The private sector transition demystified

You grew up dreaming of solving crime. You majored in Criminal Justice. You’ve served the public your whole career. Transitioning to the private sector seems ephemeral. Start here for everything you need to know to effectively transition into private sector roles.

Law enforcement is permeated with myths about the private sector. Often these myths work as cut-offs to prevent public sector employees from looking for private sector work. Here are some of the most common:

1- You won’t see any “action.”

This is just simply not true. Since leaving for the private sector, I’ve been involved in far more “action” than I ever was while working for a law enforcement agency. I’ve had the opportunity to work with investigators, analysts and officers from the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Labor and some of the largest police departments in the world. There are certainly some jobs that allow more access to the mission than others, but there are plenty of roles where you’ll still be directly involved in law enforcement work.

2- Private Sector Employment is “Risky.”

People who perpetuate this only consider one kind of risk. Its true, you’re more likely to experience a layoff in the private sector. It’s also true that you’re more likely to spend 20 years being significantly underpaid in the public sector, only to retire and see your benefits reduced.

3- Retirement is better in the public sector.

This often comes from the belief that pensions are the “Gold Standard” of retirement plans. This couldn’t be further from the truth. 30 states have a total retirement system that is less than 80% funded. Restrictions and overhead in these plans can mean that a privately held 401k is a much more appealing plan. Read more HERE.

4- I don’t have any transferrable skills

This is ridiculous. Some of the most in-demand skills involve expertise with the most commonly used Crime Analyst tools- Excel, Power BI, SQL, ArcPro, OSINT, etc. In addition, your law enforcement experience is likely to stand out to private-sector employers. You’ll come in with an air of legitimacy because you’ve worked side-by-side with police officers. I believe that so many crime analysts believe this because they simply don’t know what private sector roles they should be looking for. The more you learn about these roles, the more you’ll see how you fit into them. Keep reading through the sections on AML, Counter-fraud, Trust and Safety and Account Executives to learn more about different career fields where you can have a real impact.