What Jobs Can You Do with a Criminal Justice Degree?

If you have just graduated from college with a degree in criminal justice you may be wondering what jobs can you do with a criminal justice degree. As a person who has a criminal justice degree, you are eligible to work in exciting fields within government agencies such as the FBI, CIA, Secret Service, Immigration and Customs, as well as the DEA's office. The list does not end there. The sky is the limit if you have a criminal justice degree and are seeking work.

Most people think that they are limited to only working as a criminologist, however the options that you have with a criminal justice degree are vast, and after doing a little research you can easiely discover the jobs you can do with a criminal justice degree. 

• You can definitely secure a position as a detective, investigator or as a special agent for one of the government agencies. 
• You can also secure positions in fields including crime scene investigators, border patrol agents, wardens, probation officers, parole officers, fingerprinting specialists, police officers and court administrators.

Criminal Justice Jobs and Salaries

The salaries for an individual with a criminal justice degree vary according to the position. Your salary will normally be determined based on your work experience and overall skills whch you bring to the table. 

Usually individuals with criminology degrees may start out on the administrative end of a government position. It is not uncommon for criminology majors to come into the agency at entry level. After a year or two on the administrative end of the job spectrum, the criminal justice major might begin to navigate their way to the professional end of government agency. Salaries in general can range anywhere from $38,000 to $86,000 all depending on the position that you hold. 

Naturally, the more professional the position, the more money you will earn. For example,

• What if you opted to take a position as a paralegal for a law firm. Your entry level salary as a paralegal would probably be in the neighborhood of $38,000 to $40,000.  

• Some people opt to take a job as a security guard in the federal government, hoping to put their criminal justice degree to good use. A job as a security guard in the federal government will pay between $22,000 and $29,000. 
• If you decided to take a job as a police officer or detective then your starting salary would be anywhere from $40,000 to $45,000 depending on the state in which you reside.
• Let’s say that you decided to take a job as a criminologist, perhaps a junior criminologist, and while in that position, you decide to go back to school and pursue a Master’s Degree. What will your salary be then? Quite possibly, depending on the nature of your work, your salary will be anywhere between $39,000 and $66,000. 
• You could even go to work for the very school that you graduated from.  Perhaps you started out as a teaching assistant and then upon graduation you moved on to be an instructor or adjunct professor. As an adjunct professor you may have opted to pursue a higher degree, perhaps a PhD in Criminal Justice. At this point you can expect to make a solid salary anywhere between $42,000 and $86,000 if you teach criminal justice while holding a PhD degree.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless when it comes to jobs. Now you will not be left wondering “what jobs can you do with a criminal justice degree.”