Hiring the Right Person for Correctional Officer

 

There have always been some risk factors involved in the selection of good men and women working as a correctional officer. Hiring the right people is very critical in any business but in corrections it is the most important element of running safe and secure prisons. Hiring and bringing in the wrong person is not just a waste of money or time spent on training them in the Academy or formal classroom but also creates a negative impact on the workplace that could result in death or harm to others that depend on this new person to acquire the necessary skills and use them appropriately.

 

As a prerequisite to employment corrections is looking for persons with formal and completion of high school diplomas in addition to some college preferred in social skills or criminal justice courses.  It is important to recognize the totality of the individual’s skills, knowledge, education and experience as it is the main factor their hiring decisions will be hinged on as well as the pre-hiring criteria for selection and hiring good officers.

 

Ideally all agencies are looking for the right candidate; someone that can follow the rules as well as customs, practices and procedures written and unwritten. Often times there are little or few to choose from in a small town or county where the demographics are rural and work is centralized and remote from the cities. You must be willing to hire locally as well as from outside the boundaries to complement your staffing pattern with a good mix of skills, knowledge and experience.

You must look for the complete package of skills, experience, abilities and education to hire the right person. You must also accept the fact that this may diminish you job pool some and ease up on the requirement to attain more qualified personnel. The less significant the requirement, the smaller of quality of personnel you have to choose from. It is best not to compromise on work habits that impact compliance with regulations, absenteeism and reliability factors. It is acceptable to lessen the educational and experience levels if they possess the skills to perform the job and adjust or adapt to the environment.

The second element of hiring good people is when you look at the complete package you include and not exclude their attitude. Having skills but demonstrating poor attitudes is a grave mistake inside prisons or large jails. Skills and knowledge are worthless when they aren't put to use. Experience, no matter how vast, is useless when it is not shared with others. The vast majority failed due to problems with motivation, willingness to be coached, temperament, and emotional intelligence. Remember you can train for almost any skill but it is impossible to re-train someone on their attitude.

The next thing to consider is the type of business correction is in reality as it carries with it volatile and potentially dangerous elements that may cause serious harm or even death under some circumstances. You need to be absolutely truthful with candidate when explaining the job and rely on this truth to decide compatibility based on reactions and suitability of the candidate for such kind of work. Not everybody is suited to be a correctional officer in a physical and mental sense or manner. Look for those that seem to have done a little homework on the job and ask job related questions when inquiring about the agency or department. Look for enthusiasm and motivation factors that will make the candidate a good employee.

Most prison complexes hire friends and family through a referral process that is often used instead of advertisement and recruitment drives in schools, colleges or job fairs. Don’t be too quick to jump at the chance to hire friends and relatives as it may come back to haunt you as a bad decision.

On the other hand, those familiar with current staff have a better understanding of the job’s expectations, cultural diversity and social impacts. They make be excellent people and you may be compelled to hire them out of your heart rather than common sense. Be prepared for interpersonal conflicts, domestic related troubles and family and friend feuds. It depends on the size of your agency and the geographical location of the workplace. Adjust policies to reflect nepotism, favoritism and ensure job assignments are not in conflict with the job requirement and sound supervision methods.

Last you must be prepared to make independent decisions regarding the hiring of new personnel. Nothing compares to a formal and comprehensive hiring process but sometimes you can use your intuition or experience of character to make up the difference when a choice has to be made. Gut feelings are appropriate in hiring and can often result in hiring good candidates not so solid on paper or testing.  Looking and recognizing dispositions, attitudes and motivational efforts is important for correctional officers that often work by themselves with general or no direct supervision most of the time they are on the job.

If you are the kind of human resource administrator that recognizes good chances than your shot of finding and hiring a good candidate are improved. Having the ability to spot the lazy or person with attitudes or poor motivational habits should be a clue to avoid them and move to the next suitable candidate for hire. Take good chances. Good chances often turn out to be your most inspired hires--and your best employees.