How To Become A Probation Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a probation agent 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 probation agent. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.96 an hour? That's $45,683 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreProbation AgentUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,683

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.89%

Asian 2.09%

Black or African American 15.53%

Hispanic or Latino 14.78%

Unknown 2.57%

White 64.15%

Gender

female 55.45%

male 44.55%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a probation agent

Explore probation agent education requirements

Most common probation agent degrees

Bachelor's

72.9 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

7.9 %

Start to develop specific probation agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Public Safety	12.19%
Community Resources	11.98%
Risk Assessments	11.95%
Criminal Justice	11.51%
Substance Abuse Treatment	7.60%

Complete relevant probation agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New probation agents 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 probation agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real probation agent resumes.

Research probation agent duties and responsibilities

Manage significant DUI caseload to court-ordered and conditional probation completion.
Instruct offenders of what expect once GPS services.
Perform home visits, restitution studies, urinalysis drug testing, DNA collection, and predatory offender registration.
Supervise offenders on probation and parole, complete social histories/assessments/investigations for the sentencing court or parole board, case management.

Prepare your probation agent resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable probation agent resume templates

Build a professional probation agent 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 probation agent resume.