Is a Criminal Justice Degree worth it?

Is it really hard to find a job with a Criminal Justice degree?

• I'm majoring in Criminal Justice and I'm going to transfer to 4-year university in Fall 2012. I'm planning a career toward becoming a crime analyst, or any related fields that are administrative jobs, office type jobs, or investigating jobs, other than becoming a police, sheriff, FBI, correction, probation officer, or anything that deals with guns and criminals. I have heard that people are having hard time finding a job with a Criminal Justice degree and it makes worry because that is the only major I want to pursue. I don't know what I should do because I don't want to work for minimum wage jobs for all the work I put through my education. If I take most of my classes for becoming a crime analyst for my Criminal Justice degree, but decided to switch my career as an investigator, can I still find a job in investigative field even though I didn't take any investigative classes, but I have Criminal Justice degree? Also, if I minor in Accounting will that get me a job in accounting field if I can't find a job with Criminal Justice degree?

• Answer:

  If you aren't willing to start out in a position that "deals with guns and criminals" you are very unlikely to end up as a crime analyst. The positions you aren't interested in are primarily the ENTRY LEVEL positions for the career you are ultimately hoping to end up in. The only positions you are destined for that are within your parameters are going to leave you stuck as a dispatcher, secretary or the like. If you want a purely administrative position in the criminal justice field that is likely to give you a good career and a decent salary, then frankly, you should set your sights on law school. And a minor in accounting will DEFINITELY make you stand out as a law school applicant, law student, and/or criminal prosecutor because the average lawyer can't crunch numbers with a gallon of coffee and a working calculator.