What can I do with a criminology degree

[Creamegg84]

Hi everyone. I went to university and gained a bachelors degree in criminology 16 years ago. I was very interested in it so that's why I chose to do that and I enjoyed it very much.
At the time I was desperate to leave home (poor relationship with father) and had been with bf for 4 years so we moved out immediately as soon as I finished university and I got a job in a call centre to pay the bills whilst I looked for work relating to my degree.
As it happened, I loved working there and time just passed and I stayed, had 2 kids and then our premises closed and all 500 of us were made redundant. It was good timing as I was pregnant. Since then I have been a sahm for the past 7 years.
I am ready to return to work, but I have no idea how or even if I can use my degree.

One girl I was at uni with joined the police force (I don't want to do that) and another went to work in a prison.

Is my degree even use able? I don't know where to start? I'm happy to do any type of work, retail, admin etc but it just seems such a shame that I have nerve used my degree

Probation?

I have a degree in the same field, a lot has changed in the last 16 years! I'd suggest volunteering with a local charity that takes your fancy to gain experience.

Civil Service Fast Stream.

They accept any degree for most of the schemes. You need a 2:1 for most (although I think a couple accept 2:2). Most schemes are £28k starting, & some like Finance & HR include a (fully funded) professional qualification.

The police are actively recruiting right now. I keep getting emails from them just because once, years ago I started to fill out one of their forms. There are graduate schemes in policing. I'd have thought the degree would fit well if you want to specialise even though you will probably need to update your knowledge.

One of my DC looked at criminology degrees and, although it sounds like it ought to be vocational, it didn't really lead directly to any specific careers ie you don't need a criminology degree to join the police force or probation service and, although some of them had modules in things like law, forensic science or forensic psychology, those careers all required further postgraduate qualifications. You still have those options now.

Is it something you still want to pursue though? What specific area were you interested in? If so, you may need a postgraduate degree. Are there any other careers that interest you? You have all those great transferable skills from your degree. You are still young, you can pick up where you left off. You can do also anything you want that doesn't require a specific degree ie most graduate jobs.

I would start by doing a careers test to explore options related to your degree and other graduate careers that you might not have considered at 18.