Forensic Science Career Research Paper

The job that I choose was a forensic scientist. What they do is they analyze physical evidence of a crime that has been committed. They take photos of the different crime scenes and important evidence and sometimes make sketches. Forensic scientists mostly work in a laboratory, in offices, outside and many other places. They also have to write a lot of reports for the crime scenes and what they have found.

To be a forensic scientist, you need a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences and a master’s degree in forensic science. Some things they need to know to be a forensic scientist are math, chemistry, and biology. The most important thing to major in is something that provides extensive course work in math and 24 academic units of biology or chemistry. When you are new to the job, you have to pass a proficiency exam and it has to be approved by the laboratory before you can actually start working alone and on different casework. When you are trained, some things you have to do are DNA analysis, drug analysis, trace evidence, do fingerprints, and many other different things you need to learn how to do before you start the job. Training might last anywhere between 6 months or up to about 2 years to make sure that you are ready and know how to do everything you need to do before you start the job.

In the work environment, most forensic scientists work in crime labs, offices and morgues.

Sometimes they have to work outside to investigate some crime scenes, and they work in all different types of weather. They travel all over the world to investigate all different types of crime scenes. They mostly work part time and work different times like some work in the afternoon, evenings, and nights for a normal schedule. When they are not working, they will be on call and might get called into work for some very important

cases.

For a forensic scientist, the median wage pay is somewhere around $52,840. The lowest 10 percent earns less than $32,200. The top 10 percent earns more than $85,210. The average salary for a forensic scientist is around $57,340. Since they work a lot amount of time each week they get paid more and mostly get paid $26.76 an hour and $55,660 a year. Forensic scientists might get paid as low as $15.75 an hour and get $32.760 a year.

For forensic science technicians, it is projected to grow about 10 percent from the years of 2012 to 2022. The use of forensic evidence is expected to expand or get a lot bigger each year. It could grow as fast as 19 percent and will create 2,400 new different jobs before the year of 2020. Before you can work as a forensic scientist, you have to take an associate program that usually takes about 2 years to do. If you have a bachelor’s degree, it will take around 4 years. People who have a bachelor’s degree in a natural science and a master’s degree in forensic science will most likely have better opportunities than most other people who might only have the master’s degree or the bachelor’s degree.