and succeed in whatever major that you find interesting, but obtain a high GPA and then build experience from there. Going into college with the idea of taking whatever needs you think the agency might be looking for is pointless and a pretty quick way to set yourself up in the wrong direction. As someone else mentioned earlier, if you can't past the written test, the polygraph, the background check, OR the PFT; anything and everything that you have accomplished outside of the FBI will matter nada.
Obviously some people on here don't understand the difference between "criminology" and "criminal justice." They are completely different fields of study that lead to completely different employment options. Criminology/Sociology is a social science that caters mostly to research skills and typically isn't offered at a community college (at least not legitimately). Criminal justice degrees are typically offered as 2-year degrees that one gets if they want to become a part of law enforcement. People in Criminology need at least a Master's degree and often go into research with federal institutions and can make very good money in the social science field. I assumed that was what the OP was referring to.
Yes,you can use any major to apply to be in the diversified pool of applicants for the FBI, but guess what? Diversified is the hardest and most difficult way to get a Special Agent slot. The FBI even put that on their recruiting website.
If you think about it, everybody with a four year degree and 3 years of work experience will be applying for the diversified field. Someone who was a bagger at a grocery store for 3 years with a college degree can apply to be in the diversified field. I bet the FBI has 90,000 applicants who applied to be diversified.
Yes, the FBI is one of many law enforcement agencies, but what you fail to realize is that LE jobs are competitive, even more so than regular private sector jobs. A CJ degree isn't going to make you competitive and "stick out" from the crowd of applicants. Everybody has a CJ type degree if you know what I mean. CJ degrees are a dime a dozen.
I guarantee if it came down to hiring either an applicant with a accounting degree and fluency in Arabic or hiring a Joe Schmo with a CJ degree, the former will get hired provided everything else is equal.
Your chances at securing employment with any law enforcement agency is better if you have some skills such as a CPA license, knowledge of foreign languages, or computer/IT skills.
Criminology is mainly a theory based approach on the study of crime and why people commit crimes. It is heavy on theory. I haven't heard of anybody with a Criminology degree making a lot of money, unless they get their PhD and compete, with the thousands of other applicants, for a tenured college professor spot.
Criminology is not that much different from Criminal Justice in terms of value or getting a job. They are both worthless majors.
The3vault:
I think you are one of those weenies that thinks a CJ degree is going to land you some CSI job or criminal profiler job out of college...hahahahahaha
I bet you are probably going to get, if you haven't already done so, get a Masters in CJ and then get a PhD. I have to say, you are setting yourself up for failure. Everybody I know that has a CJ degree is working for "peanuts".
I know a girl with a CJ degree who has been waiting tables for two years and will probably do it for the next 20 years.
I know a guy that is working some bull**** loss prevention job for $10 an hour.
Everybody I know who majored in CJ said they wish they could go back and major in something more valuable.
OP here is my advice: You can listen to the weenies on here and get your highly coveted CJ degree and then after countless applications wonder why you aren't getting hired anywhere OR you can save yourself the headache and disappointment and major in something that will help you stand out in the hiring process.
As a federal law enforcement officer of 17 years...
Study what you want. You'll get better grades because you''ll be more interested in what you do AND you'll have more fun doing it.
Degree type matters very little in law enforcement. Computer forensics is taught in specialized course to agents or officers who will be undertkaing that duty.
The FBI is the FBI. They have so many applicants that they can pick and choose because they're essentially the only agency everyone knows and they get a ton of press (personal opinion). This also means they have entry "programs", but those change like crazy - today it could be accountants, tomorrow military officers. Don't study an accounting because you want to get into the FBI; only study it if it interests you.
The requirements listed by law enforcement agencies are the MINIMUM requirements, only. If you want to get hired in this day and age, you should have a degree (almost all federal agencies who employ criminal investigators will either require it or expect competitive applicants to have one). What that degree is in matters less: mine is a "worthless" liberal arts degree .
I can't think of very many officers I know who DON'T have degrees, plus something else to go with them: extensive work/life experience, an exotic language, a very specialized skill, an advanced degree, or military background.
To the OP - you need to pin down what you want to do, eventually. Especially when you say you want to be a fed and then list "FBI, DEA," and then "CIA". The CIA has no law enforcement function and almost no relation to the agencies you mentioned before it. It's an intel-gathering agency and is a whole other ball of wax than federal law enforcement.
If you want more info, you might try googling 911 job forums or Officer.com.
Yes,you can use any major to apply to be in the diversified pool of applicants for the FBI, but guess what? Diversified is the hardest and most difficult way to get a Special Agent slot. The FBI even put that on their recruiting website.
If you think about it, everybody with a four year degree and 3 years of work experience will be applying for the diversified field. Someone who was a bagger at a grocery store for 3 years with a college degree can apply to be in the diversified field. I bet the FBI has 90,000 applicants who applied to be diversified.
Yes, the FBI is one of many law enforcement agencies, but what you fail to realize is that LE jobs are competitive, even more so than regular private sector jobs. A CJ degree isn't going to make you competitive and "stick out" from the crowd of applicants. Everybody has a CJ type degree if you know what I mean. CJ degrees are a dime a dozen.
I guarantee if it came down to hiring either an applicant with a accounting degree and fluency in Arabic or hiring a Joe Schmo with a CJ degree, the former will get hired provided everything else is equal.
Your chances at securing employment with any law enforcement agency is better if you have some skills such as a CPA license, knowledge of foreign languages, or computer/IT skills.
Criminology is mainly a theory based approach on the study of crime and why people commit crimes. It is heavy on theory. I haven't heard of anybody with a Criminology degree making a lot of money, unless they get their PhD and compete, with the thousands of other applicants, for a tenured college professor spot.
Criminology is not that much different from Criminal Justice in terms of value or getting a job. They are both worthless majors.
The3vault:
I think you are one of those weenies that thinks a CJ degree is going to land you some CSI job or criminal profiler job out of college...hahahahahaha
I bet you are probably going to get, if you haven't already done so, get a Masters in CJ and then get a PhD. I have to say, you are setting yourself up for failure. Everybody I know that has a CJ degree is working for "peanuts".
I know a girl with a CJ degree who has been waiting tables for two years and will probably do it for the next 20 years.
I know a guy that is working some bull**** loss prevention job for $10 an hour.
Everybody I know who majored in CJ said they wish they could go back and major in something more valuable.
OP here is my advice: You can listen to the weenies on here and get your highly coveted CJ degree and then after countless applications wonder why you aren't getting hired anywhere OR you can save yourself the headache and disappointment and major in something that will help you stand out in the hiring process.
Having a degree in accounting and being fluent in Arabic means absolutley nothing outside of a tiny amount of federal law enforcement agencies and maybe a place like Dearborn with a large Arabic population. Accounting is useless for patrol and an accounting major will not get preference over anyone else for 95% of the police jobs out there. Arabic and accounting are not applicable to most police jobs and will not effect hiring decisions.
You are right though, a CJ degree won't make you "stick out". But neither will any degree. College is not the primary qualification for law enforcement...you stick out by having reserve officer experience, community service officer experience, military experience, good references, high performance on oral board...etc.
I do fully understand how competitive law enforcement jobs are. I also understand how the hiring process works. It is a civil service hiring process, meaning if you pass all the phases of testing you are put on an eligibility list. I have never seen a state or a local agency bump someone for the type of major they have.
You are also wrong about CPA and IT certifications increasing chances of hire. Again, with the exception of a few federal investigative agencies they are not applicable to the job and will not be given much weight. The best way to "up your chances" is to score high on the written test and oral board (generally the only two portions that are scored) to have a higher position on an eligbility list. Foreign language might help ....but only if they are applicable to the population the department serves. Don't expect to get hired by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol because of Arabic fluency.
Weenie...what a nice and mature name to call someone who disagrees with you.
To answer your question, no I have no intentions of getting a Master's or Ph.D. They are not going to help advance my career in any way, shape or form. My opinion is 90% of the time graduate school gives a pathetic return on investment. That is certainly true for CJ.
I also have no intention of CSI or Criminal profiling.....my intention is to work on patrol.
Working as a waitress? $10 an hour loss prevention? And these aren't stepping stone jobs? I have a feeling there is more to that than just type of major....
I know many recent graduates of my CJ program who have secured employment with law enforcement agencies, correctional institutions or entered the US Military.
Let me add to the good advice for those who are interested in criminal justice and criminology: Do NOT go to Law School.
Why? Because our nation already has a huge oversupply of lawyers, many of whom never find work in the legal profession and end up unemployed, underemployed-out-of-field, impoverished, burdened by huge student loan debt that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and/or miserable (even if you find work, it might be 70 hours/week under high pressure). It's even difficult to find jobs as a prosecutor (very competitive) and even lowly public defender because the amount of new lawyer overproduction is huge.
Let me add to the good advice for those who are interested in criminal justice and criminology: Do NOT go to Law School.
Why? Because our nation already has a huge oversupply of lawyers, many of whom never find work in the legal profession and end up unemployed, underemployed-out-of-field, impoverished, burdened by huge student loan debt that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and/or miserable (even if you find work, it might be 70 hours/week under high pressure). It's even difficult to find jobs as a prosecutor (very competitive) and even lowly public defender because the amount of new lawyer overproduction is huge.
Wow that just sounds like a you have a huge chip on your shoulder. It's true, there are a lot of unemployed lawyers, but the ones who do make it have something in common: they went to top law schools. You can't go to just any law school and make it as a lawyer. If you're going to do it you need to go to tier 1 schools, because if you graduate at the top of your class at a prestigious law school you will have a great job and make a lot of money. For law school it really matters where you go. It's about power and connections, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. Don't try to dissuade someone from going to law school if it's something they really want to do. I have a good friend who is starting at Georgetown Law in the fall, and believe me he will have no trouble making six figures right out of the gate. But I agree that criminal justice usually isn't a stepping stone to law school, I mean come on, its a community college degree. Criminology still should not be considered anywhere near the same as criminal justice, but most people will never understand that.
Wow that just sounds like a you have a huge chip on your shoulder.
I do, but that doesn't make what I'm saying inaccurate. Hundreds of thousands of ambitious, hard-working, bright young people have had their lives completely destroyed by the law school scam. People go to law school under the delusion that they will be able to earn an at least middle-class income after law school with career advancement potential. Most incoming law students have no idea what the legal employment market is really like because they have been misled by the ABA, LSAC, NALP, the law schools, layman career counselors, Hollywood, and the media.
I think that what is happening in the legal field is a huge and invisible tragedy and an extreme example of the amount of suffering that college graduates are experiencing today. This problem is not limited to the legal field; we also have too many MBAs and PhD. scientists, etc. The big difference is that becoming a lawyer is the most expensive undertaking that could put you $120,000-$185,000 in debt that you can never escape through bankruptcy.
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It's true, there are a lot of unemployed lawyers, but the ones who do make it have something in common: they went to top law schools. You can't go to just any law school and make it as a lawyer. If you're going to do it you need to go to tier 1 schools, because if you graduate at the top of your class at a prestigious law school you will have a great job and make a lot of money.
Are you an actual lawyer (or even a law student) or just a layperson looking at the field from the outside?
The Tier 1 schools generally refer to the top 50 schools. As a general rule I would advise people to only attend a Top 25 school and even attending a Top 25 school is far from a guarantor of success. It has been reported that even Harvard 3Ls have been having some difficulty obtaining jobs at large firms. If Harvard 3Ls are having problems, what will it be like at the schools ranked 11-25?
Also, like you said, you need to graduate near the top of the class. That means that the 80% of people who don't graduate near the top of the class aren't going to do so well in the job market. Even at a Top Ten school you want to be in the top 50%.
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For law school it really matters where you go. It's about power and connections, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. Don't try to dissuade someone from going to law school if it's something they really want to do.
I think they should be made fully aware of what's going on in the legal job market, that our law schools have been overproducing lawyers for decades, and that it is a glutted and often very miserable profession. If, after learning about what the legal job market is really like, they still want to go, at least they can go for the right reasons and with their eyes open.
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I have a good friend who is starting at Georgetown Law in the fall, and believe me he will have no trouble making six figures right out of the gate.
Why do you say that? What if he graduates in the bottom 50% of the class? Georgetown is a good school, but it produces tons of graduates every year. In the new legal job market environment, graduating from Georgetown is not a guarantee of landing a job at Big Law or Mid-Law. (Like I said, if Harvard 3Ls are having difficulty, what's it going to be like at Georgetown?)
Are you at all aware of what has been happening in the legal job market recently? The large firms have dramatically scaled back their summer associate programs (from which they hire the new entry-level associates). Incoming new associates have had their offers of employment delayed or even rescinded. Unless the economy makes a miraculous recovery, the situation probably won't be better in the future.
Thousands of lawyers at large firms (who now have marketable experience) have been laid off and they will be competing for jobs with future classes. Firms are coming under increasing amounts of pressure from their clients (businesses) to provide value for their money, which means that the clients don't want to get billed for summer associate work and even for the work of first and second-year associates.
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