While you might think that as a correction officer, a main part of your job is to correct people, it's not necessarily true. I mean you don't want the grammar police guarding the jails, do you? Instead, correction officers are there to keep an eye over those who have either been arrested and are waiting for their trial, or have already been sentenced a time to serve in jail or prison.
I'm going to give it to you straight. This position is one of the most dangerous jobs, as it has one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses out of all occupations. Sometimes you may have to deal with a confrontational inmate. Or two. On top of that, you'll probably have to work crazy hours because there "ain't no rest for the wicked."
How to Become a Correction Officer
What is a Correction Officer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Correction Officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.32 an hour? That's $42,266 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -31,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Correction Officer Do
There are certain skills that many Correction Officers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Detail oriented, Interpersonal skills and Physical strength.
How To Become a Correction Officer
If you're interested in becoming a Correction Officer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 29.4% of Correction Officers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.1% of Correction Officers have master's degrees. Even though some Correction Officers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Correction Officer. When we researched the most common majors for a Correction Officer, we found that they most commonly earn High School Diploma degrees or Bachelor's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Correction Officer resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Correction Officer. In fact, many Correction Officer jobs require experience in a role such as Cashier. Meanwhile, many Correction Officers also have previous career experience in roles such as Security Officer or Customer Service Representative.
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And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Correction Officer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a Correction Officer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Security Officer, progress to a title such as Officer and then eventually end up with the title Senior Officer.
Correction Officer
Senior Officer
5 Years
Lead Transportation Security Officer
6 Years
Security Manager
6 Years
Security Director
10 Years
Security Site Supervisor
6 Years
Lead Security Officer
5 Years
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Correction Officer Jobs You Might Like
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Correction Officer
Correction Officers in America make an average salary of $42,266 per year or $20 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $56,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $31,000 per year.
Average Salary
$42,266
Find Your Salary Estimate
How much should you be earning as an Correction Officer? Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to get an estimation of how much you should be earning.
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12 Correction Officer Resume Examples
Build a professional correction officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your correction officer resume.
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Sophia Jenkins Correction Officer |
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Joe Tucker Correction Officer Experience Correction Officer2014 - Present City of Atlanta•Marietta, GA
Jailer2013 - 2014 METRO•Marietta, GA
Jailer2008 - 2013 Georgia Department of Economic Development•Marietta, GA
Skills Inmate PopulationIncident ReportsCorrectional FacilityNew IntakesSuch TasksRecreational ActivitiesPertinent InformationUnusual OccurrencesCommissarySupervisory Staff Education High School Diploma 2008 - 2008 |
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Learn How To Write a Correction Officer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Correction Officer resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Correction Officer Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Correction Officer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Correction Officer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Correction Officer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Correction Officer Demographics
Correction Officer Gender Distribution
Male
63%
Female
38%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Correction Officers, 37.5% of them are women, while 62.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Correction Officers is White, which makes up 62.7% of all Correction Officers.
- The most common foreign language among Correction Officers is Spanish at 77.5%.
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Correction Officer Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Correction Officer Jobs - $56K and Up
- Entry Level Correction Officer Jobs
- Part Time Correction Officer Jobs
- Actively Hiring
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Top Skills For a Correction Officer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 20.3% of Correction Officers listed Inmate Population on their resume, but soft skills such as Detail oriented and Interpersonal skills are important as well.
Best States For a Correction Officer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Correction Officer. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Oregon, Connecticut, and California. Correction Officers make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $59,900. Whereas in Oregon and Connecticut, they would average $55,642 and $54,721, respectively. While Correction Officers would only make an average of $54,489 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
Total Correction Officer Jobs:
588
Highest 10% Earn:
$78,000
Location Quotient:
1.04
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$55,642
Avg. Salary
2. Nevada
Total Correction Officer Jobs:
348
Highest 10% Earn:
$73,000
Location Quotient:
1.22
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$51,433
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
Total Correction Officer Jobs:
169
Highest 10% Earn:
$75,000
Location Quotient:
1.02
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$54,088
Avg. Salary
How Do Correction Officer Rate Their Jobs?
Correction Officer Videos
A Day in the Life of a Correctional Officer
Becoming a Correction Officer FAQs
How long does it take to become a Correction Officer?
It takes 4 years of professional experience to become a correction officer. That is the time it takes to learn specific correction officer skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.
Have more questions? See all answers to common protective service questions.
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