Research on Five Different Career Opportunities
As opposed to the normal mind setting that when a person graduated from college earning a degree Criminal Justice would eventually end up in government law enforcement agencies, there are in fact other opportunities available for them to utilize their hard earn degree. There are several career opportunities that are employing within the Criminal Justice System, private companies, counseling agencies, private investigations agencies, retailers, financial institutions and security agencies. The options are limitless, it’s just that a specific specialization has to emphasize to specifically point out the main function required in the career opportunity.
One of the common career opportunities that employs within the criminal justice system are with security agencies. In Australia for example the nature of policing has changed dramatically. The in increase in number of emerging private security companies demands large number of individuals within the criminal justice system to work for a private company. Robert Smith predicted that by the year 2000 there would be a ratio 10 to 1 of licensed private agent against local police in Victoria alone (Reynolds, Christopher Dr. 1996). His theory was based on the 1992 trend that converted 10,000 out of 100,000 police are private agent license holders. And to date the ratio even got closer as an estimated 60,000 out of 80,000 local police are now also private agent license holders (Reynolds, Christopher Dr. 1996).
This growing number also reflects the country’s growing demand for private agents and private security agencies are capitalizing on this demand. There are several reasons why the need for private security is necessary. One of them is because of the rising fear of violence that the citizens are skeptical about and the local police enforcement seems not sufficient so the people are taking chances of paying for their own security. The same idea is prevalent on private companies and the only way they see as a solution to protect their lives and property is to employ security personnel coming from the criminal justice system. There is a major advantage in the process, since public police are more concerned about the public in general, private security on the other hand are only focused on the personal corporate interest of their employer.
Another job opportunity that employs entities from the criminal justice system is insurance companies who offer job roles of an Insurance Fraud Investigator. Insurance companies are threatened by billion of dollars in losses every year because of businesses and people filing false claims on many incidents such as theft, damages, fire, worker’s compensation and car accidents. Given that situation, insurance companies are now turning over to the criminal justice system to employ people who posses the skills and knowledge in criminal investigation and insurance trade experience to counter the eminent loss of profit (Wisegeek.com N.D.). Insurance companies would prefer someone from the criminal justice because of the common ethics that people working in this sector possesses. The requirement for being honest and detail oriented is crucial in the role of fraud investigator in order to accurately determine legitimate claims from fraudulent schemes.
Although insurance companies could have also employed investigators from the local authority, their sense of urgency on the matters of claims is necessary for them to have their own investigators instead of waiting in line to be served in the local authority office. The rising cases of fraudulent claims in the insurance industry increased the demand for fraud investigators. Although the competition is stiff in obtaining this opportunity, many individuals who have impressive educational background would still not be qualified because of the tight standards in choosing the right person for the position (Wisegeek.com N.D.).
For people who have extensive long years of experience in criminal justice especially those how have law degrees are the preferred individuals of the banking industry to work on their paralegal positions. This in fact is one of the career opportunities that employ people from the criminal justice system. As the title of the job suggests, paralegals are working closely with the financial industry’s legal advisers or simply someone who covers the responsibilities of a lawyer. Solicitors of private companies or financial industry in this matter relied upon the support of paralegal staffs in order to analyze legal matters that the company is facing and make recommendations as to what the law states about a particular case (Insidejobs.com N.D.).
In general the qualifications required for finance paralegal is someone who is very particular with law and finance. Although some states in the U.S. does not allow the practice of law without any degree on such, paralegals on the other hand is far more efficient in providing advocacy for their client on legal conflict matters. Since non-lawyers by profession are not allowed to practice law, employing a paralegal with long experience in criminal justice would cover doubts of the person’s competency in terms of legal concerns. Even though paralegals are not allowed to directly engage on legal debates, his knowledge will be useful in overseeing the cohesiveness of contracts, procedure and policies of the company in compliance with the law.
Tax compliance, worker’s compensation, attorney’s administrative tasks are the main responsibilities of the paralegal in financial industry. Since money is the minefield of the business it is important that the paralegal understands every risks involve in the company’s transactions and contracts and would be able to make assessments that will guide the company in making the right decision (Insidejobs.com N.D.). The importance of being knowledgeable of the paralegal in the fields of criminal justice system enables financial industry to avoid law suits.
For people who committed a crime and received probation, he cannot simply walk out and do the same thing he does or else his probation officer would send him back to prison. This is another career opportunity that employs within the criminal justice system. Probation officers are no doubt works directly under the directives of the criminal justice system. Over seeing the development of a person under probation is like guarding the individual from attempting to commit another crime. Being said that, probation officers are one of the known professionals of criminal justice. Basically, the responsibilities of a probation officer are to supervise the person prior or after his prison term (Probation officers N.D.).
Specializing in the fields of probation requires treatment specialists or case managers, probation officers and juvenile officers. Each has their distinctive functions performing on specified jurisdiction. These officers are responsible in ensuring the prisoner is in compliance on his obligations of his sentences. Even after release, the court would order a convict to do community service and the role of the probation officer is crucial in this process. The officer has to supervise the community service and guarantee that the convicted felony would adhere to the court order to do the community work. When the felony failed to meet the conditions of his sentence, it is the job of the probation officer file report for the termination of probation and sends the person back to jail.
The probation officer would also have to attend court hearings together with the offender in case the court would need to ask the officer of how well the offender is complying with his sentences (Probation officers N.D.). The career opportunity is not necessarily government based, because some prison facilities are founded by organizations and hires people within the criminal justice system to fulfill the spots for a probation officer.
One more career opportunity that employs within the criminal justice system is private investigators. There are private investigation agencies that offer services to individuals and corporations for more sensitive investigation proceedings. There are cases like a company suspecting a conspiracy to jeopardize the business operation or as simple as a wife hiring an investigator to follow an unfaithful husband. Such need for finding truth behind the public eye made investigation agencies to offer career opportunities to people from the criminal justice system to utilize their expertise for a hefty fee.
Clearly the job description of a private investigator is diverse in nature; the amount of work and techniques to use in investigating depends on the nature of the case. But basically, private investigators collect evidence and analyze facts by means of researching database for information needed by their client. Telephone numbers, addresses, affiliation, daily routines, secretly take photos among other things are the main responsibilities of a private investigator (How to Work as a Private Investigator N.D.). After the needed information was collected the investigator will then submit the data to his client and the client will decide on what to do next, but the work of he investigator stops there.
Becoming a private investigator needs knowledge and degree in criminology or criminal justice in order to effectively perform the job without compromise. That is why private investigation agencies prefer people from the criminal justice system or someone who is working on the same field with years of experiences to perform this job, any blown out covers would not only compromise the investigator but the client as well. In the United States to become a private investigator a license plus a three year experience in law enforcement is required before working on any case (How to Work as a Private Investigator N.D.).
References
Reynolds, Christopher Dr. (1996) Private Policing: Creating New Options Web Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.global-logic.net/prpol.htm
Wisegeek.com (N.D.) How Do I Become an Insurance Fraud Investigator? Web Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-become-an-insurance-fraud-investigator.htm
Insidejobs.com (N.D.) Finance Paralegal Web Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.insidejobs.com/jobs/finance-paralegal
Worldwidelearn.com, Probation officers (N.D.) Guide to College Majors in Criminal Justice Web Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-major.htm
Cj-direct.com. how to work as a Private Investigator (N.D.) Criminal Justice Direct Web Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://cj-direct.com/criminal-justice-careers-jobs/private-investigator-career/
