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I have recently decided that I am gioing back to college because if I dont,I am never going to get a successful career.I've been considering majoring in criminal justice but not sure whether or not it will open many doors. What types of career paths are available with a bachelors in CJ??? Also thinkingn about minoring in Pre-Law...although my dream of going to law school is just that, a dream.
On another note, the problem I have been having is finding out what job opprtunities will open up with certain degrees. Take Poli-Sci for example.... what types of opportunities will one have if they major in Poli-Sci???? Thats the problem I am having deciding on a major...... not knowing what career paths open up after college.
I have recently decided that I am gioing back to college because if I dont,I am never going to get a successful career.I've been considering majoring in criminal justice but not sure whether or not it will open many doors. What types of career paths are available with a bachelors in CJ??? Also thinkingn about minoring in Pre-Law...although my dream of going to law school is just that, a dream.
On another note, the problem I have been having is finding out what job opprtunities will open up with certain degrees. Take Poli-Sci for example.... what types of opportunities will one have if they major in Poli-Sci???? Thats the problem I am having deciding on a major...... not knowing what career paths open up after college.
Criminal Justice: Cop...MP (if you join the military), and some use CJ degrees as pre-law (I have a friend who is doing that.) Otherwise, the jobs are fairly limited. Just FYI, "Pre-Law" or "Pre-Med" aren't really minors but are usually just a set of classes designed to help you toward the eventual goal (so pre-law would actually have CJ classes, pre-med would have biology/chemistry classes, etc.)
Political Science/Government is definitely the more open one as far as careers go, but unless you want to be a professor, politician, or lobbyist, there may not be a lot available.
My advice would be to go with something more practical? I dumped history/government for emergency medical services/"paramedicine".
I would say yes there are opportunities. Cops, probation officers, corrections are all government jobs that have decent benefits and pay. I suppose if ou wanted to down the road you could go to law school
CJ is a middle of the road degree in my opinion. It doesn't directly lead to in demand lucrative careers like an accounting, engineering or certain health care majors do.
However, it is preferred by the private security industry and can expose you to knowledge and internships that will help getting into corrections, military or law enforcement though the degree itself isn't given preference over others for hiring. CJ has the same general utility as any other degree for the jobs that only require a degree. It also is usually easier which may result in a higher GPA, especially if you enjoy the topic.
I do think CJ is more useful than a humanities/liberal arts major for those reasons.
I have recently decided that I am gioing back to college because if I dont,I am never going to get a successful career.I've been considering majoring in criminal justice but not sure whether or not it will open many doors. What types of career paths are available with a bachelors in CJ??? Also thinkingn about minoring in Pre-Law...although my dream of going to law school is just that, a dream.
On another note, the problem I have been having is finding out what job opprtunities will open up with certain degrees. Take Poli-Sci for example.... what types of opportunities will one have if they major in Poli-Sci???? Thats the problem I am having deciding on a major...... not knowing what career paths open up after college.
I would say yes there are opportunities. Cops, probation officers, corrections are all government jobs that have decent benefits and pay. I suppose if ou wanted to down the road you could go to law school
Departments everywhere are being cut to the bone there are very few open positions out there.
CJ degrees are very job specific and don't translate to the civilian sector very well, however they will meet the "you need some kind of degree" requirement for most retail management trainee positions.
As noted above, thousands of police officers are being laid off all over the country and have been for the last several years. This is not a good time to try and get into police work, although some states, such as Texas, appear to be hiring pretty regularly. You need to be willing to relocate. My city has not hired police officers in years.
I've known a number of police officers whose degrees didn't have anything to do with CJ. As far as police recruitment goes, a degree is a degree. A CJ degree isn't going to impress anyone anymore than any other degree nor is it going to get you extra points.
If you want to study CJ, that is fine, but you need to know from the start that it is a fairly limiting degree. Also, as far as police recruiting, generally no one cares about pre-law or minors.
You want to set yourself apart? Get a degree (of any kind) and obtain proficiency in the language spoken by the immigrant population in the area you want to work.
CJ might be one of the worst degrees out there. You dont need one to do any of the CJ jobs like a cop or probation officer. They give you all the training you need. Most cops dont have CJ degrees. Also no such thing as "pre-law" this is not degree or minor that is "pre-law".
I agree with the pick the career/field and then work to get the degree needed to do it. Criminal Justice is a pretty limited degree with a very narrow focus. It will satisfy the degree requirement for jobs, but that's about it.
I majored in Political Science which is a broader degree, but also has limited application. The nice thing is that it sounds better when you say it, lol.
For the most part any liberal arts degree is going to be pretty much equal, but some are more restricting than others. If you have no idea and can't decide on what you want, fall back on a generic business degree or just take something that interests you.
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