Correctional institutions employ custodial officers to supervise inmates in detention facilities. They are there to provide care and correctional treatment for inmates, manage the spaces of the facility, and ensure that the inmates stay in custody.
Working in this position, you will escort inmates from one secured area to another, acting according to the policies and legal regulations applying to practices in the facility. It will be your responsibility to upkeep the level of security, search inmates and visitors, and check mail and cells for weapons, drugs, and other illegal items.
You will have to document and report incidents and enforce rules governing the security of the facility. A high school diploma and relevant training qualifications prescribed by the state and the institution you work for will be necessary to take on this position. You will need to be patient and alert, decisive, and level-headed to hold this position with success. Great communication and negotiation skills are also essential, along with an affinity for solving problems.
How to Become a Custodial Officer
What is a Custodial Officer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Custodial Officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.42 an hour? That's $48,713 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 Custodial Officer Do
There are certain skills that many Custodial 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 Custodial Officer
If you're interested in becoming a Custodial Officer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 36.1% of Custodial Officers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.5% of Custodial Officers have master's degrees. Even though some Custodial 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 Custodial Officer. When we researched the most common majors for a Custodial Officer, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Custodial Officer resumes include High School Diploma degrees or Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Custodial Officer. In fact, many Custodial Officer jobs require experience in a role such as Correction Officer. Meanwhile, many Custodial Officers also have previous career experience in roles such as Security Officer or Security Guard.
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Custodial Officer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Sergeant you might progress to a role such as Officer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Operations Manager.
Custodial Officer Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Custodial Officer
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Custodial Officer Jobs You Might Like
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Top Skills For a Custodial 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, 13.6% of Custodial Officers listed Emergency on their resume, but soft skills such as Detail oriented and Interpersonal skills are important as well.
Best States For a Custodial Officer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Custodial Officer. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, and New York. Custodial Officers make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $63,364. Whereas in Nevada and Washington, they would average $55,484 and $55,013, respectively. While Custodial Officers would only make an average of $54,610 in New York, 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. Nevada
$55,484
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$54,610
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$50,003
Avg. Salary