Where can a criminology course get me?

Hey

Im looking to do criminology or criminal justice course at uni and i was just wondering what career path could this lead too? and what are the chances of getting a job in that field?

Any advice appreciated!
Thanks

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Reply 1

thelawstudent

why not do a law degree? in reality, i think a law degree shows more ability to an employer than someone with a criminology degree for sure

Reply 2

ilickbatteries

Original post by the_dumb_one

It'll get you about as far as any other social science degree in an economy that is oversubscribed with graduates from the humanities.

The job centre.

Reply 3

the_dumb_one

Law have high grade expectations such as AAB and i dont think im capable of getting such high grades were as criminology are asking for 300ucas points or less

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9100P

Reply 4

rattusratus

i have just done criminology as part of my UCPD, teaching and research are the main paths for graduates

hope that helps

Reply 5

Ladyliesel

People with criminology degrees can becomes police officers, solitors, social workers, prison officers, social researchers, local government officers, and lecturers.

Reply 6

georgiacwood

Original post by the_dumb_one

I'm doing Criminology at Uni and am hoping to go into working in the prison system once I get my degree. I'd like to work with young offenders and rehabilitation etc. :smile:

At the end of the day, if you like the sound of the course and it's what you want to do, don't worry about it. I originally wanted to do sociology which has v few job prospects but my careers advisor told me it was better to do something I enjoyed and get a good degree rather than something more job specific and potentially get a lower degree. Most employers will prioritise applicants with any sort of degree anyway and a recent poll I read showed that most job specific degree's, such as dentistry/ law etc had the fewest jobs per students as they have limited their choices. With criminology you can do whatever you like :smile:

Do you want you want and worry about the job after, I still haven't fully decided what I want to do and you never know where life will take you. Don't panic!

Reply 7

ilickbatteries

Original post by georgiacwood

I'm doing Criminology at Uni and am hoping to go into working in the prison system once I get my degree. I'd like to work with young offenders and rehabilitation etc. :smile:

Do you want you want and worry about the job after, I still haven't fully decided what I want to do and you never know where life will take you. Don't panic!

Either you misread the poll or the poll wasn't done very well because dentistry is second only to medicine for employment. I think your careers advisor has given you a load of bullsh*t because criminology doesn't have a fantastic employment rate.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

georgiacwood

Original post by ilickbatteries

Either you misread the poll or the poll wasn't done very well because dentistry is second only to medicine for employment.

I probably misread it, however dentistry isn't really the point here. :smile:

Point is, more general degree's often work out to be helpful at getting employment after uni, which is helping the person who asked the question. :smile:

So sorry for not getting my stats 100% correct.

Reply 9

Howbeit

Original post by georgiacwood

I'm doing Criminology at Uni and am hoping to go into working in the prison system once I get my degree. I'd like to work with young offenders and rehabilitation etc. :smile:

Do you want you want and worry about the job after, I still haven't fully decided what I want to do and you never know where life will take you. Don't panic!

That poll is wrong. Law and dentistry courses have some of the highest graduate employment rates. Law is a very transferable degree to have. I wouldn't be surprised if that poll was done in America and even if it was I'd question it.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire S

(edited 11 years ago)

no where

So many graduates pick subjects that end in 'ology'. You'll find it difficult to get anything related to it. I'd advise you to pick something that'll make you stand out a bit more, e.g. law, economics, physics (at a top uni).

Reply 12

georgiacwood

Original post by the_dumb_one

Do want you want to do! Not point doing a Law degree and ending up with a poorer degree than if you enjoy Criminology more :smile:

And there's definitely no point doing a economics/physics degree if you want to do something criminal justice related :smile:

i'm doing criminology and don't regret choosing it over teaching, my other option, at all :smile:

Reply 13

ilickbatteries

Original post by georgiacwood

I probably misread it, however dentistry isn't really the point here. :smile:

Point is, more general degree's often work out to be helpful at getting employment after uni, which is helping the person who asked the question. :smile:

So sorry for not getting my stats 100% correct.

Do they really?

Let's think of some 'specific' and some 'general' degrees then.

Specific: Law, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Dentistry, Mathematics, Physics

General: English, Linguistics, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, Economics, Philosophy

We'll take the average of the top five employment rates for each subject.

Law: 86.6

Biology: 80.4

Chemistry: 88

Medicine: 100

Dentistry: 100

Maths: 85.4

Physics: 84

-----

English: 74.8

Linguistics: 69

Sociology: 74.4

Politics: 85.2

Economics: 88.8

Psychology: 74.2

Philosophy: 80.4

Specific average: 89.2

General average: 78.1

Specific degrees appear to have a higher rate of employability than general degrees, suggesting that doing a specific degree, i.e. chemistry or biology leads to better chances of being employed after university than doing something non specific such as English or sociology.

The reason for this of course is that non-specific degrees teach a lot of 'soft skills' that are good for getting a job, but technical knowledge is more highly valued because it is rarer.

Reply 14

hello123450

Im not doing criminology but I am doing sociology and my plan is to then go on to do a masters in business management. I'm not going into Uni just to get a job at the end of 3yrs, it's a stepping stone to get to where I REALLY want to go.

I feel like doing this will give me 3yrs to decide what to do with my life by giving an insight into society etc and social policy. I love soci and though it may be an unreliable course to get a solid job, I'll do better at it and be able to a good masters instead of doing average and not beig accepted into a acreddited masters degree :smile:

..

(same theory kind of applies to criminology from the research I have done)

Reply 15

Bromine

Original post by ilickbatteries

What are you defining a 'specific' degree as? :p:

Reply 16

georgiacwood

Wish I hadn't said anything, this has gone from a discussion about going to uni and the prospects to a totally irrelevant argument. :s
I stand by my point you should do that you want to, be it criminology, law or whatever. Only you can choose really! Good luck! :smile:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 17

Dukeofwembley

do what you want, but know the consequences if you do

ie you may do a crimonology degree an become second rate to law students,ie law students entering the police force would be picked over you

you cannot make a decision without all the relevant facts

if i was u i would do a vocational degree, ie nursing , town planning(has some law), architecture(most work heavy course by far), quantity surveying(pay is same as engineer with half the work!!), geology, etc there are thousands of suitable courses

Reply 18

Tridentus

Original post by hello123450

..

(same theory kind of applies to criminology from the research I have done)

This. if you're planning on a masters degree it practically negates the necessity to do a specific degree, because masters programmes prioritise heavily on degree classification, and therefore you may as well choose an undergraduate that you're going to be good at.

Reply 19

Realadvice

Original post by Dukeofwembley

The police service don't have any weighting system for potential recruits with a degree. Although this may change in the future I doubt it will have an impact on anyone graduating within the next few years.
So if your looking for a career in the police service don't enrole on a course because you think it will be preferential to another.
Any degree plus some voluntary or community focused work will be your best starter for 10.....But don't put all your eggs in the police basket, it's not for everyone and you could find yourself many years down the line in a career path that's not for you.