Educational Materials, Job guides, Career articles » Careers » Parole Officers: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook

Parole Officers: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook

Submitted by: paula

Job Overview Prisoners who are in long confinement in prisons can possibly be released before the date of full sentence. The decision is dependent on the behavior of the convicted inside the prison, as well as the rate of crowding of it. Paroles are what we call conditional release of prisoners prematurely before its full sentence. This can be granted to those who behaved well and showed a good attitudinal improvement, as well as whenever the prison is out of space for newer convicts. The ones who monitor these prisoners on parole, or the parolees are called parole officers. As parole officers, they are tasked to monitor these parolees as well as help them adjust to the newer environment outside. Their job is noble as not only that they guard them against adverse events, but also they provide guidance and counseling to them, on how they will be able to adjust to the normal communities.

Education Knowledge and Trainings Required

An aspiring applicant to become a parole officer should prepare himself/herself as early as highschool. Subjects that can be taken are those that are related to History, Social Sciences, Government, Psychology and Civics. The minimum educational requirement for undergraduate course is a possession of a bachelor's degree in any of the folowing: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law,  Corrections, Social Works, Psychology and Sociology.

Skills and Abilities

Investigative skills are needed as well as skills in monitoring behavior. Communication skills is very much important as this will be the key in relaying messages to the parolees, as well as to the community people for acceptance of the parolees in their community. The ability to understand varieties of situations, and counsel is necessary for them to guide these people to be better citizens of the country. Patience and motivational skills are needed in handling them throughout their stage of adjustment.

Duties

An important duty of a parole officer is to protect the community or the society, as a whole, from incidences of crime.

They accomplish this objective by way of helping the parolees out with their adjustments, guiding them on how to behave well and act on several crisis incidents, as well as supervising them in different setting such as at home, in the workplace, and in the leisure venues. By doing this, they reduce the chances that these former crime offenders be back to their previous negative and criminal acivities, thus, reduces the chances of crimes in different communities. Their work is not confined to guarding them and securing the people around them. They may also take part in contacting companies or businesses that might employ these parolees, so that they can be productive and can begin a new normal living.

Job Outlook and Earnings

The range of salary for parole officers starts off from 27,000 to around 67,000 U.S. dollars on an annual basis. The median salary for this kind of job is around 40,210 U.S. dollars. The salary may be altered by some factors such as the educational level, the location or state, as well as the employer. The employment outlook for the parole officers is excellent and will continue to be such until the year 2014.

Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of their job opportunities and available trainings for skills and practice upgrading.

Latest Articles about: Careers

1: College Mathematics Professors: Job Description, Education, Skills, Abilities, Duties, Earnings and Outlook
2: Mathematics Teacher: Job Description, Education, Skills, Abilities, Duties, Earnings and Outlook
3: Medical Assistant: Job Description, Education, Skills, Abilities, Duties, Earnings and Outlook
4: Mathematicians: Job Description, Education, Skills, Abilities, Duties, Earnings and Outlook
5: Medical Ethicist: Job Description, Education, Skills, Abilities, Duties, Earnings and Outlook
Word Count: 573 Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 Time: 8:06 AM


Previous - Watch and Clock Repairers: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook | Next - Pharmacist: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook