LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
That all depends on where you work, what the caseload is, and what your job duties are. If you work someplace with a huge backlog and more work than you have personnel for, it could be stressful. When I was at the coroner’s office it was exhausting, we had a ton of work, not much staff, were underpaid, and my boss was a little crazy, but i loved it so much I didn’t care. At the police department now we have just enough people to manage the work, so even though it gets busy at times we stay on a pretty even keel. Good supervisory management is key (in any field). Best of luck!
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That depends entirely on where you want to work and what you want to do. If you want to do DNA analysis and testify in court about it, you may need a PhD in genetics. If you want to work at crime scenes bagging and tagging evidence, you may need only a high school diploma, with added hireability for advanced degrees. The only way to know is to check job opening notices or call the agencies and ask. Best of luck to you.
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No. Like any job it can be tiring and tedious at points, but the only time it makes me anxious is always due to bureaucratic issues, which, again, you’re going to have in any job.
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Sorry, I wouldn't know anything more about it than anyone else. Try Google. Or watch the excellent miniseries, "American Crime Story: The Run For His Life." It was great.
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Call Center Employee (Retail)
What's the craziest unprofessional-phone-rep story you've ever heard?
EMT
Does your crew ever fake an emergency to slice through traffic?
School Teacher
How do you feel about the idea of year-round schooling?
I don’t know.
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Huh, that's a good question. I hope my books show what it's really like, except, of course, that my protagonist spends much more time out of the lab than in it, which is not at all realistic.
The non-fiction TV shows and books show reality, however, you have to remember that they're presenting cases that most investigators may come across once or twice in a lifetime.
Fiction shows, like "CSI" in which they have computerized databases of every substance in the world including toothpaste and wall paint, or ones in which female pathologists wear cocktail dresses to work. are definitely not realistic at all.
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I always loved mysteries and detection, but didn't want to be a cop.
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