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Criminalist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical criminalist skills. We ranked the top skills for criminalists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 18.1% of criminalist resumes contained physical evidence as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a criminalist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 criminalist skills for your resume and career

1. Physical Evidence

Here's how criminalists use physical evidence:
  • Recognized, documented and interpreted the significance of physical evidence through the application of a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
  • Perform laboratory tests, analyses, classifications, comparisons and identifications on all types of physical evidence.

2. Laboratory Reports

Here's how criminalists use laboratory reports:
  • Communicated daily with Assistant District Attorneys regarding the status of laboratory reports.
  • Prepare laboratory reports to the findings and provide testimony as an expert witness.

3. Body Fluids

Body fluid can be described as any fluid produced by a living organism e.g. human body. In the human body, the fluid can be classified into two major types according to their location: the intracellular fluid and the extracellular fluid. The extracellular fluid is located outside the cell(s) while the intracellular fluid is located within the cell(s).

Here's how criminalists use body fluids:
  • Analyzed biological specimens to include isolation, identification, & genetic characterization of body fluids.
  • Provided expert testimony to courts of law in the identification and comparison of body fluids.

4. Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative analysis, QA, is a technique that relies on data and uses mathematical and statistical models to collect, evaluate, and analyze data points to understand behavior or condition.

Here's how criminalists use quantitative analysis:
  • Perform quantitative analysis of suspected alcoholic beverages.
  • Performed qualitative and quantitative analysis using various instrument and chemical methods, and literature searches.

5. Perform DNA

Here's how criminalists use perform dna:
  • Perform DNA PCR-based STR fluorescence imaging analysis.
  • Perform DNA typing tests on human tissues or body fluids to compare criminal evidence with samples of known origin.

6. Proficiency Testing

Here's how criminalists use proficiency testing:
  • Participate in annual proficiency testing and continuing education as required by the accreditation standard.
  • Developed protocols for proficiency testing, training, and technical troubleshooting.

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7. Firearms

A firearm is a type of weapon or device used by police, uniformed personnel or other related professional for security and protection purposes. This lethal and destructive weapon can often shoot bullet or missiles. A firearm usually consists of a chamber or barrel, frame body, breech bolt, and a magazine.

Here's how criminalists use firearms:
  • Developed a computerized firearms inspection worksheet that provided a printed inspection report and created a firearms database.
  • Function and Safety Testing of Firearms.

8. Court Testimony

Here's how criminalists use court testimony:
  • Reported results and offered expert court testimony upon request.
  • Report my results for state & local court testimony.

9. Criminal Justice

Here's how criminalists use criminal justice:
  • Maintained the case backlog by evaluating submissions, conversing with criminal justice customers, and prioritizing workloads to meet deadlines.
  • Instructed courses in Criminal Justice at University of Arkansas at Little Rock/ Law School.

10. Extraction

Here's how criminalists use extraction:
  • Perform Chelex extractions (differential, blood, non-differential, other evidence) on casework samples.
  • Perform extraction of drugs from biological samples using SPE and Liquid Liquid techniques.

11. Criminal Cases

A criminal case is a court proceeding in which a person is charged with committing a crime against the state or the community. Such individuals are brought for trials, to decide they are guilty or not. There are two kinds of criminal cases misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor is a crime on a lower level like traffic offenses or minor assaults. While felonies are offenses on a higher level.

Here's how criminalists use criminal cases:
  • Conduct detailed laboratory examination and analyses of computer evidence involved in criminal cases at the request of law enforcement agencies.
  • Supported and conferred with relevant local municipal and county authorities on criminal cases requiring forensic analyses.

12. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how criminalists use law enforcement agencies:
  • Conduct scientific examination and analyses on submitted drug evidence submitted by law enforcement agencies.
  • Analyzed evidence received from local law enforcement agencies, and reported the results for court purposes.

13. GC

Here's how criminalists use gc:
  • Analyzed evidence and reference samples using GC and GC/MS Issued analysis reports On call to provide courtroom testimony
  • Performed quantitative forensic GC chemical analysis for N.M. law enforcement personnel and the Office of the Medical Investigator.

14. PCR

PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, a tool to make millions of copies of a target part of DNA. Polymerase chain reaction involves the process of heating and cooling. The process takes place using a machine, which helps in heating and cooling off the substances. The purpose of heating exists to separate the DNA into two single strands.

Here's how criminalists use pcr:
  • Performed restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and PCR analysis.
  • Quantified samples using Quantiblot and Corbett s Rotor-gene Real Time PCR system.

15. Technical Reports

Technical reports are a type of document that is used to indicate either the progress, result, or process of scientific research or the state of problems occurring within such research. A technical report may also showcase the report's overall conclusion and may also include recommendations. This kind of report does not require a peer review and isn't published officially but distributed within the organizations where it was formed.

Here's how criminalists use technical reports:
  • Delivered and peer reviewed 100 s of technical reports to solve crime for law enforcement and legal customers.
  • Produce technical reports on findings and matches.
top-skills

What skills help Criminalists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young criminalists need?

Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.Dennis Doverspike Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Chief People Scientist, Doverspike Consulting/HR LItehouse

Seemingly a paradox, there will continue to be a need for very general, but highly fungible, skills and demand for too specialized skills, requiring advanced education. Coding, statistics, and data analysis related skills will remain a hot growth area. The aging of the baby boomers will create demand for medical and healthcare-related regions, especially nursing, nursing aides, and emergency services. Despite the automation of many people facing jobs, there will continue to be a demand for interpersonal and people skills, including various types of sales. The switch to remote work, due to COVID, will create a substantial future market to fill the leadership and managerial skills gap. In many areas of Technology and engineering, it is already challenging to find a combination of technical knowledge and people skills, and this demand will intensify.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about criminalist

List of criminalist skills to add to your resume

Criminalist skills

The most important skills for a criminalist resume and required skills for a criminalist to have include:

  • Physical Evidence
  • Laboratory Reports
  • Body Fluids
  • Quantitative Analysis
  • Perform DNA
  • Proficiency Testing
  • Firearms
  • Court Testimony
  • Criminal Justice
  • Extraction
  • Criminal Cases
  • Law Enforcement Agencies
  • GC
  • PCR
  • Technical Reports
  • Analytical Results
  • Technical Review
  • Trace Evidence
  • Biological Evidence
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Ms
  • Crime Scene Processing
  • Latent Prints
  • STR
  • FTIR
  • Evidence Collection
  • Electrophoresis
  • Gas Chromatography
  • Biological Materials
  • Administrative Review
  • Ascld
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Analysis Techniques
  • Analytical Instrumentation
  • Elisa
  • ABI
  • Lims
  • Scientific Analysis
  • Management System
  • Codis
  • GCMS
  • Crime Scene Evidence

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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