Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Correction officer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical correction officer skills. We ranked the top skills for correction officers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 27.4% of correction officer resumes contained public safety as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a correction officer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 correction officer skills for your resume and career

1. Public Safety

Public safety can be defined as the well-being or protection of a community, citizen, or nation as a whole. There are 4 basic elements that come under public safety namely: national security, border policy, countering crime, and emergency management.

Here's how correction officers use public safety:

Job responsibilities-Protect public safety, I supervise approximately 144 inmates, maintain prison security and inspect the integrity of prison walls.
Provided public safety and security through the custody and management of those individuals incarcerated within the Criminal Justice system.

2. Correctional Facility

A correctional facility is a place where people who commit crimes and have been lawfully arrested are kept for some time. The facility is also reserved to correct bad behaviors in citizens of a particular region. A correctional facility can be a prison, jail, penitentiary, detention center, or any other building exclusive for housing incarcerated people (people sentenced to jail terms by law).

Here's how correction officers use correctional facility:

Preserved integrity and security of correctional facility
Maintained custody and security of offenders and staff at a correctional facility through supervision, observation, and monitoring surveillance devices.

3. Emergency Situations

Here's how correction officers use emergency situations:

Communicated security/safety related information, responded to emergency situations; and collaborated with staff and inmates to prevent or resolve problems.
Remain alert to possible dangerous or emergency situations taking preventative measures; prevent inmate confrontation, break up inmate altercations.

4. Security Checks

A security check is the processing of manually or automatically checking if a person is armed before entering a building. It's also the checking of a perimeter to see if it's secure. It goes further into the investigation on the background of an individual before the person is employed in an organization to check if there's any criminal record of the person in the past.

Here's how correction officers use security checks:

Perform supervisor security checks in all offender housing areas to include: general population, and administrative segregation.
Conducted a variety of security checks around the institution, utilizing electronic monitoring and sensors to detect intrusions.

5. Incident Reports

An Incident Report, in a medical facility such as hospitals and nursing homes, is a type of paperwork filled out immediately after and in the case of an incident of some sort, with the goal of describing the incident and its consequences, as well as the measurements taken after or during the incident, as well as any other information relevant to said incident. Such an incident might be a patient acting out or a patient being injured.

Here's how correction officers use incident reports:

Supervised resident behavior management system and wrote incident reports for infractions as well as maintained daily logs of shift activity.
Communicate verbally and in writing in order to accurately document inmate activity, incident reports, and physical security forms.

6. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how correction officers use cpr:

Assessed traumatic situations administering CPR or manipulating the inmate to ensure the sustainability of life.
Fire and Safety training CPR certification Suicide Prevention Defensive Tactics Firearms certification

Choose from 10+ customizable correction officer resume templates

Build a professional correction officer resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your correction officer resume.

7. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how correction officers use direct supervision:

Direct supervision of inmates in a general population environment to ensure inmates comply with Department policies and procedure.
Provided direct supervision, safety, and security of detainees, logged personnel information, generated incident reports.

8. Control Room

A control room, also known as an operations center, is a room that serves as central control and monitoring station for security, building, and other types of systems of a large facility or physical area. Control rooms act as the central nervous system of a facility and require a reliable and efficient communication system to effectively handle emergencies, as well as critical incidents and decisions.

Here's how correction officers use control room:

Maintained inmate control room procedures, and ensure incoming inmate security procedures were followed and all inmate permits were filled correctly
Logged in important information, performed multiple security checks and operated assigned units control room.

9. Head Counts

Here's how correction officers use head counts:

Ensured that detainee movement is coordinated appropriately, handled head counts and managed emergency response when required.
Supervised periods of recreational activities and Coordinated unit head counts to confirm total population.

10. Disciplinary Actions

Disciplinary actions refer to a corrective measure taken against an employee for unsatisfactory behavior. Many work environments have a tiered system for disciplinary action, where the first warning is verbal and the second is written. Disciplinary action may be given after a weak performance review, a violation of company rules and policies, or a poor customer review.

Here's how correction officers use disciplinary actions:

Recorded all information, disciplinary actions, movement and logged all daily activity using Jail Management System on a computer.
Record an appropriate record of daily activities, disciplinary actions, inmate movements and services provided into a computerized system.

11. Defensive Tactics

Here's how correction officers use defensive tactics:

Certified Defensive Tactics and Weapons Retention Instructor, adept in prevention and offensive/defensive tactics against an inmate or assailant.
Maintained control and order by utilizing proper discipline in force personal protection defensive tactics learned during academy training.

12. Physical Restraint

Here's how correction officers use physical restraint:

Maintained familiarity of operation of Control Room* Settled disputes between inmates using corrective action and physical restraint to maintain discipline.
Supervised inmates when released from cells diffused altercations and applied appropriated physical restraints when necessary.

13. Inmate Counts

Here's how correction officers use inmate counts:

Supervised inmate activities, maintaining effective inmate discipline and movement, security checks, completed accurate inmate counts and information reports.
Supervised offenders in a state prison facility* Ensured safety of fellow officers and inmate counts* Participated in continuous physical and classroom training

14. Security Procedures

A security procedure is a verification protocol used to check if an electronic signature, record, or performance belongs to that specific person. It is a set of necessary procedures that need to be performed to maintain security. These procedures are step-by-step guidelines on how to implement, enable, or enforce security.

Here's how correction officers use security procedures:

Produced written reports on all activities with oral reports and emergency notifications delivered as directed by established security procedures.
Received and escorted visitors, volunteers, and service providers while maintaining institutional security procedures.

15. Transport Inmates

Here's how correction officers use transport inmates:

Transport inmates to other facilities or medical establishments safely.
Transport inmates securely to contracting agency or medical trip.

5 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 5+ resume templates to create your correction officer resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Correction Officers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on correction officer resumes?

Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg

Police officers need many skills to be successful on the job. The most important are written and oral communication skills and the ability to make ethical decisions with limited information quickly. Written communications skills are crucial. If a police report is poorly worded or incomplete, it can derail a criminal case. Police officers also need to talk to people of all ages from all walks of life in any circumstance. Often, police meet people on what may be the worst day of their lives when emotions are running high. Police need to be able to help calm a person while gathering information. Police need to be able to use their words and body language to empathize with someone who has been victimized, and they need to project authority, so people making poor decisions obey their commands.
This may be common sense, but research has demonstrated that communication and ethical decision-making skills are important for police officers. (See the research article published in 2017 in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, entitled "An assessment of the relative importance of criminal justice learning objectives," by Baker and colleagues.) Baker and colleagues asked students, professionals, and college professors to rate the skills of hypothetical job applicants. These participants rated the following as the most important characteristics for criminal justice applicants (including law enforcement officers):

Ethics
Oral communication
Critical thinking
Sensitivity to diversity
Written communication skills

Do you want to know more?

List of correction officer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a correction officer resume and required skills for a correction officer to have include:

Public Safety
Correctional Facility
Emergency Situations
Security Checks
Incident Reports
CPR
Direct Supervision
Control Room
Head Counts
Disciplinary Actions
Defensive Tactics
Physical Restraint
Inmate Counts
Security Procedures
Transport Inmates
Medical Appointments

Log Book
Screen Visitors
Strip Searches
Facility Rules
Institutional Policies
Medical Emergencies
Pepper Spray
Inmate Movement
Electronic Equipment
County Jail
Instruct Inmates
Disciplinary Reports
Irregular Intervals
Disruptive Behavior
Facility Security
Two Way Radios

Medical Facilities
Tuberculosis
Court Hearings
Institutional Rules
Institutional Equipment
Escort Inmates
Security Breaches
Alertness
Emergency Measures
Improper Conduct
Cell Searches
Inmate Conduct
Periodic Patrols
Ammunition
Proper Restraints

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse protective service jobs