Hello everyone,
This is a tough time to be looking for work in the criminal justice field. With budget shortfalls and cutbacks, many agencies are downsizing or handling the cuts through attrition. This meas that as officers or other personnel retire, the position is left unfilled or eliminated.
As I have mentioned in the past, there is a job for nearly everyone who wants to reach for them, but not necessarily in new England. It means sacrificing and taking chances.
The reality is that people are moving, very often to warmer climates and that is where the need and growth of positions are. Over the years, WSU alums have traveled to Washington, DC, Florida, Texas, California, the Carolinas in search of jobs.
One place to look for openings in policing is at http://www.discoverpolicing.org/.
This is a joint effort by the US Department of Justice and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Take a look at how rich the website is. Another place to look is at http://www.usajobs.gov/.
There are other opportunities to look for related work in Compliance units, Risk Management, civil investigations, general investigations for the feds and state agencies across America.
Let us know how you are thinking about finding a career in these trying times. What are some of the other place to look?
Dr. Steve
Although I haven't planned on a career in policing, I'm hoping to try and gain some experience sometime soon in the criminal justice field before I attend law school. My hopes are geared towards probate, but again, I'm feeling around in the dark. I really have no experience in the criminal justice world, and am clueles as to where to begin, but other sites that I have thought to be good are www.indeed.com or www.tandq.com. They're not necessarily CJ-geared websites, but I have found them helpful, even in my search for salaries in different professions.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! :o)
When I came to Worcester State, I was not sure that I wanted to pursue a career in Criminal Justice. After taking some CJ courses, however, I knew that I was in the right major. I am not sure where I want to go with this major, but I am leaning toward forensic science. I talked to a woman in forensics at the career fair and she said that although she is in the forensics field, she interacts with police officers and crime scene investigators when she goes to collect evidence at crime scenes. That to me is very cool.
ReplyDeleteI had always thought that there would be jobs available around this area when I graduated, but after taking Law Enforcement and Society, I found out that that is not the case. I know there are some jobs, but it would be my best bet to move to another state to find more opportunities. Moving will have to be a factor that I will have to consider when on the job search. I am trying to get an internship with my local police department to gain some expericence before I graduate. The websites mentioned should help me greatly.
I have been told by many people recently that in order to get a job within the Criminal Justice field now-a-days you need to go outside of your comfort zone. I couldn't agree with you more Dr. Steve. I have finally decided what I want to do with my life. I want to be a forensics accountant. I want to deal with white collar crimes and fraud. I was talking to Dr. T and he was telling me about it. I recently added a second major in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. Dr. T told me if I were to go to graduate school for accounting especially forensics accounting, I would need to look outside of New England. He mentioned a few places like Texas, California and a couple more. I plan on looking more into schools out there because I now know in order to get a great job, sometimes you need to look outside your comfort zone and just go for it.
ReplyDeleteTo those seniors who are facing graduation, the world is yours! You need to become responsible and flexible. Explore the opportunities that are out there even if it means leaving your comfort zone of (home). Gaining any experience is the first step to reaching and achieving your goals. Don't restrict yourself to working here in MA. You may even find out that you enjoy other states and their warner climates. Let's face it, when you go on vacation you travel to the south or west for the sun. How about searching for a criminal justice related occupation in one of those areas, then after gaining experience in that job, you can revise your credentials and you will have a new recommmendation to place on your resume and maybe send to a job back here, that may eventually open in the future. Don't confine yourself to searching locally and having to fight for a position against all the classmates you just graduated with. As an active duty military member I had to decide to leave my comfort zone and was able to view the world, experience new places, gain more contacts and build new friendships. My list of recommendations grew to the point that I actually got into the position I felt years ago was unachievable. I had to first take the step outside my comfort zone by working in other states and in jobs that were not what I felt fit my desires. I combined that with my experiences, endurance, and perseverance, and patience and eventually achieved my goals. Good luck, and stay positive! Jobs open up every day. (B. SoSc)
ReplyDeleteHello everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am a junior at WSU in the Criminal Justice Field and I currently just landed a job last summer in Billerica at the House of Corrections as a correctional officer and I love it. I work 4 days a week part time, and i'm looking to enter a full time academy. The hours are pretty rough working 4-12 and Midnight-8 am most of the time, but it's a good opportunity and gets my foot in the door. I applied last March and it took about 3 months until I got a call to have an interview. I went to the interview and got hired right on the spot. I did a 2 week academy a week after being hired and then got sent off to the prison right away. I am currently still employed there, but I live at home taking online courses because of the commute. Like Professor Morreale stated last year, getting your name out there is the best way to communicate in the Criminal Justice Field.
I totally agree with Dr. Steve among a few of you who have posted that it does take patience and endurance in order to get to where you want to be. I am tired of hearing that it takes someone to know someone else usually "politically" in order for you to get a position especially in the CJ field. I tend to find this not true the chances may be better but I think it lays out on education experiences as well as how much you are willing to exceed to get it. I am planning to go to Florida becuase lke Dr. Steve said you got to be willing to know that you have to travel in order to get to the career you want. Although I may say it may be pretty scary becuase sometimes you might have to start new all over again depending on the job just becuase your courses in Mass might not fit into the criteria needed in another State.
ReplyDeleteCruz Rosado
Dr. Morreale makes a great point in the highlighting the difficulty of landing a law enforcement job here in Massachusetts since a predominance of its towns and cities are civil service. Unfortunately your civil service score is most often the sole predictor of your opportunity to receive a job in the law enforcement field here in MA. There has been some good news released by Deval Patrick with the unveiling of his new budget plan which mentions having a new academy class for the State Police fairly soon.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he has plans to put through an State Police academy class, the potential bad news is that the list that recruits will be pulled from could be a bit dated...roughly two years old. However, some good news is that his plan includes having a “maintenance” class yearly of at least 100 recruits that will work to balance out the loss in State Police numbers because of retiring troopers.
Some more good news is that the state is offering another civil service exam. The application deadline for the exam is March 15, 2011 and the scheduled date of the exam is April 30, 2011. Here is the link to the mass.gov site where you can find additional information of the exam and the application process:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=afterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Employment%2c+Equal+Access%2c+Disability&L2=Oversight+Agencies&L3=Human+Resources+Division&sid=Eoaf&b=terminalcontent&f=hrd_cs_posters_2011_police_officer&csid=Eoaf