Overview
Selecting a Criminal Justice Professional Pathway
Select a specific position or professional pathway that is directly related to criminal justice, administration of justice, public safety, or justice policy. Your selection should be sufficiently focused to support graduate-level research and analysis.
For example, rather than selecting the broad area of law enforcement, you might examine a specific pathway such as:
- FBI Special Agent
- Federal Probation Officer
- Criminal Investigator
- Criminal Intelligence Analyst
- Police Administrator or Command-Level Officer
- Correctional Administrator
- Correctional Case Management or Reentry Specialist
- Juvenile Justice Program Administrator
- Juvenile Probation Officer
- Court Administrator
- Victim Services Program Administrator
- Criminal Justice Policy Analyst
- Homeland Security Specialist
- Emergency Management Specialist
- Criminal Justice Program or Grant Administrator
Other criminal justice-specific pathways may be selected when appropriate.
Conduct a Preliminary Environmental Scan
Once you have identified a potential pathway, begin investigating the profession. Your preliminary exploration should help you understand both workforce expectations and the position's place within the criminal justice system.
As you conduct your preliminary research, consider the following questions:
(1) What are the primary duties and responsibilities associated with this position?
(2) What education, professional experience, certifications, specialized training, or credentials are typically required?
(3) What knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional competencies appear consistently across current job announcements?
(4) What ethical, leadership, communication, analytical, technological, or decision-making competencies are expected?
(5) Where does this position function with the broader criminal justice system?
(6) How does the position interact with law enforcement, courts, corrections, juvenile justice, governmental agencies, community organizations, or other justice system stakeholders?
(7) How might law, public policy, organizational structure, interagency collaboration, and the rule of law affect professionals working in this position?
(8) What contemporary criminal justice issues or workforce challenges may affect this career?
(9) What qualifications or competencies do you currently possess that correspond with professional expectations?
(10) What areas may require additional education, training, experience, certification, or professional development?
Begin Collecting Evidence
Students, you should begin locating and saving credible information that may be used later in Assignment 5. At a minimum, begin identifying:
- Current job announcements for the selected position;
- Government or workforce information related to the occupation;
- Criminal justice agency or professional association resources; and
- Scholarly or professional criminal justice literature relevant to the profession, its competencies, or its role within the criminal justice system.
Please do not rely solely on general career websites. Graduate-level work should demonstrate the ability to evaluate, compare, and synthesize information from multiple credible sources.
You are to save copies, links, citations, or other retrievable information for sources that may be useful later.