Serious life choices need to be made.

+infinity on the stress coming from the political bureaucracy that is policing in MA. I actually enjoy most of my interactions with the public...even the a wholes.

Op; this is a career, not a pair of slippers. You just can't try it on for size. What did Mr Miagi say about ambiguity? Walk right side of road..okay. Walk left side of road...okay. Walk in the middle? Squished just like grape.

LE is a young single persons game. As soon as you start a family working nights, weekends and holidays away from your kids takes a toll on you, that is, unless you dislike your wife and kids. I don't and there are many times the hours really wear you down when the politics are heaped on you too.
 
All the resentment I have comes from and is the result of the politicized and corrupt, So Called "Police Leadership".

The shittiest people I have met in my life were police management. I would rather hang out with crack heads than most of the senior police managers I have known.
 
OP - I'm in a similar situation, but I made came to the decision to go after it after a considerable amount of thought and research, on my own... If you're taking into account what others think about if you should become LEO, you're doing it wrong (especially those you don't know. (No offense NES'ers)). Be honest with yourself, and know what the job really entails, good and bad... If you want it, you'll make it happen.

And yes, look in VT, NH and ME - Much richer and efficient job market.... I've been actively testing there up this year alone, and already have a few oral boards scheduled and completed.

Good luck!
 
OP, if your serious about it and young enough, I would suggest enlisting in the military. It will get you out of MA and give you a feeling for chain of command and discipline. I enlisted in Army 3 years ago, came out on top of the list for the city I want to work in. Plus in civil service if your active military you can choose your city and establish residency with in 90 days of getting out. The military isnt right for everyone, but for me it has worked out and given me a great lead on the police job I wanted. If you want to chat more feel free to PM me. I enlisted at 25 so you have plenty of time. Also talk to your SF friend, he will have some great insight Im sure.
 
Must easier to become a LEO in NH. Best of luck
The difficulty in getting the job is proportional to the compensation, and I suspect NH does not have the same level of lifetime medical and defined benefit pension as does MA. Some states (FL comes to mind) seem to be begging for state troopers, but pay them near poverty wages.
 
Agreed.....and for NH to be truly "live Free or Die" Make sure you move past Concord and the Lakes. The disease is spreading. Manchester and below might as well succeed to Massachusetts!
My dad and I used to camp fish and hunt in vt every year 30 yrs ago. My Dad always said when the liberal NY'rs move out he would move in??? Never really knew what he ment until years later.
 
Nuclear security officer here. I made $1800 take home last week and I work 4/4's. Can't beat it. There is a plant up there in MA I believe.
 
Update:
While reading all of your inputs, I was accepted to UML to finish out my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering.
For now, any thoughts of going into the field are on hold. Not to say that it might not still happen.
Thanks for all of your responses!
 
Update:
While reading all of your inputs, I was accepted to UML to finish out my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering.
For now, any thoughts of going into the field are on hold. Not to say that it might not still happen.
Thanks for all of your responses!

STEM jobs are where it's at. If you like the law, intellectual property is one of the few legal specialties still growing, and you need a STEM degree to be a member of the patent bar.
 
STEM jobs are where it's at. If you like the law, intellectual property is one of the few legal specialties still growing, and you need a STEM degree to be a member of the patent bar.

This.

The software market has been hot for years. We aren't graduating anywhere near the number of computer science graduates that we need. No, all software jobs are not being outsourced. I'm not a rock star and I'm not looking to change jobs. I get contacted by a recruiter at least once a week. My record was seven different recruiters in three days. Many of those recruiters were working for startups, others were in-house recruiters at companies like Google and Amazon.

I am well paid, have full benefits, 4 weeks vacation, dollar for dollar matching on 401k to 6 percent (plus they have added in a couple percent each year as a Xmas bonus).

I don't work a zillion hours and no one has tried to beat the crap out of me.
 
NH Staties were 1.1x body weight. I'm about 255, so that 275-280 depending what I weigh in at that morning. Push-ups were 35, 41 sit-ups in a minute, and a 1.5 mile run in under 11:40 mins.

seems that that requirement is only to get on the force because I've seen a ton of cops who can barely lift the doughnut they're trying to eat.
 
STEM jobs are where it's at. If you like the law, intellectual property is one of the few legal specialties still growing, and you need a STEM degree to be a member of the patent bar.

Not to mention, FEDS look for high skill sets. Current open announcement for FBI is looking for engineers and IT degrees.
 
So, I have my associates degree from NSCC in Science with an EE focus. I'm not sure if I want to do this anymore after just having the life sucked out of me from working and going to school, and not having enough money for the lifestyle I hope to one day have. I get the argument that being half way I should just finish but thats another can of worms I've already talked about on Off-Topic.
I've been interested in possibly becoming a LEO either in MA or NH. I've looked at the physical requirements to pass the tests and they aren't impossible (biggest concern being bench presses but its a work in progress). I like the idea of protecting people, driving for hours, and not just working for a paycheck. I want to come home at the end of the day and feel like I've done some good. I also hate the idea of being stuck behind a desk pushing paper for the rest of my life.

Not going to lie, $40-50k starting pay doesn't sound horrible either. I need to start finding a job I can make a living on, not just having enough for gas and food each week. Some direction is needed.

I have no training other than going to the range with a former SF who has fueled my passion for firearms and many days at the range getting great pointers on how to handle and fire pistols and rifles.

Go into utility work.
 
why is there never any love for the trades here? Do you have any idea how much good electricians and plumbers make? Or even HVAC.

Those jobs can never be outsourced overseas - like many job in I.T., manufacturing, etc. can for instance...

I've worked in IT for decades, spent boat loads on my education, and I regularly see folks with nothing more than a vocational high school education taking home more than me... Master electricians and even journeyman make big bank.

Don't discount some of the trades. You spend far less on your education and can live just as prosperous a life. Considering what it costs to go to college these days.... the long term cost of that debt, if I had a high school / college aged kid that would be my advice....

At least consider it.
 
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why is there never any love for the trades here? Do you have any idea how much good electricians and plumbers make? Or even HVAC.

Same reason "everyone should go to college". My parents could have done me a huge favor by coming out of this fog a lot sooner than they did.
 
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why is there never any love for the trades here? Do you have any idea how much good electricians and plumbers make? Or even HVAC.

Those jobs can never be outsourced overseas - like many job in I.T., manufacturing, etc. can for instance...

I've worked in IT for decades, spent boat loads on my education, and I regularly see folks with nothing more than a vocational high school education taking home more than me... Master electricians and even journeyman make big bank.

Don't discount some of the trades. You spend far less on your education and can live just as prosperous a life. Considering what it costs to go to college these days.... the long term cost of that debt, if I had a high school / college aged kid that would be my advice....

At least consider it.

[thumbsup]

Not everyone can (or should) be a "knowledge worker."
 
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