What Is an Entry Level Forensic Science and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

Entry-level forensic science jobs combine the work of many fields, including chemical and biological analysis, crime scene investigation, laboratory technician work, and medical examination. If you are a CSI forensic scientist, for example, your responsibilities are to help with criminal investigations by collecting evidence at the scene of a crime and analyzing it. Your duties include searching for fingerprints, bagging evidence that might have DNA on it, photographing the scene with special cameras, and taking every sample to a lab to investigate further. Upon analysis, you report your findings to investigators.

The qualifications you need to get an entry-level forensic science job typically include a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, chemistry, biology, or a closely related field. A forensic science program provides a mix of laboratory classes and more theoretical grounding in the natural sciences and investigative work, such as pathology. If you work directly for a law enforcement department, you are also a sworn officer, so you may need to attend an academy and complete police force training. Important qualities for the job include strong analytical problem-solving skills and technical knowledge.