Becoming A Probation Officer

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Most people go to their jobs everyday and never gain anything except a paycheck from it, which is not what I want to do. I want to be able to have a sense of accomplishment, or a rewarding feeling at the end of each week. This is why I’ve chosen to work towards becoming a probation officer, a probation officer is actually required to transform people's lives. Being a junior in highschool, there is a lot of stress and pressure being put on what I want to do after high school. In the past few weeks I have researched the job of becoming and being a probation officer significantly. This research has lead me to this decision because of the many things that I could gain from this career path. Not only has it made me aware of the job itself but also …show more content…

The officers meet periodically with offenders on probation to ensure that they are complying with court-mandated orders, along with assuring that they are not committing new crimes. Despite the challenges, the career of being a probation officer has many great opportunities. These opportunities range from seeing new things, learning new ways to think, along with things you can apply to your life outside of your job! This also includes decent pay. The median 2010 annual pay for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists was $47,200, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Rewards of Being a Probation Officer). One majorly important thing about this job is also the job security because crimes remain a regular part of life in communities. Being significant to to the offender and even the community is a great opportunity to have. As an officer you play an important role in society and in the law enforcement process. Helping offenders fall back into society not only benefits the offender, but the community as well. Being able to help someone set goals and rehabilitate from a criminal conviction is a great opportunity in …show more content…

There are some important character traits although that an individual also must obtain. As a potential probation officer, you must have strong communication skills. You need to have this skill as you will be communicating with offenders, their families, treatment specialists, and judges on a regular basis. A probation officer has to frequently write reports, which means you must also have strong writing skills. Because of all of the paperwork you must also be highly organized. Another thing that is required of you is to be prepared to handle high-stress situations. There are many stressful aspects that come along with this job (Probation Officer Careers, Jobs and Degree Information). The educational requirements for this career are not too extensive. To become an officer you need to have a bachelor’s degree, at a minimum. This could be in a field related to human service. Some of the best degrees for a potential officer include social work and criminal justice, even possibly studies of psychology, sociology, or criminology. The school that I have chosen is Edinboro University, which is located in Edinboro Pennsylvania. Edinboro University of Pennsylvania is ranked RNP in Regional Universities North. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence (How Does Edinboro University Rank Among America's Best Colleges). In order to get into

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