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Young Forensic Scientists Forum Newsletter - May/June 2001 Expectations
and Realities for Forensic Employment: A Graduate Student's
Perspective |
| Presented at the YFSF Panel Discussion, "Expectations and Realities of Forensic Employment," held at the AAFS 2001 Annual Meeting My name is Eva Skarshinski and I am a first year, second semester master's student in the Forensic Science program at John Jay College. I became interested in forensics after getting my undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Biology. I had worked as a lab technician in a molecular biology lab for three years doing research, but eventually found the work had become boring, routine, and completely unchallenging and I couldn't imagine doing it for the rest of my life. I needed more excitement. I thought working for the FBI would provide that, and that's how I stumbled upon forensics. I would still be able to utilize my science background while not being confined to a lab environment (or so I thought at the time). I imagined myself at crime scenes and homicides, collecting blood and seeing dead bodies, and things of that nature. I assumed the next logical step would be to enter a formal educational program. It was a huge shock, when in the first week of the program, after speaking with an instructor, I learned that with the experience I already had (both working in the lab and with my science background) I could start working right away in a forensics lab without my master's degree. I was crushed. I started questioning whether or not this was all just a waste of my time and money. Here I was committing two years to this degree, but why? Would it even pay off? At around the same time I also learned — at least in the New York City area where I had planned on working upon getting out of school — that the job I was most interested in doing (mainly processing crime scenes) was done by uniformed police officers and other members of the law enforcement community. I wondered if I should join the police force instead. I guess I had just assumed that to do that sort of work, a formal forensics degree was a requirement. I also thought that forensics work would be 80-85% crime scene work and only about 10% lab work, whereas now I know that, if anything, it is just the opposite. In fact, the crime scene jobs seem almost coveted; a privilege in some places. Certainly not that easy to get. The thing that kept me in the program was really the program itself. There is a strong emphasis on lab work and hands-on experience and the content itself is extremely interesting. How useful do I think the master's will be to me now? I guess I feel that it might not be necessary in order to actually get a job, but it might pay off later once I've gained some outside experience. When I questioned some fellow students at both the undergraduate and graduate level, the consensus amongst the undergraduate forensic students was that experience was much more important than their degrees, while the master's students resoundingly said that their degrees would be an advantage to them. I do think the master's degree will help me open some doors later in my career, if not initially. I think it commands a certain level of respect and confidence. I think this respect for formal education, like the master's program at John Jay, is somewhat warranted in that I feel we are being given a theoretical foundation we might not acquire on our own just getting experience in the field. After school, I would like to get my foot in the door by working for a local forensic DNA lab. I do expect to do a lot of lab work, probably making about $45,000 to start and after five years making about $60,000 depending on where I am. I've heard the pay is slightly better out on the West Coast, that there are more labs, and also that there are more civilians processing crime scenes. I would be happy to retire making about $80,000. There is still an appeal to me in working for the FBI. I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that you need 10 years of experience before they will hire you. I am not sure if the work would be all that much more exciting than what I would be doing in a local lab and whether I am not just looking for greater prestige. As far as the future of forensics goes, I still see it as a fairly young, growing field. I believe that with time, more people will become certified and even uniformed officers will begin getting advanced training, just as certain jobs will be reserved for those with an educational background in the field. At the same time, new and more sophisticated technologies will be employed to help solve crimes. I am excited about beginning my career in this field. |
Copyright
© 2001 Young Forensic Scientists Forum / American Academy of Forensic Sciences |