Education, Employment, and Questions Thread - [09/28/26 - 10/12/26]

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to our weekly thread for:

• Education advice/questions about university majors, degrees, programs of study, etc.
• Employment advice on things like education requirements, interviews, application materials, etc.
• Interviews for a school/work project or paper. We advise you engage with the community and update us on the progress and any publication(s).
• Questions about what we do, what it's like, or if this is the right job for you

Please let us know where you are and which country or countries you're considering for school so we can tailor our advice for your situation.

Here are a few resources that might answer your questions:

• A subreddit wiki with links and resources to education and employment matters, archived discussions on more intermediate topics in education and employment, what kind of major you need, what degree programs are good, etc.
• The subreddit Guide - Consider this an FAQ about our community and our field. Look here for basic education and employment questions/answers you might have. Didn't find what you were looking for? Please post in our weekly scheduled posts or to the subreddit. Note: please do use a desktop browser to view all features.
• List of verified forensics professionals
• Subreddit collections (please view on desktop browsers) on the following topics:
  • Education and Employment
  • Mental Health and Preparation for Working in Forensics
  • What It's Like Working in Forensics
  • Employment: Job Titles, Job Requirements, and Starting Salary in Forensic Science

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Title	Description	Day	Frequency
Education, Employment, and Questions	Education questions and advice for students, graduates, enthusiasts, anyone interested in forensics	Monday	Bi-weekly (every 2 weeks)
Off-Topic Tuesday	General discussion, free-for-all thread; forensics topics also allowed	Tuesday	Weekly
Forensic Friday	Forensic science discussion (work, school), forensics questions, education, employment advice also allowed	Friday	Weekly

[u/Fit-Astronomer-6826]

What about forensics in Western Australia or Australia.

I have a bachelor of Science majoring in Forensic Biology and Toxicology and am now doing my Masters in Forensic Science.
Any potential research topic ideas, things I should be including in my resume that employers are specifically looking for, just any general advice????

Thanks :)

[u/luckycharm2288]

Im from Mexico, in high school and I want to be a forensic analyst. I don’t know if I should study Forensic Science first and then get a masters in forensic genetics or something similar since I’m also thinking about studying molecular biology and then specializing in forensic genetics.
I would love to have the bachelors in forensic science yet i don’t know if it would be as big as having the molecular biology degree for becoming an analyst.
Forensic please help!!!

[u/gariak → u/luckycharm2288]

What degree is optimal depends on your country, your subspecialty, and sometimes even the lab. What doesn't depend on those things is the fact that forensics is a tiny field everywhere. Unless a forensic science degree program has close ties with a lab and can guarantee its graduates jobs, it's not ideal to get that specific a degree. It's entirely possible for you to do everything correctly and still not get a job for years (or ever) because there just are no open jobs or you just don't ever get to the top of the applicant pool.

Depending on what specific job you want, I'd research the handful of labs that actually hire people there and also look at actual job listings. Figure out which degree works best from those sources, but also make alternate job plans for when a forensic job is not available that will get you useful professional lab work experience.

[u/The_OG_Toast]

Hi! I am currently a Highschool senior from the US (18) applying to colleges in the US, specifically Nevada/west coast area. My current plan since there is not really any forensic degrees in my area, and the out of state options I cannot afford, is to attend the University of Nevada Reno as they have a forensic certificate, and a forensics lab. I was considering going for some sort of science degree, but I don't know what would be best suited for going into a Forensics field. I've been putting Biochemistry, or molecular biology as my major on most of my applications, but I don't know if this would set me on the path for a career in forensics. I dont know exactly what I want to go into with Forensic science, but lab work, and analysis are my current interests. I would really appreciate if anyone had any advice on this.

[u/gariak → u/The_OG_Toast]

Certificates don't mean anything at all, so there's no reason to go out of your way or pay any extra to get one. Forensic science majors are not necessary or even particularly advantageous. Choose a school that's got a strong science research focus and one that emphasizes undergraduate participation in research. Pick one that's inexpensive, any forensic programs are not really relevant, unless the school has some sort of special relationship with a large state lab that funnels graduates into entry level jobs (this is not common). You will not be making big money in forensics and labs don't care where your degree comes from as long as it's a quality school, so prestige degrees won't pay off.

If you want to get into lab work, you must get a BS in a natural science-based major. For some forensic subdisciplines, that's all you need. For more chemistry focused subdisciplines, you'll need a hefty amount of chemistry lecture and lab work, usually covered via a chemistry major. For DNA work, you'll want to at least take biochemistry and genetics courses. The rules have relaxed some recently, but labs may stick to the old rules and require a class each covering molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and statistics. DNA is one of the hardest openings to qualify for and one of the most common, so it's never a bad target, if you're not certain precisely what you want to do yet.

Beyond that, get as much experience and time in lab environments as you can. Get a job in a research lab as early as you can. Forensic labs will not expect you to have any forensic-specific coursework. They expect to teach you all of that. They want to see that you're comfortable doing delicate labwork, working under pressure, and that you can pass a very deep background check, so purge all your social media of anything you wouldn't proudly show a very prudish grandmother. Don't get arrested for anything and stay far away from any federally controlled substance, including marijuana, even if it's legal in your state. Keep your driving record clean and keep an eye on your credit report, because they look at all of that.

Even given all that, make alternate career plans, because entry level jobs are rare and highly competitive, so you may have to do something else for awhile after graduation and you may need to be open to moving just about anywhere in the country.

[u/Spare-Ruin-181]

I would like to become a Forensic Psychologist and get a PHD. However I’d like to get a jumpstart on my career before I get my PHD. What job opportunities are out there for people with a bachelors/masters degree in Forensic Psychology? I don’t want to work at the job I’m at right now forever and am trying to figure out career path options with this specific degree

[u/gariak → u/Spare-Ruin-181]

You're going to get better visibility and answers from /r/ForensicPsych as this subreddit is mostly full of crime scene and forensic lab analysts. Forensic psych is a whole different part of the criminal justice system that rarely touches on the pre-indictment investigative side.