[kydsid]

I'm late to the party but let me offer my wisdom as a career federal civil servant in 3 different departments, working law enforcement, science and general administration as an employee and supervisor/hiring official.

PoliSci will get you somewhere with a three letter LEO agency, maybe, and possibly with State. Mostly it isn't going to matter for the following.

If a degree is required, it flat out is and an announcement will say what degree and to what specifics. (Announcements for all jobs (excepted service aside, think CIA/NSA) are all on USAJobs.gov If it's a requirement it's a pass/fail bar. A hiring official won't know you exist if you fail, HR kicks you out of the pool. Otherwise a degree is a couple extra points on your total. Federal Hiring officials by and large and HR before they even get to that point are going to assign a point score based on your resume and supporting documents. Points are assigned for meeting job criteria, that the hiring official has some control over but HR has some too in how the position was classified.

What does that mean in a nut shell - Degrees mean little, but something.

What perhaps means more? Military service. There are several hiring authorities for vets only. And vets preferrence will almost ALWAYS get you more points than a degree. And military service will get you more experience. Caveat if you write your resume like **** and don't credit your own experience no one can give you points to get you to the top of the list.

What do I mean by that? Well I've scored HS only vets higher than MS holding college grads. I've also graded vets that I knew managed 40 or more people because their application was written for ****. And even though I knew the position and what they did in the military it didn't mean I could give them credit during the hiring process.

The federal hiring process is all about what can be proven before, during and after the process. If it isn't in the application package or gleaned from the interview (if you make it that far), it doesn't exist or matter. The result is no job offer.

So my advice is go for a degree in a field you like that might get you a job. I know many federal LEO's with Biology/Chemistry/ etc degree's. I would never advise anyone to seek a degree for a job unless they are looking into Medicine or Legal. Those in my experience are the only fields were its an absolute.

As for my best advice. Seek out a nearby Federal Employee or in agency interested as a mentor to help with hiring process or career paths in said agency. Seek out internships and alternate hiring programs. Seek out career fairs where target agencies are attending to talk to people from that agency.

Good luck.