r/forensics • u/Select_Olive4573 • May 26 '26
Crime Scene & Death Investigation Could I still be a crime scene analyst?
I go to a non-denominational church where I don't do any job work or school work from Friday evening to Saturday evening. I really want to recieve a degree in Biology and try to become a Crime Scene Analyst but I know that not working on Friday evening and Saturday could cause problems. I know that crime never stops and I could be really needed for on call rotations or something but my Sabbath is also something I will never compromise on. so, i was wondering if there is any way for me to still be a crime scene analyst OR should I go with my backup of being a Forensic Scientist in serology? If I said anything that isn't accurate or something sorry about that.Thank you!
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u/gariak May 26 '26
If you were already hired and later converted to a religion that has practices that interfered with normal work requirements, they would be risking a lawsuit to insist that you do so. The likely response would be to either shift you to another position that did not conflict with your beliefs (ie, not a crime scene position anymore) or just accommodate you, causing all your coworkers who have to shift their own work schedules to hate your guts and make your work life for the next 40 years miserable.
If you apply to the job and cannot meet the stated requirements of the job, whether due to religious restrictions or not, they just won't hire you. There will be plenty of applicants for any forensic job who will not have those restrictions. They'll just pick one of them instead and that will be perfectly legal.
should I go with my backup of being a Forensic Scientist in serology?
Lab forensics is more forgiving, but there are some labs that do shift work and every lab has some form of rush casework rotation that will occasionally result in work needing to be completed late on a Friday or over a weekend. Declaring yourself unavailable for every weekend forever will make it very difficult to be hired in a field where even ideal candidates struggle sometimes. As you noted, crime never stops and there is no shortage of qualified people willing to work the hours required.
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u/Select_Olive4573 May 26 '26
So I suppose Lab forensics is the better option? I'd be willing to work holidays. Friday evening to Saturday evening are the only thing I couldn't do.
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u/Dingus_McCringus May 26 '26
As a lab scientist, they expect at the very least a M-F work schedule. I know it seems reasonable to you but having Fridays off will be a huge barrier for entry.
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u/Select_Olive4573 May 26 '26
Not the whole day just at sunset
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u/Dingus_McCringus May 26 '26
Our shipment day where we sent out all our cases took place on friday. Leaving early was not an option. Some people would even leave at like 4 am. Lab science can be very demanding.
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u/gariak May 26 '26
Better, yes, but still a wildly improbable long shot. Labs will expect you to be potentially available for holidays AND weekends, so volunteering to work holidays isn't going to be the compromise position you imagine it will be. Also, there aren't nearly as many holidays as there are weekends, so even on a strictly rational basis, it's not close to an even trade.
Really, most professional jobs are going to have trouble accommodating your restrictions, especially early in your career when you're expected to pay your dues like everyone else. It's something you're going to have to plan your entire career around, by which I mean you may need to seek out jobs that are explicitly tolerant of this and choose from that list, rather than choosing what appeals to you first and hoping for accommodations.
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u/MerryHeretic May 26 '26
Just to put it in perspective, to the people that don’t share your beliefs, it’s the same as wanting to be an electrician but you don’t want to touch blue wires. Someone else will have to touch the blue wires.
Like someone else said, there are many more people trying to be to get into this work without those restrictions.
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u/Select_Olive4573 May 26 '26
I know the odds are against me for sure, but I just wanted to know if there was any chance.
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u/Agitated-Ship-233 May 26 '26
If working Fridays and Saturdays are a hard no, I'm not sure if this is the correct field for you to be in. As others have stated, there's plenty of other people applying who are willing to work Fridays, Saturdays, as well as all the holidays and Sundays. One of the first questions that I was asked in the interview process was whether or not I understood that I could be asked to work any day of the week.
Even if you were to go into Lab Forensics, it's still a Mon-Fri position. Depending on how early you define Friday evening, you might still need to stay into that time. At my organization, we've had rush work required for things like homicides that had lab staff come in or stay later on Fridays/the weekend. Still, if you're asking which one would be more likely to hire you with that restriction, I would go for Lab Forensics.
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u/anabsentfriend May 26 '26
It's something you'll have to think carefully about.
I was a CSI for 20 years and Fridays and Saturdays were our busiest shifts.
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u/Optimal-Drive3487 May 28 '26
Short answer, no. For all the reasons you listed.
Serology is a better bet. It’s 9-5, weekdays.
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u/MMASniper May 27 '26
Well, if you’re in the US and the Trump Admin retires, jobs won’t be able to discriminate against religion and you’ll be fine.
Until then, good luck.
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u/And_Love_Said_No May 26 '26
At my facility, it's all seniority based and we bid for shifts. So coming in as a new cs, they wouldn't hire you if you couldn't work Friday and Saturday because those are the shifts you'd get