Correctional Officers and Jailers
Military experience supervising confined personnel, inspecting facilities, processing confinement and release, and reporting behavioral changes directly overlaps with civilian custody work.
How to prepare: Ask a target agency to assess your documented prisoner-supervision experience for entry, and plan for the typical high school diploma, academy training, and facility-based on-the-job training route. Some states require state certification; Federal Bureau of Prisons entry requires a bachelor's degree or several years of experience providing counseling, assistance, or supervision.
What the civilian work involves
- Conduct head counts to ensure that each prisoner is present.
- Inspect conditions of locks, window bars, grills, doors, and gates at correctional facilities to ensure security and help prevent escapes.
- Monitor conduct of prisoners in housing unit, or during work or recreational activities, according to established policies, regulations, and procedures, to prevent escape or violence.