1. CAREER PLANNING FOR CRIMINOLOGY STUDENTS
Jenny Keaveney
Careers Advisory Service

2. Who employs Criminology graduates?
What can I do with my degree?
A lot of people will start with their degree subject but ..
Who employs Criminology graduates?

3. THERE IS MORE TO YOU THAN YOUR DEGREE …
INTERESTS
YOUR DEGREE
YOUR
SKILLS
Many employers will value you for your skills rather than your degree subject
Your prefs, personality & values will influence your choice of these employers and careers
YOUR
PREFERENCES
YOUR
VALUES
YOUR
PERSONALITY

4. Skills gained from studying Criminology
Analytical skills
Clear & Logical thinking
Communication
Critical evaluation
Gathering, assessing and interpreting information
Literacy & Expression
Organising
Planning
Problem solving
Research
Working to deadlines

5. Ways of using your degree and your skills in a career
Work with data: research; analysis; investigation; information; problem-solving
Work with people: helping; advising; managing; persuading; negotiating
Work with ideas: planning; communicating; initiating; creating
Many careers will combine elements from each category
All of these could be in areas relevant to criminology or completely removed from it: we will look at examples of jobs in relevant areas

6. Working with Data Criminal Intelligence Analyst Researcher
Case Review Manager
Fraud Investigator
Solicitor
Chartered Accountant
Civil Service Fast Stream
There are not many jobs that are purely information/research based – you will need good communication skills to gather info or to present it to the people who will be using it

7. Working with Data – Criminal Intelligence Analyst
What is Intelligence Analysis?
“The identification of and provision of
insight into the relationship between crime data
and other potentially relevant data with a view to
police and judicial practice”
Intelligence Analysis basically involves:
making sense of large amounts of often disparate information,
highlighting salient points
and increasing the effectiveness of police resources.
Example: Police Professional
This case deals with a professional team of armed robbers based in the North London area, who specialised in targeting large cash sums being transported by security vans.
The robbers sought to steal large cash sums from CIT custodians and would use physical force combined with the production/threat of a knife and/or handgun and on one occasion a pump-action shotgun during their raids.
The series was linked by a combination of factors such as victim profile, suspect description, modus operandi (MO), geographical location as well as the make and model of vehicle(s) used and the means by which the robbers made their getaway, this being combined with the chronology of offending.
One of the key tasks was to identify all potentially linked offences no matter where they had been committed, to enable a review by the investigative team, so that all the risks the subjects posed to their victims and members of the public, as well as a full chronology of their offending, was clear. Accurate patterns would only emerge when all offences had been reviewed.
This eventually enabled the Metropolitan Police to identify a pattern of offending and run an intensive surveillance operation for the purpose of gathering best evidence to effect early arrests for offences proportionate to their level of criminality.”

8. Working with Data – Home Office Research Officer
“I started working for the Home Office on a casual contract as a Research Officer in Manchester. The post involved interpreting regional crime statistics, conducting crime-related research and disseminating best practice. Nine months later, I started a permanent post in the Immigration Research and Statistics Service in Croydon. I work in a team that conducts longitudinal research on refugees and am currently working on the feasibility and development of a large-scale survey that will involve using quantitative and qualitative data to gauge how refugees experience settlement in the UK”
Example: Police Professional
This case deals with a professional team of armed robbers based in the North London area, who specialised in targeting large cash sums being transported by security vans.
The robbers sought to steal large cash sums from CIT custodians and would use physical force combined with the production/threat of a knife and/or handgun and on one occasion a pump-action shotgun during their raids.
The series was linked by a combination of factors such as victim profile, suspect description, modus operandi (MO), geographical location as well as the make and model of vehicle(s) used and the means by which the robbers made their getaway, this being combined with the chronology of offending.
One of the key tasks was to identify all potentially linked offences no matter where they had been committed, to enable a review by the investigative team, so that all the risks the subjects posed to their victims and members of the public, as well as a full chronology of their offending, was clear. Accurate patterns would only emerge when all offences had been reviewed.
This eventually enabled the Metropolitan Police to identify a pattern of offending and run an intensive surveillance operation for the purpose of gathering best evidence to effect early arrests for offences proportionate to their level of criminality.”

9. Working with People Probation Service Officer
Connexions Personal Adviser
Prison Governor
Police Officer
Community Support Officer
Customs Officer
Housing Manager

10. Working with People – Probation Officer
“We write pre-sentence reports which advise courts on how they should sentence individuals. And we supervise people who are on court orders and people who are in prison … It entails an ongoing process of assessing individuals, assessing risks that they pose in terms of harm to other people, harm to themselves, harm to staff and the risk of them getting into trouble again”

11. Working with Ideas Media & Communications Education & Training
Strategic/Policy Management
Again, most of these jobs require very good people skills – to persuade, manage, inform, influence, negotiate
Include: journalism; PR; campaigning
Training: professional training, vocational training; academic; school teaching (Citizenship)
Management roles – any type of work has the potential to develop into this, eg Prison Governor, Chief Constable

12. So what do Criminology graduates do?
What do they do in broad terms?
Their occupations and employers
Postgraduate study
Other jobs where the degree is useful

13. In broad terms …..
13% 2% 9%
61%
15%
Percentages based on known destinations of 2007 Kent graduates (55 grads in total)
“Others” include “starting work soon”, volunteering and not available
2% unemployed = one graduate!

14. What do Criminology graduates do?
Police Officer (Metropolitan Police)
Prison Officer (Young Offenders’ Institution)
Admin Support Officer (Surrey Police)
YISP Support Assistant
Paralegal
Recruitment Consultant
Trainee Primary Teacher
Licensing Assistant (Group Lotus)
Example destinations of 2007 Kent graduates
YISP = Youth Inclusion & Support Panel

15. Some employers in areas directly related to your degree
The Home Office
The Prison Service
Police forces
Probation services
Connexions
The Security Service
The Serious Organised Crime Agency
Solicitors and barristers
Links to all the above from

16. Examples of postgraduate courses
Graduate Diploma in Law (Law conversion course)
MA Criminology
MA International Conflict Analysis
MA Law

17. Ways of using your skills in career areas open to all graduates
Library/information work
Public sector administration
Social work
Computing and IT
Transport/logistics management
Finance
Marketing

18. What next? Think about yourself Research possible careers
Try and get relevant work experience
Plan ahead - note deadlines in final year
Use the Careers Advisory Service!

19. FINDING OUT MORE Useful information sources include:
Job profiles on Prospects.ac.uk
What can I do with my Criminology Degree?

20. … of this seminar - your career planning continues!
THE END ...
… of this seminar - your career planning continues!
Jenny Keaveney
Careers Advisory Service
Opening hours: 9am - 5pm
Monday - Friday