How To Become A Correctional Guard: What It Is and Career Path

What is a correctional guard 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 correctional guard. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.22 an hour? That's $37,889 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -10% and produce -42,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCorrectional GuardUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $37,889

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate -10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 1.97%

Black or African American 19.73%

Hispanic or Latino 14.18%

Unknown 5.05%

White 58.21%

Gender

female 31.87%

male 68.13%

Age - 40

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 - 40

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a correctional guard

Explore correctional guard education requirements

Most common correctional guard degrees

High School Diploma

35.9 %

Associate

23.1 %

Bachelor's

23.1 %

Start to develop specific correctional guard skills

Skills	Percentages
Facility Policy	29.50%
Security Checks	20.82%
Emergency Situations	20.51%
Clinical Treatment	16.87%
CPR	3.11%

Complete relevant correctional guard training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New correctional guards 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 correctional guard based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real correctional guard resumes.

Research correctional guard duties and responsibilities

Aid inmates in their rehabilitation by scheduling work assignments, counseling, and educational opportunities.
Issue weapons and ammunition for transportation officers.

Prepare your correctional guard resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your correctional guard 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 correctional guard resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable correctional guard resume templates

Build a professional correctional guard 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 correctional guard resume.