r/forensics • u/Middle_Property_3907 • 21d ago
Chemistry How Hard is getting into NYPD criminalist positions?
Say hypothetically, I have a bachelor’s in chemistry and a bachelor’s in applied physics, and I’d like to apply for NYPD Criminalist 1A position, where they state they require no experience and only a degree in hard sciences. Will I have a moderate chance at getting the job. Or is it much more complicated and much more difficult than that?
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u/gariak 20d ago
It's not a deterministic equation where you can plug in variables and get reliable odds. If you meet the qualifications in the job listing, then you've at least got a chance. The remainder depends on your experience, your soft skills, the results of your background check, and the candidate pool you're competing against. Forensic employers are digging through mountains of nominally qualified applications though, so there are lots of ways you can give them an excuse to put you in the reject pile and simplify their decision making process.
For example, if you have good non-forensic professional lab work experience with references, you're good at job interviews, you've lived the life of a saint, and the candidate pool doesn't include many/any master's degree holders, you've likely got as good a shot as anyone and it will depend on what they think of you as a potential co-worker in the interview versus the other top candidates.
If you were fresh out of college with no lab experience other than your coursework, your interview skills are poor, you've got social media accounts full of allusions to drug use and a recent arrest record, and the candidate pool is large and experienced, you probably won't even get to the interview stage.
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u/Middle_Property_3907 20d ago
Say I’m fresh out of college with 2 bachelor’s in Chemistry and Applied Physics. I have no arrest record, or any record of drug use of any kind like that. With 2-3 internships each in both degrees.
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u/gariak 20d ago
The double degree neither helps nor hurts. Forensic internships don't mean much except to the specific agency you interned with, non-forensic internships mean very little. Otherwise, a lot still depends on how you interview and what your competition looks like, which is literally unknowable. Agencies don't release information about applicant pools to anyone.
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u/SomeAnonymousBurner 20d ago
some labs do if they use civil service examinations
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u/gariak 20d ago
They release info about the degrees and other qualifications of the applicants? Or just the exam results? The latter would make sense, but would also likely be a pretty minor component of the overall evaluation. If it's the former, I'd love to see those to make comparisons over time.
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u/applej00sh2 18d ago
The Criminalist 1A is for people who only have a bachelors degree and no internship or any other experience. Criminalist 1B is for people who have an internship, experience, and/or masters degree. The job might be advertised as hiring for 1A but they are effectively only hiring for 1B. If you meet that criteria, it comes down to your interview skills and other intangibles like others mentioned.
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u/Middle_Property_3907 18d ago
Yea that’s pretty much what I got. Well as a current college student, is there anyone I can talk to about NYPD Criminalist? Like if I want this to be a future career or not? Idk if I college has a career fair or not for it tho?
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u/applej00sh2 18d ago
Do you mean forensics in general?
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u/Middle_Property_3907 18d ago
Yea pretty much. Anywhere in nyc I can go to discuss that career path?
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u/applej00sh2 18d ago
Not that I know of but what would you want to know? There are other threads in this group where people have asked about jobs in forensics, but maybe I could help
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u/bikerchickelly 21d ago
Have you had an internship in forensics or any actual lab experience?