EMPLOYMENT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICEPage shortcuts: CJ, POLICE, COURTS, CORRECTIONS, ACADEMIC, FEDERAL, GENERAL,

INTERNSHIPS, OTHER.

Be advised that not all places in all jurisdictions may have all the positions discussed on this page, and many of them cannot be obtained via lateral entry or simply with a college degree in hand (although some of them can). In most cases, as with anything else, you have to work your way up from the entry-level.  However, the more you learn, the more you earn.  This is also not a page which should be relied upon for official figures or salary estimates.  The most authoritative source (and highly recommended reading) is the Occupational Outlook Handbook by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and there, you'll find police and public safety-related job prospects discussed under their "Service" category and court and correctional job prospects discussed under their "Professional" category.  The BLS Handbook will also tell you which career fields are growing "faster than average" and "slower than average" as well as which states have the top salaries for any chosen job title.      GENERAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE JOB TITLES: This is "the list" or, in other words, the most commonly-seen list that most CJ departments put on their websites, brochures, and other publications.  

Agent or Inspector Alcoholic Beverage CommissionBorder Patrol AgentBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and FirearmsBureau of Land Management RangerBureau of Prisons Case ManagerCommunity college instructor Community service workerCorrectional Administrator Correctional CounselorCorrectional Officer (state, federal, private) Court Administrator/Clerk Court Translator (or Court Reporter)Crime Scene TechnicianCriminal Investigator (police or prosecutor's office)Bureau of Land Management RangerDeputy U. S. MarshalDomestic relations specialistDrug Enforcement Administration DWI Court SpecialistEnforcement Officer (various)Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Protection Service OfficerFines and restitution specialistGame & Fish OfficerHalfway House Staff Hearings Officer Immigration & Naturalization

Industrial Security Institutional Research Internal Revenue ServiceJuvenile Probation & Parole Officer Law School or Graduate SchoolMagistrate/Municipal Judge Mediator Motor Transportation OfficerMunicipal Police Officer, County Detention Officer, or Sheriff's DeputyNational Park Service RangerPolicy Analyst (or Research Analyst)Postal InspectorPretrial Services Officer  Private Investigation Probation & Parole Officer (State, county, or federal) Program Director/staff (or Program Evaluator)Secret Service AgentService InspectorSpecial AgentSpecial Agent & Internal InvestigatorState Park RangerState Police OfficerState Prison Classification Officer Teen Court SpecialistTrainer (police, courts, or corrections)University Police OfficerU.S. Customs ServiceU.S. Forest ServiceVictim’s assistance provider Victim-offender Specialist

SAMPLE LAW ENFORCEMENT JOB TITLES: The following lists come from various government publications, state employment job sites, and the claims of various job-finding firms.

Arson Attache/Police

Ballistics Expert

Booking Officer

Border Patrol

investigatorLiaison Officer

Agent

ChaplainChief of Police

Chief of Staff

CommanderCommissioner

Communications Specialist

Community Policing Officer

Community Safety Officer

Community Service Officer

Conservation Officer

Crime Prevention Specialist

Crime Lab Technician

Crime Scene Technician

Customs Agent

Data Processing Specialist

Deputy Chief

Deputy Sheriff

DetectiveDetention Officer

Document Examiner

Director of Research/ Development

Director of Scientific Services

Director of Standards & Training

DispatcherDrug Enforcement Agent

EMS Coordinator

Evidence Technician

FBI Special Agent

Fingerprint Expert

Firearms Instructor

Forensic Scientist

Gaming Enforcement Officer

Gang Crimes Investigator

Inspector Instructor

Intelligence Analyst

Investigator JailerJuvenile Specialist

K-9 Handler

LawyerLaw Enforcement Planner

Law Enforcement Representative

Manpower Allocation Specialist

Narcotics Officer

Patrol Officer

Personnel Specialist

Photographer

Pilot Polygraph Examiner

Psychologist/ Psychiatrist/ Psychometrician

Public Relations Officer

Public Safety Director

Radio Communications

Records Management

School Liaison

ScientistSecret Service

Security Specialist

Serologist

SheriffStreet Crimes Investigator

Superintendent

S.W.A.T.T.A.C. officer

TechnologistTraffic Analyst

TrainerTreasury Agent

Trooper

Undercover Operative

UndersheriffU.S. Marshal

Water Patrol Officer

Witness Protection

SAMPLE COURT-RELATED JOB TITLES

ArbitratorAssistant Administrator

Assistant Prosecutor

Background Investigator

Bailiff

BondsmanCJ Systems Planner

Court ClerkCourt Reporter

Courthouse Security

Defense Attorney

Deputy Assistant

Diversion Specialist

Expert Witness

Grants Administrator

InvestigatorJudicial Assistant

Law Clerk LawyerLegal Research

ManagerMediation Specialist

ParalegalParole Officer

Probation Officer

Process Server

Sentencing Analyst

Victim Restitution

   

SAMPLE CORRECTIONAL JOB TITLESAdministrator/Warden

Affirmative Action Officer

Budget Analyst

Business Officer Manager

Chaplain

Chief of Programs

Chief of Security

Computer Specialist

Correctional Clerk

Correctional Counselor

Correctional Officer

Employee Development Specialist

Facility Manager

Food Service Supervisor

Health Systems Administrator

Juvenile Detention Officer

Juvenile Worker

Leisure Time Activities Specialist

Medical Records Supervisor

Ombudsman

Personnel Officer

Placement Officer

Psychiatrist/ Psychologist

Public Relations Officer

Records Office Manager

Teacher TrainerTransport Officer

Unit Management

Vocational Specialist

Note: Be aware that many of the careers listed are distributed by educational qualifications/experience and constantly being upgraded. Take into consideration that administrator, instructor, criminologist, counselor, lawyer, psychologist, psychiatrist, researcher, and chaplain jobs usually require a graduate or professional degree.

A WORD ABOUT ENTRY-LEVEL SALARIES (in 2008 figures)Law Enforcement    Federal jobs at the entry-level usually start at about $39,500, at or near the national average, although more selective agencies like the U.S. Postal Inspectors and U.S. Marshals may start out at $46,000 or more. State jobs, on average, start at about $34,000 but may vary as much as 3,000 to 5,000 in an upward direction. County jobs, on average, start at about $29,500 and don't tend to vary as much although there is much disparity between rich and poor counties. City jobs vary the most, depending upon the city, but the average

starting pay is usually anywhere between $31,000 and $41,000, mostly because there are more poor than rich cities. There has been a national movement in the last year or so to get municipal entry levels up, but many agencies have a tendency to start you out low, then give you a big raise after the first year or two, where you stay salary-wise until about five years later when you usually get another big raise.  Of course, a lot depends on promotion, too.  It is possible to make six figures a year as police chief in many of the nation's major metropolitan police departments, but you'll have to work your way up to that.  Competition is tough for law enforcement jobs.  Currently employed officers are constantly moving around from city to city in search of higher salaries.  At the entry-level, where everyone starts, you have to really want it, bad.The Courts    Jobs in the court sector, like probation and parole, have salaries that vary widely. Entry level pay ranges from $30,000 to $40,000, but federal positions range from $40,000 to $55,000 (some of the highest paid starting salaries in criminal justice are in federal probation), depending upon experience. Pre-employment in corrections or investigative work is usually the best preparation besides having a college degree, and just having a college degree is mostly OK in this field if you have good office management skills besides. Raises are not that common, but when they happen, they are across the board and usually moderate. Don't forget that the permanent hiring of college interns takes place quite often in the judiciary branch of the criminal justice system because they figure that anyone willing to take an interest in working in such a hectic, confusing environment is worth keeping.  Court systems usually welcome interns and volunteers with open arms.Corrections    Correctional pay varies tremendously from state-to-state. The national average is about $33,000 with places like Arkansas starting fairly low and places like New York and New Jersey starting very high.  Federal corrections approximates the pay of top states, and has better benefits. In corrections, you will most likely receive regular salary increases every year along with easy-to-get merit raises until you are making about $40,000 or more by your fifth year. Promotion is very rapid in this sector due to high rates of employee turnover.  A lot of people live happily and comfortably working in corrections; others use it as a stepping-stone to another career.     Fringes (in any CJ job) include: a take-home vehicle, clothing, equipment, other allowances or impunities, tuition reimbursement, educational incentive pay, bilingual incentive pay, paid insurance, paid holidays, paid vacations, a pension plan, accumulation of sick leave and comp time, family benefits, early retirement, and the chance to take promotional exams early.  You probably won't find all of these in any one place, but you may find more than is listed here.    To maximize your income potential, consider large agencies with lots of job titles, especially civilian ones. Big cities are your best bet, but bigger is not necessarily better if the

murder rate is higher than the mortality rate. If you like the idea of working at the county level, remember that when the U.S. was divided up, more counties were allocated down East than out West, so places like Georgia, for example, have more counties than Western and Midwestern states.  Try to gravitate toward the comraderie of people like yourself. LAW ENFORCEMENT-RELATED: see CALEA for a list of accredited police agencies and APAI for a 1996 list of agencies requiring the 4-yr college degree.

LawEnforcementJob.com An employment portal, links, and exchange site. OFFICER.COM Employment Directory Federal and state-by-state listings from this

popular site. For both seekers & providers. Bob's Cops Employment Page Dedicated to cop employment, testing aides, links, etc.

Makes the whole process better than searching the Net forever. City County Jobs Local government connections with a law enforcement emphasis Cop-Spot List of Law Enforcement Jobs Snazzy page by owner of a Web Ring. It's a

popular site with a very helpful webmaster. Cop Career Center Fairly new page of indexed jobs. Criminal Justice Archive Helpful page devoted to finding/indexing available jobs. Criminal Justice Career.com Useful site with a variety of jobs in the field. Criminal Justice Schools.com Useful site with a helpful search feature. GIS jobs in CJ Unique site that has GIS related job resource links International Association of Crime Analysts This site has a jobs board as well as other

information. Jobs4police.com An effective guide and "hot jobs" listings in top departments, a free

service. National Directory of Emergency Services Police and Fire jobs listed here. Good source

of information on a nationwide scale. NC Police Job Hunting Resources Weaver's page is great. You can search newspaper

ads. NC Law Enforcement Jobs Bank The old NCJA BBS, updated weekly. Peace Officer Jobs About police work and how to get a police officer job. Police Guide Employment Pages Another popular site that tries to list only current job

openings. Regularly updated and maintained. Public Safety Recruitment A fee-based service. This is the newsletter you often see on

bulletin boards around college campuses. State Police Information Center Another fee-based provider of state and federal career

information. Law Enforcement Careers Publishers of state and federal career, testing & interviewing

guides. COURT-RELATED JOBS:The Legal Employment Search Site Plan to spend at least half a day with this one. Lots of

links.Quid Pro Quo's List of Legal Jobs A site designed to help law students & job seekers.The ABA's Internships and Jobs site Helpful page with legal and nonlegal resources.

CORRECTION-RELATED JOBS:Corrections Connections The premiere corrections-related site devoted to nationwide coverage.The ACA Jobs Bank Job listings from this professional association. Tennessee Dept. of Correction, NC Division of Corrections, OTHER STATES: Massachusetts, Florida. NYS C.O.'s Information Page Correctional jobs openings/issues in New York State area.JailNet State-by-state information at this well-organized site.

ACADEMIC JOBS: Academic 360 dot com - free index of all personnel and human resource departments. Academic Careers Online - a no-charge academic job site Academic Employment Network - commercial, searchable, college and high school. Academic Position Network (APN) - widely-used, commercial site, mostly college. Chronicle of Higher Education - premiere site for teaching jobs in Criminal

Justice/Criminology. Most everybody looks here first, especially for international jobs.

Higher Education Jobs - premiere site alternative to Chronicle (Criminal Justice is under Liberal Arts). Most everybody looks here first, here or the Chronicle.

Inside Higher Education - premiere site alternative to Chronicle (many Criminal Justice jobs listed) at this web zine read by many college presidents and provosts

Nation's JobNetwork - very usable and searchable www.jobs.ac.uk - jobs in the U.K. also see: State-by-State guide to Starting Salaries for Asst. Professors, as well as Grad

Schools in CJ

POLICE DEPARTMENTS THAT USUALLY HAVE OPEN RECRUITMENT:OUT-OF-STATE:

Albuquerque, New Mexico Anchorage, Alaska Augusta, Maine

Baltimore County Berkeley, California Boulder, Colorado Dallas, Texas Fargo, North Dakota Georgia B of I Houston, Texas Jacksonville Beach, FL Los Angeles, California Memphis, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana Portland, Oregon Prince George Co., Maryland Pueblo County, Colorado Sacramento, California

Spokane, Washington

Your BEST starting point to search for federal jobs is the site at RIGHT======> UsaJobs

FedWorld is the place to get information about specific government agencies The U.S. Customs Service has open periods of recruitment, usually around October or

so. FBI Personnel and Employment Information and statistics on recruitment, hiring,

salaries, and other things.   Park & Summer Camp Jobs for a link to outdoor and/or seasonal employment.

PoliceEmployment.com Quick access to some information which is free (example: the U.S. Marshals when they have an "open period"). This place charges ten bucks ($10) for their exam prep booklets and other stuff, which doesn't seem like a bad deal. Of course, OPM will send you exam prep materials free anyway, which in most cases, is more than adequate, but this place is also starting to sell booklets for state-by-state trooper jobs and correctional officer exams. An even better FREE link is at Govtjobs.com.

Recruitment Pages of Federal Agencies This site claims to index these pages for as many federal agencies that do this, but in most cases, the links take you to the agency page.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the official Personnel Office for all federal agencies. Their HUGE jobs page is at usajobs. You need to make note of the vacancy announcement and any supplemental qualifications statement for each job title you're interested in with special interest focused on the 6-digit control number for the vacancy announcement. To browse through the announcements, it may help to know that many careers are split into two categories: Professional Careers and Entry Level Professional Careers.  You will need Form OF-612 and a resume to apply for most federal jobs. If you have trouble downloading the form, you may find it helpful and convenient to visit one of the regional OPM Service Centers to pick up the form.

Civil Service/OSP/DES Job Openings:Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas

California Colorado Connecticut Delaware

Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho

Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas

Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland

Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada

New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York

North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma

Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina

South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah

Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia

Wisconsin WyomingDistrict of Columbia

GENERAL SITES: STARTING POINTS FOR BEGINNERS: See the List of Job Titles (below) if you are unfamiliar with CJ terminology and want a peek at average starting salaries. There are some unusual job titles in the CJ field. Also, be sure to learn how to use the Occupational Outlook Handbook for sample job descriptions, working conditions, salary data, and what's growing. See my How to Get a Job in CJ which walks you through a full-length application, interview, selection, and promotion process of any basic civil service-type job. For law enforcement careers, you might want to familiarize yourself with the Reciprocity POST Portal which contains POST Standard equivalencies between states.

In addition, you might want to visit Indeed.com's "Ten Tips for a Successful Online Job Search" or Dr. Carlie's AdviseNet to find out where the field is going, as well as one of the general advice sites below.  Consider contacting one of the ASC's E-mail mentors at the ASC E-Mail Mentor Directory, although this resource will be more appropriate for aspiring graduate students. If you're still thinking about continuing on with school instead of getting a job, then check out my CJ EDUCATION page.

How to Apply for Positions Advertised on the Internet: Have your resume and cover letter prepared and stored on diskette in text format, sometimes called ASCII or DOS text format, or whatever format is called for by the service you plan to use. Word-wrapping, embedded word processing commands, running headers and footers, and PostScript characters don't e-mail well, so have your word processor save your resume in text format (resume.txt), and check to make sure it looks good when opened by various programs on your computer (Notepad, word processors, e-mail to a friend, etc). Tips: use asterisks (*) or plus signs (+) instead of bullets, use dashes (---) to separate sections; DON'T UNDERLINE ANYTHING; Don't use bold type; avoid italics; and don't try to color highlight any headers or sections of your resume. Don't include photos or graphics.

When you E-mail a resume to an employer, use the job title as your "Subject" line and include any numerical codes for the position that they use. If you are "cold calling" someone about a possible job opening, put your objective "To obtain a position..." in the "Subject" line. When you are posting your resume with a listing service (see General), make sure your resume is in its final (or generic) form, because once you post it, many

database providers charge money for updates. In all cases, follow any specific instructions from the employer or the listing service. Be apologetic if you are sending "unsolicited" e-mail (in most cases, it's better to go through your school's Career Center; see Internships).

WEB SITES in this area defy categorization, but generally can be divided into three types: ADVICE sites; JOB DATABASES, and RESUME DATABASES. The advice sites sometimes offer the other two services. Job Databases usually consist of job openings that have been extracted from state employment office listings, other sources, and the occasional headhunter or employer recruitment campaign. Resume Databases allow you to post your resume, and are based on the idea that recruiters browse through these in searching for a pool of applicants. Each site has its own "hype" about how many and which kind of employers browse their databases. I recommend the following full-service sites: AfterCollege (ADVICE, JOBS, INTERNSHIPS) A good site for everything from entry-level jobs to post-doc opportunities. Careerbuilder.com (JOBS) This is a great place to post your resume for free, and look at over 200,000 fairly executive-level jobs in a variety of fields. The companies that post the ads are usually employment search agencies or executive recruitment firms, but in many cases, it's the agency itself looking to find someone for a hard-to-fill position.CareerJet (JOBS) This is a comprehensive employment search engine.Indeed.com (JOB) This is a comprehensive search engine for jobs. JobIn (JOB) An insider referral network for job.

Monster.com (ADVICE, JOBS, RESUMES) A frequently pointed-to large site that allows you to post your resume and do other things that employers will notice (follow the "hype"). They have a geographic-based jobs database, some advice pages, and other unique information. Tends to absorb resume-posting sites like America's Job Bank.NationJob Network (ADVICE, JOBS) An online job listing service rated as one of the top 5 in this area. They have a variety of services for job seekers, extensive speciality sites by occupational area, and job openings and company information for thousands of employers worldwide.

If you're not into posting your online resume and just want to browse, try one of the HUGE, but lamer sites, such as: Career Magazine (the best of this group), CareerNet, CareerSite, or JobTrak. These will provide you with enough links to keep you busy for days. Career Magazine, for example, scans Usenet Newsgroups and provides Forums to ask questions. JobTrak might require you contact your College Career Office for a password. See Internet Resume Tips and Salary and Negotiation Strategies when you're ready to talk business.

If you're ready to POST YOUR RESUME (congratulations if you are, because 80% of people wimp out at this stage), then here are the places to go. Don't dismiss the ones I've listed as "partially fee-based" because they might be free to you, but cost the employer to look. Sites with revenue sources usually do a better job of presenting your stuff.

Careerbuilder (free resume posting) The Monster Board (free resume posting & online applications) Career Magazine (a searchable resume bank) Recruiters Online (partially fee-based resume posting) Career Connections (accepts online "profiles" of yourself) FindHow - Career Resources JobBank USA (partially fee-based resume posting) Net Jobs (a good job-hunting site) WorkGiant (performance based recruiting Free Jobs for free-lancers

USEFUL TOOLS: Salary Calculator, Geographic Locator, Getting a Security ClearanceTOP EMPLOYMENT WEB SITES (by rank order):1. Monster.com2. Careerbuilder.com3. Hotjobs.com4. Jobs.com5. Dice.com6. Nationjob.com7. ChiliJobs.com

INTERNSHIPS: One of the worst mistakes you can make when seeking an internship and/or job with a CJ agency is to call them yourself via telephone. Most agencies tolerate the usual calls about job openings ("We list through the State Employment Office" or "See our Recruitment Page on the Web"), and some agencies actually do process the unsolicited resumes that are sent to them via e-mail. PHONE CALLS are another matter, especially when asking about internships. In almost all cases, it's best to initiate the process of obtaining an internship through your college or university's internship officer or other official, unless of course, the agency or department you're calling has someone officially designated as the "internship coordinator."OTHER FIELDS (not all links kept updated):

GIS Jobs Clearinghouse (GIS, GPS, and IP jobs in geography) BUSINESS:

Careers in Business (especially good in Finance) COMPUTER SCIENCE:

Computer World (list of 100 best places to work in IT) Data Processing Consultants Exchange (job advertisement service) Enterprise (resume posting for those skilled at client/server aps) JobLink (job/resume banks for technical positions) National Technical Employment Service (for contract work) PENCOM (for software developers) Provident Search Group (online job listings) SDC Computers (free resume posting) Transaction Information Systems (free resume posting)

MATHEMATICS: American Mathematical Society (employment opportunities listed)

MEDICINE: BioView (for the biopharmaceutical industry) Hospital.com (for medical professionals, very comprehensive) Hospital Web (job listings from over 100 hospitals) Medical Jobs (more general health care positions)

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Archeology (field work opportunities) Economics (job opportunities for economists) Education at Eric Clearinghouse (job resources in education) Education at UMN's Bulletin Board (teaching jobs database) Human Resources (career services jobs) Library Science (Internet resources) Public Administration (job links) Psychology (job listings and other resources)

Last updated: Mar 31,2010Not an official webpage of APSU, copyright restrictions apply, see Megalinks in Criminal Justice O'Connor, T.  (Date of Last Update at bottom of page). In Part of web cited (Windows name for file at top of browser), MegaLinks in Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/rest of URL accessed on today's date.