Waynesburg University’s Criminal Justice and Social Sciences Department hosted their first Criminal Justice Job/Internship Fair Nov. 7 at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse and the Waynesburg University Gymnasium. 

Over 50 agencies attended with over 90 presenters said Adam Jack, chairperson of the criminal justice and social sciences department. 

Most of the attending agencies are local, such as the City of Pittsburgh Police and Washington County Jail. 

Some of these agencies have had relationships with the department for years, like the Ocean City Police Department. Others are just making contact, one being the Arlington Police Department from Virginia and the Pentagon Police. 

Jack said the new contacts are because of the reputation of the department’s students. 

“We are very lucky [for] the type of program have,” Jack said. “We are sending students out into the working world that employers really like. They are strong students. They are ethical and moral, and I think [employers] are now realizing that [now] they are in their ranks, and they’re coming here.” 

The large attendance of agencies was due to the professional experience and reputation of each faculty member in the department, said Jack. Each faculty member contacted what people they knew in agencies and asked if they wanted to send recruiters. 

“For instance, as federal agents, Jim Tanda or Kevin McClincy could pick up the phone and call the IRS, the ATF, or the FBI,” Jack said. “[They] can say to their colleagues, ‘hey, we’re having this job fair, and you take our interns already. Would you be interested?’” 

The faculty decided that all criminal justice majors must attend the event. 

For freshmen and sophomores who cannot get credit for an internship until they are a junior or are not ready for a job, attending may seem pointless. 

Jack wants them to learn more about all these agencies and figure out what they really want to do as a career. 

“My focus is in career development and career planning, and I want them to really take in [everything], go talk to these agencies and hear what the job really is [like] working for the West Virginia State Police or working for Abraxas. So I want them to go talk to people, and see what these careers are about. They might not even know that their is an agency that does ‘this type of thing,’” Jack said. 

For many years, the department and the Ocean City Police Department have partnered for several students to spend the summer in Ocean City and intern for whatever criminal justice field interests students. 

Students get paid, they are at the beach and they gain valuable experience in law enforcement, Jack said. 

Jack said that it is important for students to be proactive and start searching for opportunities that will build connections and later land them in their field of interest. 

“A lot of students have commitments at home. Some of them don’t want to go into law enforcement,” Jack said. “I’d say half, maybe sixty percent, of our students end up going into some aspect of federal, state or local law enforcement. But the other forty percent go into some of these social services type of jobs: working with juveniles, law school, CYS and victims advocacy.”