Here’s the tricky bit: you’ve chosen subjects carefully to give you the best shot at your degree, you’ve graduated with honours at the top of your year, you’ve spent your holidays getting work experience and shadowing some of the experts in the field you one day want to work with but right now, how do you get work in the criminal justice system?
Let’s put the issue under the spotlight today to take away some of the mystery and help you on your way.
Presenting Yourself
However you go about getting work in this sector some things are universal however and wherever you search for work. You need to present yourself in the best possible light: this means optimising your CV to showcase the qualifications and experience that make you a good fit for the role, and minimising the ‘noise’ that would prevent an employer seeing this information.
Look at the descriptions of the jobs you’re applying for – if they’re looking for similar qualifications, qualities and experience you can create a single CV, but if the jobs have diverse requirements it’s worth taking the trouble to submit a bespoke CV for each one even if that is time consuming.
Identify the key points the job description is asking for and ensuring they are front and centre in your CV, as well as being picked out by your covering letter. You may wish to create a short bullet point list at the top of each section of your CV to ensure the key points are seen first, and reassuring the people reading it that it’ll reward a closer read.
Different Channels
There are lots of different institutions using criminal justice staff, and while, as with any government system there are centralised job boards as well as individual ones for each location, it can take a lot of time to sort through what’s available and make sure it’s suitable for you. Make sure you’ve thought about just what you want from the job: there’s more than the title to consider. Weigh up the salary, the chances for development and the location of the job before you commit the time to applying.
Fortunately, to take advantage of the demand for positions – both permanent and temporary – there are plenty of criminal justice agencies set up to unite jobs that need people with the people that need those jobs. With a trained recruiter on your side, your job search and the application process will be much easier and less stressful.
