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I have a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and can't get a job, please help?

I graduated from Appalachian State last year with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice, and a Minor in Psychology, It took me one year to find a decent job, and three weeks into it, a female co-worker made up lies about me and got me fired. That was this past August, since then, I have yet to find another job. Mcdonald's is not going to cut it, I need a job that pays at least $20,000 a year to pay for all of my bills. It's very stressful, I really want to work, just not flipping hamburgers. The only job in the criminal justice field that I do not want is a police officer, I do not want to be a cop. I tried to get in as a detention officer, but I'm 6'0 and 275, and that is considered obese according to their standards so I didn't meet the qualifications. It would have been a great job, but not until I lose 50 pounds, and with a huge amount of daily stress due to having no money , losing weight is a little easier said than actually done. I live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, And I did my internship with the Hall of Justice of Forsyth County working in the Clerk's office and Magistrate's office. I wanted a job in the clerk's office, but they said I was "over-qualified" to work there, no the real answer is, I wasn't a young attractive woman right out of high-school. That's all that was working in the clerk's office was women. I was the only guy. other than the clerk, and he was like 70 something. Over the past year, I've put in 100 applications, and I've probably only been contacted four times. Only once did the contact lead to a job, and I lost that job un-fairly, I believe I was racially discriminated against, read above. Anyone have any ideas? pass them along.......also the ESC(employment security commission) ain't worth a piddler's poot, they didn't help me at all.

Public Comments

1. I have a best friend who graduated with a BSN in Criminal Justice a few years ago and can't find a better job other than working in a tanning salon. She wants to work in a police department or probation, but they said she needs experience. She can't figure out how to get any because no one will give her a chance. Sorry that you got fired. The same thing happened to me in March, a jeleous older female went to Human Resources and made up a bunch of crap, although I proved otherwise they said they were feeling shaky about me and they fired me. I was working for a company that was at-will though, so I couldn't fight this. I know a lady who works in the court house, not municipal, I don't know what its called. She works as a counselor for domestic violence division, working cases for both victims and the defendents. I think its hard to get jobs like that though, because the people who do it work there for like 30 years. How about the Board of Social Services, or some place government related where your degree would be an assett? I am not talking FBI, I am talking a state agency. How about Homeland Security Division? The supervisor at the previous job I had also had a BSN in Criminal Justice, and yet he was working for a crappy cable company. It's like a Business degree, its hard to find a job with it. Please don't settle for less than $20,000. You should be making more than double that with your degree. If I can go find a job making $34,000 with no degree than you should eventually be able to find something more, right? I hope that you find a job soon. I do not have a degree (yet) but I have also been told that I am over qualified for minimum wage jobs that don't require any type of skill which makes me sick. I see a bunch of idiots working places where I wonder how they landed their jobs in the first place. You will find something. Continue to check probation/parole divisions, court houses, etc. Good luck!!!
2. Probation, parole, child protective services investigation, or a child support officer with your state's attorney general...Even use it to go to grad school, for a master's in social work or criminal justice if you want to continue there. Yeah and that is kind of unfair to college graduates who at least want to get their foot in the door at the police station or courthouse. Like you said, a clerical type of job inside a courthouse, or a probation officer, or even at the police department. We get overlooked because we're "overqualified". So the college student who spent 4+ years making sacrificces can't even earn $20,000 a year, we're left poor and hungry with no income. While someone who only has a high school diploma gets the comfortable clerical job and turns out better than the college grad. I used to joke to one of my friends, when she applies for a job that doesn't require a degree, don't put on the application that she has a college degree.