What You'll Do

  • Guard facility entrances to screen visitors.
  • Search for and recapture escapees.
  • Inspect mail for the presence of contraband.
  • Take prisoners into custody and escort to locations within and outside of facility, such as visiting room, courtroom, or airport.
  • Use weapons, handcuffs, and physical force to maintain discipline and order among prisoners.
  • Conduct fire, safety, and sanitation inspections.
  • Provide to supervisors oral and written reports of the quality and quantity of work performed by inmates, inmate disturbances and rule violations, and unusual occurrences.
  • Settle disputes between inmates.
  • Drive passenger vehicles and trucks used to transport inmates to other institutions, courtrooms, hospitals, and work sites.
  • Arrange daily schedules for prisoners, including library visits, work assignments, family visits, and counseling appointments.

Essential Skills

Active Listening 4.0/5
Monitoring 4.0/5
Social Perceptiveness 4.0/5
Speaking 3.88/5
Critical Thinking 3.75/5
Reading Comprehension 3.62/5
Coordination 3.5/5
Persuasion 3.38/5
Active Learning 3.25/5
Negotiation 3.25/5
Complex Problem Solving 3.25/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.25/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.
  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.

Common styles

Stress Tolerance, Integrity, Dependability, Self-Control, Cautiousness

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 4.0/5
Oral Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Deductive Reasoning 3.75/5
Inductive Reasoning 3.75/5
Speech Clarity 3.75/5
Near Vision 3.62/5
Speech Recognition 3.62/5

Technologies & Tools

3M Electronic Monitoring Adobe Acrobat Corrections housing software Facebook Guardian RFID Jail management software Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Outlook Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word Web browser software Word processing software

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Stress Tolerance (High importance: 5.0/5)
  • Integrity (High importance: 4.95/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.83/5)
  • Self-Control (High importance: 4.73/5)
  • Cautiousness (High importance: 4.67/5)

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How to Become One

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful but is usually not required. Training is often provided on the job.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Booking Officer Certified Detention Deputy Civilian Jail Officer Community Corrections Officer (CCO) Community Services Officer (CSO) Confinement Officer Convict Guard Correction Officer Correctional Guard Correctional Monitor Correctional Officer Correctional Officer Specialist Correctional Security Officer Corrections Corporal Corrections Officer (CO) Corrections Specialist Cottage Master Cottage Parent Cottage Supervisor Custodial Officer Deputy Deputy Jailer Detention Deputy Detention Officer Detention Specialist Gate Guard Gate Watchman Guard Jail Guard Jail Officer Jailer Jailkeeper Jailor Juvenile Correctional Officer Juvenile Corrections Officer Juvenile Detention Officer Juvenile Justice Detention Officer Matron Patrol Conductor Penal Officer Point Guard Police Detention Attendant Police Matron Prison Guard Prison Officer Protective Services Officer (PSO) Reformatory Attendant Security Officer Station Jailer Supervised Visitation Monitor Youth Corrections Officer

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.