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I tried both just before and immediately after graduating from college in August of 2008, just before the economy truly went to hell, and it was an absolute f*cking nightmare. Around that time, city and county budgets were getting hammered, so if the departments in question were hiring, they had maybe 2 or 3 positions open if that, and then a hundred people would apply for them. Now, it's worse because in addition to new college grads and former military people, you also have laid off people from other industries who are going for LE positions now because of the job security (although they aren't so secure now since you have many places laying off cops at this point in time). Since they have so many applicants, agencies have become extremely picky to the point where your only chance to get a police job at this point in time is to be one of three things 1. an already certified officer with years of experience 2. a former navy SEAL with a PHD or 3. a chief's nephew. So in the meantime, I've given up and decided to pursue other careers in the criminal justice field.
Sorry if my post sounds negative, but it's just my experience from applying my ass off for the last two years. Hopefully someone else can offer a better experience and advice to you.
Probation/parole, corrections, courts, community corrections, and counseling. As for my educational background, I went to community college for two years, got my Associate's in Criminal Justice, and afterwards, transferred to a four year university to get my Bachelor's in Criminology. In addition, I did two internships as part of my curriculum as well.
When my son applied for a job with a city police agency he was in the Air Force with only weeks left before his enlistment was up. The city had six job openings and 260 applicants for those six jobs. He said many of the applicants couldn't pass the physical test and were eliminated immediately. After a quota was met of two females and two minorites that had to be hired, only two job openings were left. He got one of those jobs and has quickly risen to the position of sergeant. He has been a motor officer and swat team leader. Likes his job, but hates the weather in this city. He does not have a college education, but that doesn't seem to matter if you take your job seriously and work hard.
Soilworker summed it up pretty well. I graduated in Dec 2009 and the government process has been crazy. Since no one is hiring in the private sector, all the graduates and anyone else who can't get a job are running to the government jobs, even if they never wanted to be a cop or join the military. Even taking the tests does not mean anything if they're not hiring. I made it into the top 6 out of over 200 applicants for one Dept., called to find out the next stage of the process and was told that they just offered the test to update their list, since they have an opening but can't hire due to the budget.
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