Conservation officer/dnr profession

[TheIceFishingKid]

I know a lot of people have answered this but I thought I would put my 2 cents in. I am currently a Criminal Justice student at MSUM in Moorhead. I am graduating this year and plan on going in to the CO field. To become a CO you must complete a Criminal Justice or Law Enforcement degree 2yr. and become P.O.S.T certified. So you can not minor in these to become POST certified. I would HIGHLY recommend a 4 degree I know the law is only 2 but to my knowledge all of the new hires are 4 yr degrees. There is a lot of training involved to become POST certified it is about 10 weeks of the police academy and then once hired by the DNR they have there own training to complete. Doing ride alongs will help. I know a lot of 2 colleges offer special programs for DNR/COs but for the most part they do not get hired just with this degree. This is a very rewarding career that is why there are so few opening because once some one is in they dont let this job go. Good luck to your son if this is they path he goes with.

[cliffy]

Here is my view:

1. 4- year degree is probably a better choice than a 2-year degree. Nothing wrong with either one...just more agencies are looking for individuals with the 4-year degree. Most of the officers that I work with that only have their 2-year degree...are back taking classes trying to earn their 4- year degree...for promotions and advancements in their career. To me, it just makes sense to do the 4-year degree first. Plus, the extra couple of years in school gives you more of a chance to achieve life experience.

2. Do something extra while in school. Perhaps an internship and in my opinion, it does need to be with a Law Enforcement agency. Just get out in the world and make a positive reputation. Whatever you do, just do it to the best of your ability. When I background a possible candidate for employment, I want to know that they have done something with their life. I don’t care what type of work they have done. I just want to know that their employer felt they were responsible, trustworthy, hardworking...etc.

3. Keep out of trouble. If you do happen to get into trouble with the law, don’t make excuses, don’t place the blame on others....take your lumps and move on. Most departments will put more weight on how the person reacted/recovered from their mistake than the mistake itself. I can not count the number of Law Enforcement students or Criminal Justice students that I have dealt with over the years that totally derailed their careers by being drunk a$#h&^$.

Good luck.

Cliffy.

[duckster]

Ice,

I bet that you got more info than you anticipated but wanted to add one thing. You may want to look at other agencies that have positions that do very similar jobs. The National Park Service has Park Rangers, Special Agents and Criminal Investigators, Fish and Wildlife has Refuge Officers and Special agents, US Forest Service has Forest Officers and Special Agents. You could use one of these jobs as a stepping stone to a Game Warden job or who knows you may decide that you like it better being a Fed. Good luck and hang in there. Remember that the baby boomers are getting old and retiring, so there should be many openings in the next few years.

- Duckster

[deerhuntr8]

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Yeah... Me too.... We should just kick them all out of the country..

Oh, wait.. But then, this great country was put together by minorities and it was a minority that put this forum together

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I am so sick of this minority crap.

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Good for you.

[fishnhuntnboy]

Hey everyone this is the son that my dad was talking about. Thank you for all the information. It will help me out alot. The schools i have been thinking of going to is either vincennes here in indiana or a good school up in minnesota. I am not sure quite yet. But thank you again for all the help.

[SCCO9803]

I read through this post and figued I'd throw in my two cents worth.

I am criminal justice grad from St Cloud State. In saying this I would defintely say that a four year degree is probably preferred, though not totally necessary. With that being said if one is going to put in the commitment of money and time to education you may as well do the bachelors degree.

Upon my completion at St Cloud State I attended Alexandria Tech to complete the practical portion (SKILLS) of the POST process. Alex Tech is a must when it comes to completing the SKILLS portion as Grant Haugen is very knowledgable and well respected in the law enforcement field.

Then it was on to the POST written exam, which is schedule upon completion of the above mentioned.

I did apply for a CO job immediatley out of college in 2003. There were over 600 applicants for 16 positions. The previous post covered the process from this point. There was a 500 question exam prior to the interviewing process, one part animal id, the other law related. The process from that point is interviewing, then several weeks of training at Camp Ripley, then on to the job.

I did pass the written test but not the 2nd interview. I'm not saying it can't be done out of college but highly unlikely, if you want the truth.

With all this being said, make sure law enforcement is what he wants to do for an occupation. As was also stated CO's very rarely get to go hunting/ fishing as we do because those are their big working times. I realized it to late that Law enforecement was not for me. The excitement of the proffesion quickly wore off once I became married, and realized the psychological, and physical dangers of the job.

Fortunately for me it worked in that I found business to be my forte and interest. The earnings are much greater (not that, that is the most important thing) and the 8-5 work schedule is invaluable, when a spouse and eventually kids are involved. Ironically one of my direct co-workers was a deputy and turned in his badge after 3 years because of the same reasons I stated. It's an interesting field and I think people are either cut out for it or they're not.

That's what I have to offer to the conversation.

[sdstatekid]

Sorry it took so long to reply Agape. I don't think i know Casey, but i have hunted with quite a few different people and some of the names and hunts just run together. What year and major is he?

[doser]

SDSTATEKID........get back to class. P.S. ease up on the barley pop too!

[sdstatekid]

Doser, I don't have class at 10 at night and i havent had any barley pop for a long time.