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The University of Winnipeg

Careers

https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/student-services/docs/declaring-major-online.pdf

Section One: Setting yourself up for success

Don’t wait until your last semester to start thinking about post-university life. The University of Winnipeg and the Department of Criminal Justice are committed to helping you meet your goals.

Mentoring by Professors
Professors are people, just like you. They’ve relied on guidance and advice from others, just like you. Consider looking through the Department of Criminal Justice faculty page (https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/criminal-justice/faculty-staff/index.html) and getting in touch with a professor who works in a field that interests you. Your professors are invested in your success and are always excited to talk with students about potential careers.

Volunteer Fairs
Employers often like to see work experience prior to hiring a candidate, whereas graduate schools and law schools are often interested in unique life experiences when judging an applicant. Whatever your goals, volunteering in a field that is of interest to you can be an enriching experience with real world application. Keep an eye on the Career Services page of upcoming events (https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/career-services/upcoming-events.html), as the University of Winnipeg hold regular Career and Volunteer Fairs.

More links worth checking out:
UW Criminal Justice Students Association (CJSA): https://uwcjsa.wixsite.com/home
UW Campus Sustainability Office, student opportunities: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/sustainability/get-involved/student-opportunities.html
UW Peer Tutoring and Peer Mentoring programs: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/iirss/services/index.html
Volunteer Manitoba: https://www.volunteermanitoba.ca/

 

Section Two: Finding your job, not just a job

A criminal justice degree opens a lot of doors. In fact, it opens so many doors that sometimes it’s hard to figure out exactly what job you might enjoy most. The Department of Criminal Justice strongly recommends taking advantage of the University of Winnipeg’s Career Services office, as UW has professional counselors on hand to discuss career planning and preparation on a one-on-one basis (https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/career-services/).

Need some help actively reflecting on what careers might align with your personality? The University of Winnipeg also offers an assortment of self-assessment resources (https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/career-services/career-planning/self-assess.html) that can help you unlock your greatest strengths and locate the careers that will give you the most satisfaction.

For an even deeper dive into self-understanding, Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder is available for purchase (https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/253868/popular-cliftonstrengths-assessment-products.aspx).

What sort of job can I get with a Criminal Justice degree? Note: some of these jobs require more education but the Criminal Justice degree is a stepping-stone to these exciting opportunites!

  • Community work: victims-rights advocate; community organizer; political aide; social worker
  • Academic work: secondary school teacher; professor; archivist; law librarian
  • Institutional work: police officer; paralegal; probation officer; court reporter; corrections officer
  • Community & Academic: journalist; rehabilitation counselor; ethics/compliance officer
  • Community & Institutional: mediator; lawyer; park ranger
  • Academic & Institutional: policy analyst; legal researcher; forensic scientist
  • Government work: policy analyst; immigration officer; federal or provincial government attaché

 Section Three: How do I get the job I want?

Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B, especially when it comes to careers. Below, we provide a general sense of how long it takes to professionalize in one of the following popular career choices, once you’ve finished your B.A. Remember that there are many other paths that students take after completing their CJ degree.

Lawyer: Three Years
Before entering law school, you will need to take a Law School Admission Test (LSAT), which you can learn more about in the Graduate Studies section . 

Becoming a lawyer means three years of a law school and, upon receiving your Juris Doctorate (JD), passing a major test called a bar examination (https://nca.legal/process/bar-admissions/).

Police Officer: Six-to-Twelve Months
Generally, becoming a police officer means attending a local or regional law enforcement academy, the location of which will depend on the municipality or province in which you intend to work. Generally, police training takes three-to-six months, though particulars differ based on jurisdiction. If you are interested in working with the RCMP, six-month trainings take place only in Regina, Saskatchewan.

For those interested in becoming a detective, the first step is to become a police officer. There is no firm timeline for how long it takes to ascend to the role of detective, and some aspiring detectives never do, but you will need to attain significant experience as a police officer before applying for that position.

Forensic/Crime Scene Investigator: Two-to-Six Years
Generally, crime scene investigation is a collaborative effort between detectives and lab technicians. As noted above, becoming a detective means working a number of years as a police officer before applying for an aptitude- and merit-based promotion. Being a lab technician is just as time-consuming, as it requires attaining an advanced degree in chemistry, anthropology, biology, or another STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field applicable to criminology. It is possible to acquire such a job with only a two-year Master’s of Science (M.Sc.), but many institutions look for candidates with a Doctorate (Ph.D.), which normally takes four-to-six years to complete.

Professor: Four-to-Eight Years
Becoming a professor means earning a doctoral degree (Ph.D.), which generally takes four-to-six years, from an accredited research university. In most circumstances, Ph.D. applicants are expected to already have a one- or two-year master’s degree (M.A.) before moving on to doctoral study. Be aware that many graduate programs require applicants to submit scores from a standardized test called the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which you can learn more about in the Graduate Studies section.