There is no governing body which determines who is and who is not qualified to be a criminal profiler, and therefore those who identify themselves as criminal profilers may range from someone with minimal to someone with extensive experience in the realm of criminal investigation.

Does Criminal profiling really work?

While very few studies (two, to be exact) have measured the impact of offender profiling in the field, several studies examined profiling's accuracy through other methods. ... Results of the famous “Coals to Newcastle” study found that the predictions made by profilers were accurate about 66% of the time.

Is the real BAU like Criminal Minds?

The BAU does exist in real life, but the profilers seen in the thrilling weekly drama series have no real-life counterparts. Also, the cases on "Criminal Minds" tend to be solved rather quickly (usually within a few weeks), but real-life criminal investigations tend to take months, if not years, to reach fruition.