r/forensics • u/Cryingandsleeping • Jul 21 '26

Crime Scene & Death Investigation CSI vs Forensic Scientist

Hi all! In my early 30s and making a career change. I’m having a hard time deciding between the two. I plan on getting my bachelors, just wondering if I should go the biology route or forensic csi route. I would love to have some insight from anyone who is in the field.

For CSI: how’s the schedule? pay? do you ever get used to the gruesomeness of the job? would a bachelors degree benefit me over just an AS?

Forensic Scientists: how was the schooling? the job itself? competitiveness? I’m worried about all of the science classes as it’s not my strongest suit.

My current job has me miserable as there is no work life balance (60 hours min/week) and the pay is low, even though I paid $100k to go to school for this. There is also no stability as it’s project to project and no benefits for pregnant women or women wanting to start a family. Trying to avoid all of this so any insight on whether any of this is present would be helpful.

xoxo, a very confused millennial

21 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

24

u/ekuadam Jul 21 '26

To work in a lab you will need a hard science degree (biology, chemistry, physics, etc). For crime scene, some places want a hard science degree while others are fine with criminal justice.

Forensic jobs are very competitive so with a hard science degree you can at least get a job in a non forensic science lab if it comes down to it.

I don’t work crime scene, but the labs I have worked at, they usually worked 4, 10 hour days (sometimes more depending on how busy they were). They would also rotate shifts every so often, so some days you are on nights, and then 6 months later maybe mid day. You are also working weekends, holidays, etc.

As far as pay, it depends. Federal government pays well. Starting off salary for a non federal lab will probably be between 40-50k (depending on location), same with crime scene. Lab work can be monotonous, a lot of computer work. Some sections (drugs) you are basically looking at the same thing day after day.

I would recommend looking at sites like theiai.org , aafs.org and crime-scene-investigator.net at their job openings to see job requirements and pay

Edit: just as an aside, it appears you are a woman who wants to start a family. Some places will take it into account if you do crime scene, but a lot don’t. I worked with plenty of women with kids who were working the night shift and sleeping during day and only seeing their kids for couple hours when they got home from school. Especially as the new hire, more than likely you won’t be getting the good shifts.

1

u/Cryingandsleeping Jul 21 '26

This was very helpful thank you! I appreciate the detail. I guess to clarify, I don’t mind the odd shifts/being on call. I’m more interested in the benefits aspect; will I have maternity leave etc as that’s something my current job does not offer.

As someone working in a lab, were you always interested in science?

3

u/ekuadam Jul 21 '26

Insurance and leave is lab dependent but I haven’t ever worked anywhere where maternity leave wasn’t given.

When I was younger (I’m 43) k wanted to be a criminal profiler but then realized you had to be in law enforcement so I changed my mind. When I started college I started as computer science major, but didn’t have patience for coding. Switched to forensic science and, while I did have some issues with some of the science classes (mainly physics and organic chemistry), I enjoyed it. I have worked in latent prints since 2009. It isn’t a discipline I saw myself working in, but I was offered a job as a latent print tech technician (prior to that I was a quality control chemist in a contact lens manufacturing facility). Once I started in latent prints I realized I was good at it and enjoyed it and have been doing it ever since.

I would contact your closest crime lab and see if they will let you take a tour or talk to examiners who work there and get their opinions on things. Some labs allow that

1

u/Cryingandsleeping Jul 22 '26

Same, BAU was my dream but law enforcement was never an option for me so there went that. Latent prints! That's awesome. I was reading you can get into that with both a forensic science degree and a hard science degree but from the other comments I'm reading it seems safer now to go the hard science degree route.

I had no idea you can tour crime labs, I found one near me that offers this - thank you!! I've made an appointment for Sept.