What To Do Now? Probation Officer Career Training

If you are thinking about a career change in today's economy, sometimes it can pay to think creatively or pursue avenues you once may not have considered. If you have a background in social work, social services, law enforcement, or criminal justice, you may have a set of career skills that could suit you for employment as a probation officer.

Probation Officers

Probation officers traditionally work with either juvenile or adults and usually have diverse job descriptions. From working with the court system to dealing with individuals who have been incarcerated, probation officers are an important part of the legal system.Through personal contact with past offenders and, sometimes, their families, probation officers supervise offenders to keep them out of prison.

If you can be tough-minded in difficult situations, and yet also have the interpersonal skills to make rapport with a variety of people, you should be in position to succeed as a probation officer.

Career Advice: Improve Your Skills

In order to become a probation officer, you may need to improve your career skills through continuing education. The typical educational starting point for employment is a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, social work, or a related field. You can get started on your career retraining by enrolling in online probation officer training courses either through a campus-based or online degree program.

Your career retraining may include classes in counseling, corrections, substance abuse treatment, probation, criminal investigations, and more. You can use online probation officer training courses to get started while working at your current position.

As you look to retrain your career skills, consider that the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment of probation officers to increase in the near future--offering new employment opportunities to qualified individuals.

Source:
Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists