Hi, I am thinking of studing Bachelor of Forensic Science at Bond uni but in the future, I need to work part time or casually. Are there many jobs available for part time f/scientists? Thanks for any advice.
Short answer no.
Long answer if you are able to get a FT position and then go on maternity leave and you negotiate a PT return then it is possible. To go straight to PT absolutely not. The amount of training that you will have to go through on the job costs the department $$$$ and they get not value for money for a PT person.
That said there are maybe 2-5 positions available PER STATE, PER YEAR for forensics. Perhaps 1/2 of them are entry level positions. with over 100 graduates per state thinking of entering FS the competition is extremely hard. If you have not started your degree by now, expect to have to complete a PhD before you are able to apply for a position in this area.
Its nothing like the shows. If you are assigned to collections for instance – you spend every day, scraping underware etc for fluids and extracting the DNA, then you pass it to someone who spends every day setting up the PCR and then passes it to someone who spends every day running the products who then sends the results to the lab head to read. You could be in that position for 6 months before you change to something else.
Due to the mundane nature of it all, TAFE qualifications are looked on more favorable than a university degree as TAFE students are good "robots" whereas uni students are taught to question everything which is a disaster in a clinical or forensics lab. A PhD grad would most likely be in a room off the side designing new techniques (and not touching samples).
Employment Opportunities:
The main employers of forensic scientists are state and federal government health departments, and state, territory and federal police forces. Most forensic scientists have had extensive experience specialising in a particular scientific field such as microbiology, chemistry or physics before moving into the forensic area.
The Australian Federal Police, through its Forensic Services Division in Canberra, employs forensic scientists in the disciplines of crime scene examination, fingerprint identification, firearms and ammunition identification, document examination, forensic biology, forensic chemistry and applied physics.
For Further Information:
Department of Forensic Medicine
(02) 8584 7800
pattersonm@email.cs.nsw.gov.au
http://www.forensic.org.au
Manager Forensic and Data Services, Business Support, Australian Federal Police
(02) 6223 3044
http://www.afp.gov.au
National Institute of Forensic Science Australia
(03) 9640 0707
info@nifs.com.au
http://www.nifs.com.au
NSW Police, Recruitment Branch
(02) 8835 9888
recruiting@police.nsw.gov.au
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au
References :
http://www.jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au/occupation/view/211000B/NSW
due to the enormous interest in forensic science generated by TV cop shows, there are a lot of people trained in this field of work around. However, there aren’t that many job placements really.
Opportunities for flexible working hours will be dependent on local circumstances.
References :
Short answer no.
Long answer if you are able to get a FT position and then go on maternity leave and you negotiate a PT return then it is possible. To go straight to PT absolutely not. The amount of training that you will have to go through on the job costs the department $$$$ and they get not value for money for a PT person.
That said there are maybe 2-5 positions available PER STATE, PER YEAR for forensics. Perhaps 1/2 of them are entry level positions. with over 100 graduates per state thinking of entering FS the competition is extremely hard. If you have not started your degree by now, expect to have to complete a PhD before you are able to apply for a position in this area.
Its nothing like the shows. If you are assigned to collections for instance – you spend every day, scraping underware etc for fluids and extracting the DNA, then you pass it to someone who spends every day setting up the PCR and then passes it to someone who spends every day running the products who then sends the results to the lab head to read. You could be in that position for 6 months before you change to something else.
Due to the mundane nature of it all, TAFE qualifications are looked on more favorable than a university degree as TAFE students are good "robots" whereas uni students are taught to question everything which is a disaster in a clinical or forensics lab. A PhD grad would most likely be in a room off the side designing new techniques (and not touching samples).
References :
Did Honours in Forensics.