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Career Advice on How to Become A Probation Officer.

Probation Officer Careers, General Information.

Being a probation officer requires one to have a good deal of patience and attention to detail.  A probation officer career, requires the respective officer to be a person who keeps track of and oversees the progress and activities of those who have recently been released from prison and are now living in the general population.  During parole, parolees are expected to meet regularly with their probation officers who assess their progress in terms of not breaking the rules of the probation.  Additionally, probation officer careers will also involve the officer looking at the work and living situation of parolees as they are reintroduced into society. Clearly, this is a job that can be a stressful and a depressing one, especially when parolees fail and are sent back to prison.
 

Probation Officer Career Facts:

It is common for probation officers to look closely at the type of people parolees are associating with and the type of situations that parolees are finding themselves in on a day-to-day basis.  Probation officers may visit their parolees in their homes or even at their places of work.  In some cases, probation officer jobs may include the officer offering other types of assistance such as helping parolees with issues related to substance abuse.  Further, it is common that probation officer careers will include spending a considerable amount of time in the court system providing reports and making recommendations concerning sentencing.  It is thus common to find probation officers testifying in court.

 

Probation Officer Jobs, Career Opportunities and Job Outlook- Excellent:

The overall expected job growth is expected to be about nineteen percent between 2008 and 2018 for probation officer careers. With the proper career planning, your probation officer job search could potentially be very fruitful.
 
Job Outlook is Excellent
 

Careers in Probation, A Day in The Life:

The work of a probation officer may be dangerous, as some parolees may have committed violent crimes.  What might come as a surprise to many is that parole officers spend a good deal of their time out in the field, whether meeting with parolees or investigating parolee conduct or living situations.  Much of the time, probation officer careers can also be spent working within the court system.  Another level of stress in probation officer's job is that officers, due to the complexity of the career, may be on call twenty-four hours a day.
 

Probation Officer Careers, Average Salary:

The average salary for a probation officer career is about $46,000, with the top ten percent earning about $78,000.  It should further be noted that the lowest ten percent of probation officer jobs bring about $29,000 per year.

$46k

 

Careers in Probation, Career Training and Qualifications:

A bachelor’s degree in a field such as criminal justice, psychology, social work or a related field is usually a requirement to work a probation officer career.  Further, examinations are also required and applicants must be at least twenty-years of age.  In recent years, it has become increasingly necessary for probation officers to be computer literate since record keeping has become digital in nature.
 
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