Criminal Justice Career Resources
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What can I do with a degree in criminal justice?

Criminal justice careers can encompass a variety of jobs and typically welcome people with backgrounds in criminal justice, criminology, sociology, political science, psychology, social work, and other liberal arts and human services disciplines. The employment possibilities within the traditional police, courts, and corrections areas are being expanded with opportunities in private business. (from http://www.criminaljusticeusa.com)

Criminal Justice Job-Related Titles
Includes traditional and nontraditional titles;some require additional training or graduate/post-graduate degrees

Bureau of Labor Statistics Information
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook:

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
State and local governments employ most workers.
A bachelor's degree in social work, criminal justice, or a related field usually is required.
Employment growth, which is projected to be about as fast as average, depends on government funding.

Private Detectives and Investigators
Work hours often are irregular, and the work can be dangerous.
About a third were self-employed.
Applicants typically have related experience in areas such as law enforcement, insurance, the military, or government investigative or intelligence jobs.
Keen competition is expected because of the large number of qualified people who are attracted to this occupation; opportunities will be best for entry-level jobs with detective agencies or as store detectives on a part-time basis.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants
While some paralegals train on the job, employers increasingly prefer graduates of postsecondary paralegal education programs; college graduates who have taken some paralegal courses are especially in demand in some markets.
Paralegals are projected to grow faster than average, as law offices try to reduce costs by assigning them tasks formerly carried out by lawyers.
Paralegals are employed by law firms, corporate legal departments, and various government offices and they may specialize in many different areas of the law.

Lawyers
Formal educational requirements for lawyers include a 4-year college degree, 3 years in law school, and the passing of a written bar examination. Competition for admission to most law schools is intense. Demand for lawyers will be spurred by the growth of legal action in such areas as health care, intellectual property, international law, elder law, environmental law, and sexual harassment.

State and Local Government, Excluding Education and Hospitals
Local government employs more than three times as many service workers than does State government; most are firefighters and law enforcement workers.
The attacks of September 11, 2001, will increase demand for police, firefighters, and other emergency personnel; however, budgetary constraints may force spending cuts in other areas, slowing overall employment growth.
Employer-provided benefits are more common among State and local government employees than among workers in the private sector.

Police and Detectives
Police work can be dangerous and stressful.
Civil service regulations govern the appointment of police and detectives.
Competition should remain keen for higher paying jobs with State and Federal agencies and police departments in affluent areas; opportunities will be better in local and special police departments that offer relatively low salaries or in urban communities where the crime rate is relatively high.
Applicants with college training in police science or military police experience should have the best opportunities.

Browse other criminal justice related job categories by searching for “criminal justice” (http://bls.gov/search/ooh.asp?ct=OOH)

See Criminal Justice USA for more job descriptions at http://www.criminaljusticeusa.com/

Criminal Justice Job Search/Listings Websites

Federal Agencies
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms http://www.atf.treas.gov/jobs/index.htm
CIA Career Paths http://www.odci.gov/employment/index.html
Federal Aviation Administration http://jobs.faa.gov/
Federal Bureau of Investigation http://www.fbi.gov/employment/employ.htm
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Job Links https://www.fbijobs.com/
Federal Bureau of Prisons http://www.bop.gov/jobs/index.jsp
Federal Jobs Digest http://www.jobsfed.com/
IRS Criminal Investigation jobs http://www.jobs.irs.gov/mn-LawEnforcement.html
Naval Criminal Investigative Service jobs http://www.ncis.navy.mil/join.cfm
National Security Agency careers http://www.nsa.gov/careers/
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, INS Immigration, Border Patrol http://uscis.gov/graphics/workfor/
U.S. Department of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/06employment/06_1.html
U.S. Marshals http://www.usdoj.gov/marshals/
U.S. Park Police http://www.nps.gov/uspp/findex.htm
U.S. Postal Inspection Service http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/welcome2.htm
U.S. Secret Service http://www.secretservice.gov/opportunities.shtml

Police/Law Enforcement
LawEnforcementJobs.Com Employment Portal http://www.lawenforcementjob.com/
Police Employment.com http://www.policeemployment.com/

Other
Corrections Connections http://database.corrections.com/career/index.asp
Criminal Justice Jobs.com http://criminaljusticejobs.com/
Govtjobs.com http://www.govtjobs.com
Cybrary, The World's Criminal Justice Directory http://talkjustice.com/links.asp?453053981
LawJobs.com http://www.lawjobs.com/

Professional Associations and Organizations
American Bar Association http://www.abanet.org/
American Correctional Association http://www.aca.org
American Probation and Parole Association http://www.appa-net.org
American Society of Criminology www.asc41.com
Central Intelligence Agency http://www.cia.gov  
Federal Bureau of Investigation http://www.fbi.gov
National Association of Legal Investigators http://www.nalionline.org/
National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. http://www.nala.org
National Drug Enforcement Officers Association http://www.ndeoa.org  
National Federation of Paralegal Associations http://www.paralegals.org/
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives http://www.noblenatl.org/
National Sheriff's Association http://www.sheriffs.org/
National Security Agency http://www.nsa.gov/  
US Department of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/

Books and other Print References

Career Guidance Books and Print Resources

Other Suggested Titles

adapted from: http://www.unt.edu/unt-dallas/careerGuides/criminalJustice.doc

Questions? Email: Professor Randall Beger