Criminal Justice Career

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Part 1 - Career/Major Exploration Part 1, Step 1: My major is Criminal Justice, my minor is Leadership of Community and Nonprofit Organizations, and my certificate is Volunteer and Community Resource Management. All three of these reside in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service. My advisor for my college is Rachel Rachel who is located in Chilton 289G. There are no grades required for admission to the program specifically, however, as an Emerald Eagle I am required to maintain a cumulative 2.5 GPA. After careful consideration of all the courses required for my degree and their descriptions, I feel Research Methods in Criminal Justice (CJUS 4700) will be the most difficult for me as I have always struggled with research. I look …show more content…
Part 1, Step 2: Special Agent/Criminal Investigator - The job duties for a Special Agent or Criminal Investigator consist of preparing reports detailing the findings during investigations, verifying evidence obtained through interviews and observation of suspects and witness, testifying in court, and recording evidence and documents, using cameras and photocopy machines. Additionally, they investigate organized crime, public corruption, civil rights violations, bank robberies, extortion, kidnapping, and other violations of federal or state statues. Due to the variety of tasks assigned to Special Agents, their work environments also vary. One day they may be in the office catching up on paper work and the next day they might be at a crime scene examining and obtaining evidence. They interview suspects and witnesses as mentioned above, which can either take place in the office or at a crime scene. I personally like the flexibility of the job, because you aren’t always glued to a desk, but you also have times when you can work from your office and get stuff done without having to come …show more content…
Depending on what agency you work for, for example the FBI, you may be required to relocate geographically and that is one of the cons about this job in my opinion. For someone who is independent and loves to travel this might be a huge bonus, but for someone like me who enjoys traveling, but at the same time is more family oriented, this isn’t too much of a benefit. In order to qualify for a position as a special agent there are some education requirements, which again vary by agency. Some however, are getting stricter and raising their standards by requiring a bachelor’s degree and sometimes three years of experience on top of it. There are minors and certificates that might help me in my career by providing me with prior knowledge about topics I must know about within my career, however, mine specifically focus on nonprofit agencies, which takes away from the focus of the criminal justice system specifically. I may still use the skills related to communicating with people to advance my career though. What can help more than any minor or certificate is an advanced degree when it comes to the monetary aspect, as it