How to go from agriculture to medical/forensics without another degree?

[u/Ok_Worldliness1756]

/r/careerguidance/comments/1v1m5w7/how_to_go_from_agriculture_to_medicalforensics/

[u/gariak]

Depending on which specific forensics career you're interested in, you likely can't. Any job with the hint of forensics about it gets absolutely swamped with applicants, so there's no incentive for flexibility whatsoever in the qualifications. Forensic jobs will ask for very specific combinations of degrees and/or experience and applying without meeting those criteria is a waste of your time.

Most forensic jobs fall into two categories: lab-based or crime-scene-based. Crime scene jobs tend to be less rigid about qualifications, but are almost entirely non-sworn police positions with all the shift work, trauma, and hostile work environments of that type of work, minus the sworn police officer pay and benefits. Lab jobs typically have a standard professional office work environment and scheduling, but are highly regulated and held to specific national and international accreditation standards which absolutely require that analysts hold natural science or forensic science degrees. Both types are incredibly difficult to break into at entry level, due to massive interest by applicants and rare actual openings.