How To Become A Correction Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a correction worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a correction worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.1 an hour? That's $39,728 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCorrection WorkerUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,728

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 5.94%

Black or African American 9.27%

Hispanic or Latino 13.21%

Unknown 5.76%

White 65.10%

Gender

female 47.22%

male 52.78%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a correction worker

Explore correction worker education requirements

Most common correction worker degrees

Bachelor's

64.9 %

Associate

14.9 %

Master's

8.2 %

Start to develop specific correction worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Crisis Intervention	27.46%
Mental Health	14.90%
Disciplinary Actions	12.59%
Incident Reports	10.06%
Juvenile Offenders	8.90%

Complete relevant correction worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New correction workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a correction worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real correction worker resumes.

Research correction worker duties and responsibilities

Train in CPI and provide de-escalation techniques.
Complete fire safety, CPR, self-defense and investigation/observation training, along with behavioral awareness/management training.
Serve as loader of special ammunition weapon; prepare ammunition while exercising safety precautions.

Prepare your correction worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your correction worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a correction worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable correction worker resume templates

Build a professional correction worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your correction worker resume.