NJ Civil Service Navigator

Field Investigator Family

Career series with 9 positions across 3 levels

New Jersey classifies Field Investigator as a 3-level family, 9 titles in all, built for step-by-step advancement.

Entry is typically through Field Investigator 1, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, advancing through the ladder toward Field Investigator 3, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance. Pay across the family spans $63,663 to $117,228, around the 43rd percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 61 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Labor.

Field Investigator reports to supervising titles such as Deputy Chief Investigator and Assistant Chief State Investigator.

9
Positions
3
Career Levels
1
Specializations
Salary Range: $63,663 - $117,228/year

Specializations

Division Of Wage And Hour Compliance

Positions in This Family

What the Field Investigator family covers

New Jersey classifies Field Investigator as a 3-level series holding 9 separate title codes. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.

Public safety classifications are built around rank rather than around grade, so advancement means competing for a different title instead of climbing steps in the current one. Entry requirements are unusually hard-edged: age limits, residency rules, medical and psychological screening, and an academy that must be completed after appointment rather than before it. Pay comes from separate schedules negotiated by separate unions, and those schedules often carry a contract-negotiated jump near the top of the ladder that the civilian tables do not have.

The ladder, ordered by pay

Sorted by pay instead of by title number, the Field Investigator family stacks up as follows. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.

The distance from the bottom of Field Investigator 1, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance to the top of Field Investigator 3, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance is $53,565, an increase of about 84% over the entry minimum.

What each title does

The specifications themselves are the clearest guide to what separates these titles. Here is how each one opens.

Getting in: the stated requirements

Across the 9 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as a bachelor's degree on 9 of them. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

On how the jobs are filled: 9 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.

Who actually employs these titles

61 people appear on the state payroll under 3 of these titles, at 1 agency. Labor alone accounts for about 100% of them.

  • Labor — 61 employees

Median actual pay varies across the family, from $61,510 for Field Investigator 1, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance up to $87,980 for Field Investigator 3, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.

State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.

How the pay is set

Titles in this family are paid on the A-P-R-S salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.

Where these jobs exist

Hiring for this family runs through state service. Departments, commissions and boards fill these titles from eligible lists built by the Civil Service Commission, so the route in is an announcement and a filing deadline rather than a posting you apply to directly. What state jurisdiction means, and a breakdown of who employs what.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

Nearby in the plan, ranked by how distinctive the shared terms are rather than by how many words happen to match.

Families next to this one

New Jersey's classification plan links families by shared terminology and by the routes people actually take between them. These sit closest to Field Investigator.

Common questions about Field Investigator jobs

How many separate Field Investigator classifications does New Jersey have?

The Field Investigator family holds 9 title codes arranged across 3 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

How much is a Field Investigator paid?

Published salary data for this family runs from $63,663 at the bottom of Field Investigator 1, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance to $117,228 at the top of Field Investigator 3, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Is there a civil service test for Field Investigator?

Yes for most of the family. 9 of the 9 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What are the requirements to become a Field Investigator?

The most common education requirement in this family is a bachelor's degree, named on 9 of the 9 titles. Stated experience ranges from 1 to 3 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.

Which agencies employ Field Investigator staff?

State payroll records show 61 people in this family across 1 agency, with Labor the largest at 61. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.