On Becoming a U.S. Marshal

On Becoming a U.S. MarshalOn Becoming a U.S. MarshalThe United States Marshals Service lays claim to being the oldest law enforcement agency within the federal government, and boasts some of the most famous lawmen in the history of policing, such as the brothers Wyatt and Virgil Earp, to name just two. Popularized in television and movies, especially The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals, not to mention Tombstone and countless other classic westerns, thousands of aspiring police officers and special werber hopefuls year after year find themselves wondering just how to become a U.S. Marshal. Like most federal jobs, and law enforcement and special agent jobs, in particular, U.S. marshal careers are highly sought after. Of course, that also means theyre highly competitive. If your goal is to become a marshal, youre going to have to work hard, both mentally and physically, to be competitive and land the job you want. Minimum Requirements for U.S. Marshals Like nearly any other law enforcem ent job, the U.S. Marshals Service has certain minimum requirements for applicants. These are the absolute, bare minimum qualifications youll need for your application to be considered. Also, keep in mind that meeting these requirements does not guarantee youll get hired. Youll still have to demonstrate other knowledge and skills, and undergo a physical assessment before you make it the training academy and into a great career. To be considered for a job as deputy U.S. marshal you must, at a minimum Be a U.S. citizenBe between 21 and 36 years old (current federal law enforcement agents and military veterans may be exempt from the maximum age requirement)Hold a valid driver licenseHave at least a bachelors degree, one year of specialized work experience, or a combination of work experience and post-secondary educationBe ready and willing to be assigned anywhere in the United States where the Marshals Service has field offices Be aya to determine whether or not you meet the education and experience qualifications Specialized work experience can include other law enforcement jobs, such as working as a detective or investigator, especially in work that involved conducting investigations and preparing search and arrest warrants.Education requirements include either at least one year of graduate school coursework or a demonstration of superior academic achievement in a four-year degree, which means youll need to have earned at least a 3.0 on your college coursework. If you meet the minimum requirements, youll move on to a lengthy and rigorous hiring process that will involve a written test, physical assessments, and medical screening. Be prepared to demonstrate your mental and physical acumen at every step of the process to maximize your chances of success. As youre filling out the application, make sure all of the required sections are complete and accurate. It would be terrible to find out that you missed out on a great career opportunity because of a careless mis take on the job application. U.S. Marshals Competitive Examination The U.S. Marshals Service requires job candidates to reisepass a competitive examination, broken up into two parts. The test is administered by the federal governments Office of Personnel Management. The first part of the test measures candidates situational judgment. This part of the exam will measure your ability to use sound judgment and make good decisions, based on a series of multiple-choice questions. The second part of the test assesses your writing ability. In this part, you can expect to read sentences and identify errors or choose the sentence that is grammatically correct. Again, these will be multiple choice questions, but you will need to have strong reading and writing skills to be successful. Structured Interview Part of the assessment process for potential U.S. Marshals includes a structured interview. If you successfully pass the written exam, youll move on to this next step. The interview t akes place at regional offices around the country before a two-person panel. The interview is designed to allow you to demonstrate skills and traits, such as teamwork, self-management, interpersonal skills, integrity and honesty, oral communication, and problem-solving. The interview questions will likely be experience-based and ask you to discuss the times youve utilized the traits listed or solved a difficult problem. Be detailed in your answer and be sure to identify the problem, why it was a problem, what you did, what the outcome would be, and what you learned from the experience. Physical Fitness Requirements for U.S. Marshals The next step in the hiring process for U.S. marshals will be the physical assessment. Youll want to be in top physical shape to pass this part of the process. Physical requirements for U.S. marshals include a 1.5-mile run, one-minute push-ups and sit-ups, a sit-and-reach, and a body-fat percentage test. The physical fitness requirements vary by age and gender. The minimum physical requirements are 1-minute sit-ups - MenAge 21-29 40Age 30-39 36Age 40 31-minute sit-ups - WomenAge 21-29 35Age 30-39 27Age 40 221-minute push-ups - MenAge 21-29 33Age 30-39 27Age 40 211-minute push-ups - WomenAge 21-29 16Age 30-39 14Age 40 111.5-mile run - MenAge 21-29 1218Age 30-39 1251Age 40 13531.5-mile run - WomenAge 21-29 1455Age 30-39 1526Age 40 1627?Sit-and-Reach - MenAge 21-2917.5Age 30-39 16.5Age 40 15.3Sit-and-Reach - WomenAge 21-29 20Age 30-39 19Age 40 18 Percent Body Fat - MenAge 21-29 15.9Age 30-39 19Age 40 21Percent Body Fat - WomenAge 21-29 22.1Age 30-39 23.1Age 40 26.4 Start an exercise program to get into the best physical condition possible. The requirements listed are the minimum physical standards youll want to be able to consistently exceed these requirements to remain competitive. Check with your doctor to make sure youre healthy enough to begin exercising, and start a fitness program to get into the proper condition. Background Investigation Once youve successfully made it through the various assessments, you will need to pass a very thorough hintergrund check. Naturally, the Marshals Service wants to hire the most ethical applicants, and job candidates need to be above reproach. Expect your past to be rigorously scrutinized. Your previous employers will be contacted, as well as any ex-spouses. Youll also face a criminal history and credit check. Medical Testing The next step will be a thorough medical evaluation, which will include vision and hearing screening. Applicants vision must be corrected to 20/20 in each eye and may not be worse than 20/200 uncorrected in either eye. Hearing loss cannot be more than 30 decibels. Youll also need to be able to distinguish colors and demonstrate accurate depth perception. Due to the rigors of the job, some medical disqualifiers may include hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and heart disease. The U.S. Marshals Academy If youre at the top of your game and have a clean background, you may find yourself among the fortunate few to get hired and invited to attend the U.S. Marshals basic training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. This 17.5-week training program is both mentally and physically demanding. Seven exams are given throughout the length of the academy, and you are required to maintain your level of fitness for the duration of your training. Training topics range from first aid and defensive tactics to law and officer safety, all subjects vital to a successful law enforcement career. Becoming a Deputy U.S. Marshal Not everyone can make it as a U.S. Marshal. It takes very dedicated and motivated people to make their way through the hiring process and pass the rigorous training academy. The salary and benefits are well worth the hard work, though, as are the rewards of knowing youll be working in a challenging and important career. If you think you have what it takes, you may j ust find that working as a U.S. Marshal is the perfect criminology career for you.

Learn How to Ask for Vacation When Starting a New Job

Learn How to Ask for Vacation When Starting a New JobLearn How to Ask for Vacation When Starting a New JobStarting a new job can be exciting, but no matter how skilled you are in your profession, any new job comes with a learning curve. It takes most workers three to six months to settle into a new job and master their new duties with complete understanding and proficiency. During this learning curve phase, you dont just learn how to do your job, but you also learn how to get along with co-workers, and develop a good feel for how the office ticks. This includes understanding what is acceptable and what could be career suicide, which includes asking too early for perks such as vacations. Generally speaking, its elend a good idea to ask for time off until you have mastered your job and completed any training necessary to perform your job. This is especially important if someone else will have to fill in for you when you take time off. If there is a probationary period for new hires at your company, it is better not to ask for any time off unless it is an emergency or you are too sick to work. Pre-Planned Vacations If you are considering taking a new job, and already have a vacation planned in the near future and cannot change the dates, be sure to let your potential employer know before hiring you that you will need time off as a condition of your accepting the position. You may have to take your vacation without pay if the dates come before you have accrued enough paid vacation time. Keep in mind, though, that many employers do not allow time off even without pay because they want to avoid setting a precedent that employees can simply take time off whenever they want if willing to do so without pay. Vacation Time Is A Perk, Not a Legal Right When starting a new job, you are given an opportunity to prove yourself, while your employer takes all the financial risk when it comes to investing in your ability to perform and contribute. Your employer covers the costs of your training, any employment perks such as a company car, and will most likely be paying you at your full rate even before you are fully up to speed with your work. Before asking for the reward of taking time off for a week-long vacation, take a minute to appreciate your employers investment in you, and avoid considering your vacation time an entitlement. There is no U.S. law that requires an employer to give you paid vacation time, or even time off to take a vacation without pay. Employers offer such benefits to remain competitive in the job applicant pool when hiring. The Employers Perspective On New Hires The average time people stay at one job is approximately two years before changing jobs either by being promoted internally or moved laterally, or leaving to work for another company. For these reasons, most companies have policies that require employees to accrue their vacation and sick leave over time rather than offer them an advance of time benefits. Individua l company policies vary widely, but generally, the allotted time for vacation is earned on a pro-rated basis, or, based on the length of employment. For example, an employee might earn one day per month of employment up to a certain amount each year. Some employers (especially in companies where employee turnover is high) may not allow employees to begin to accrue until after six months probationary period of employment. It is important to establish yourself as a dedicated employee right from the start. For this reason, it is usually in your best career interest not to take a lengthy vacation (more than two days off) for at least six months even better- wait until you have completed your first year at your new job before taking vacation time. Planning in Advance If your company requires you to schedule a vacation in advance, even new employees should feel free to do so in order to block out time. It is fine, even for new hires, to ask their employer to schedule their vacation in advance. Just as you may need time to plan for a vacation, your boss also needs and would probably appreciate an advance notice in case they must find someone to fill in for you, or, to avoid having too many staff out at one time. Vacations are great, but your first priority should always be to your new employers schedule during your first year of employment. The sacrifices you make will pay off down the road and may also increase your chances of getting better raises and opportunities for promotion- something that might even enable you to afford a longer, more exotic vacation the next year.

An Exoskeleton Assists the Road to Recovery

An Exoskeleton Assists the Road to Recovery An Exoskeleton Assists the Road to Recovery An Exoskeleton Assists the Road to RecoveryIts easy to take for granted how amazing the human body is. And the complexity of simple motion may be the thing we take most for granted. So what if you were to wake up one day and it was an effort just to make your limbs move? Many daily movements would quickly become impossible tasks. This is partly why so many find that coming back from a stroke can be a very physically and emotionally draining experience.The stroke patient has been through a devastating event and now may have to relearn basic movements from scratch.A new stroke device created at Texas AM University has the goal of helping to shorten the leaning curve, attempting to help victims relearn tasks such as combing their hair and putting on their coat more quickly. These are things many people take for granted but for stroke victims, unterstellung are the milestones on the way to recovery.Sa ys Rana Soltani-Zarrin, a Ph.D. student in the department of mechanical engineering at the schoolI have long been interested in the effects of stroke on society and how it affects other peoples lives. Robotics is another area Ive been passionate about. Robotics can offer a tremendous number of benefits to society and, in my opinion, can make a humans life even more complete.In speaking with therapists, they mentioned ergonomics and wanting to limit the time learning how to use this device as being at the top of their list, she says.Using this feedback, a lightweight, compact exoskeleton that is configured to the upper limbs of the body is developed. The device we have built has nine degrees of freedom, some are actuated, some are passive, and there are five degrees of freedom in the shoulder to address the ergonomic aspects, she says.The patient can grab a gripper and it goes from the hand to the shoulder. It has different points of connection to the body, she says.The team also wan ted to address the functional recovery of patients. We want it like what occupational therapists do during training, trying to make our device as intelligent as we can, she says. Instead of forcing the patient to do something, its being activated by the intention of the patient. In the current format, it is designed to be used in clinics and hospitals by stroke patients but we have the goal that the next generations of the device will be used in their homes.They are also working with virtual reality, developing a training environment that includes engaging patients in games. When youre fully focusing on a game, theres no telling what you can do, she says.For Soltani-Zarrin, she hopes that in time, this device will give comfort to those having to start over, sometimes a seemingly impossible task in many ways. Accepting that a stroke has happened and what can be a long road to recovery can be very scary, she says. You hear about a stroke and, then it happens to you or someone you know . You need hope at a time like that. You can be comforted by a plan. Soltani-Zarrin and Amin Zeiaee are the two PhD students working on this project at the Laboratory for Control, Robotics and Automation under the supervision of Dr. Reza Langari, the lead principal investigator of this research project.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.Instead of forcing the patient to do something, its being activated by the intention of the patient.Rana Soltani-Zarrin, Texas AM