Lee Sloan - Forensics

I'm originally from Victoria, and during high school I knew I wanted to study forensics.

After doing some research in year 10, I came up to Canberra to visit Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) and look at the facilities. Based on my visit plus CIT's links to University of Canberra (UC) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) I decided CIT was my best option.

My first two years of study were the advanced diploma, followed by a third optional year which was the bachelor degree.

I found the course was more practical-based than theoretical, and we had the chance to use the CIT Crime Scene House - no other course elsewhere had access to the same facilities. It meant we could apply what we learnt to a work-based scenario.

We also learned from teachers who had done it all before and had the real-life experience - so we were able to pick up new techniques.

In my final year of study with CIT I undertook a research project with the AFP. The hands-on experience provided me with valuable on-the-job experience and an insight into the work done by AFP forensic teams.

I started working with the AFP in April 2010, and I love it. I initially went into an admin position, then moved into exhibit registration before moving into my current role in crime scene investigation in May 2011.

In particular, for anyone looking at the course from interstate, I'd say it is definitely worth it. I really enjoyed the move. It's always hard to move interstate, but there were quite a lot of students that were in the same boat. In a class of around 30, the majority of us were from interstate.

Overall the course was awesome. In terms of learning to do what I’m doing now, it really did set me up.