Law enforcement

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Anyone know anything about state or federal law enforcement? I'm most interested in California DoJ and FBI, but I'd be willing to think outside the box. Salary is not a big issue. I want a job that will be satisfying, dynamic, and interesting. Anything $55K or so would be enough for me in the beginning. </p>

<p>I'm a bit concerned about the FBI and DEA because of the willingness to move agents on short notice. However, the FBI is the agency that will be doing field work in what I'm most interested in (counter-terrorism and international financing of terrorist activities in the US.) However, I realize that CA DoJ special agents also have some authority in this, and since I love my CA lifestyle, I'm most interested in staying here. But, as I've been told, I'd be beyond lucky to be working in CA, so don't get my hopes up...meh.</p>

<p>Other than finishing my MA (which focuses a great deal on finance, accounting, econ, and quantitative methods), what should I be looking into doing? </p>

<p>Best I can tell, CA DoJ is only hiring for special agent positions who do lateral transfers from other agencies. Here's the thing: I'd rather skip doing local law enforcement if I can. Not only will I be doing something that isn't terribly interesting to me (patrol work), but I may waste time I could be spending at other agencies that I haven't considered.</p>

<p>As of right now, I've considered:</p>

<p>CA DoJ
FBI
USSS
DEA</p>

<p>I have no military experience. </p>

<p>Any advice would be appreciated. There's only so much advice that my fellow grad students can offer, and the career center, while very helpful when it comes to federal LEAs and intelligence, has very little experience with state-level LEAs.</p>

<p>Thanks guys.</p>

2

<p>Getting your MA really wasn't necesary for law enforecement. that said, your best opportunities will be in the fbi. you can qualify with the accounting "in." however, you are going to need minimum 2 years (see the fbi website for details) of accounting job experience (including supervisory experience). </p>

<p>as to your salary expectations, to put it bluntly, you are crazy. 55k to start out, are you kidding? Government jobs don't start out that high.</p>

3

<p>Straight from the FBI website:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Newly assigned Special Agents are paid as GS-10, step 1 ($43,441) plus locality pay and availability pay. Locality pay (which ranges from 12.5% to 28.7% of base salary depending upon office assignment) is additional compensation to account for differences in the labor market between different areas. Availability pay is a 25% increase in adjusted salary (base salary + locality pay) for all Special Agents due to their requirement to average a 50-hour work week over the course of the year. Thus, with the locality and availability pay adjustments, new Special Agents in their first Field Offices earn between $61,100 and $69,900, depending upon the region of the country to which they are assigned.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'd say that that's at least $55K. :p</p>

<p>I'm not getting my master's FOR law enforcement. I'm getting it because I didn't realize my goals until recently, and had thought I'd wanted to do something different. Nonetheless, I've spoken with at least one agency, and the recruiter said that advanced degrees are looked upon quite favorably.</p>

<p>And why the accounting "in" versus say local law enforcement? Just curious.</p>

4

<p>I'm in exactly the same boat as you, except i'm only a senior in high school.
I reallllllly want to work an federal LE angecy
I think you have a verrry good shot at the FBI because they are heavily hiring people with accounting degrees, and you have a master's which makes you an even more desireable applicant.
Keep in mind, that you must have two years of work experience before you apply
Make sure you stay fit, because you never know when you will get the call
I've heard many people who have applied and progressed through the timeline and have received a phone call saying they're to report to the academy in one week</p>

<p>Also,
if you work for any FLEA, you sign a disclosure, for lack of a better term, saying that you can be asisgned to any field office in the U.S.</p>

5

<p>bcon1388,</p>

<p>Keep in mind that I don't have an accounting degree...just some work in it. Unfortunately, I don't have the two years of work experience, so I'm trying to hash out my options there. And I always stay fit.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

6

<p>Gotchya
Well you're getting your masters and that counts for a lot
and you have knowlege in accounting so make that clear on your resume
Have you applied yet?</p>

<p>Also, I have found these forums to be very helpful/informative</p>

<p><a href="http://www.911jobforums.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.911jobforums.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck with the process</p>

7

<p>bcon1388,</p>

<p>I won't be applying until next year. As of right now, I need to worry about getting through my first year of grad school.</p>