Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
Assuming it is an entry level position (it is in CA where I worked) they will not expect you to know much about the actual job. That is what they have training academies for. They will be interested in your general notions about the prison system, use of force and that sort of thing. They may want some basic info about your writing skills (way back when a short written presentation was part of the oral exam. I don't know if it still is or not). They may wonder about how you feel about shift work. The truth is always a good response in such things. Thoughtful responses but not off-the-cuff are also good. Flippant is bad. They will want to know about any potential blips in your history, like drug use, recent minor criminal activity, even a history of minor traffic infractions is often a red flag as it can indicate a lack of respect for authority or "the system." DUI, especially moderately recent, is also a bad thing. It is good if you have an honest and sincere interest in a CAREER as opposed to just a job. Flexibility is good. If you go in telling them you can't work nights or weekend because of this or that or the other thing they are likely to think you are not truly interested in the gig, or you will be as problem child if you get the gig.
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I have no idea what a Correctional Service Technician does or where they work. I am guessing it is an entry level job so they may ask you questions within the field that fit into the MQs (minimum qualifications). They are also likely to ask you questions about your general ideas re: interactions with inmates. They may also be interested in your attendance and/or job preformance at a previous job or school and your communication skills, especially writing skills. Wish I could be more helpful but I am having trouble visualizing the job. It sounds like you will be functionally a supervisor-lead person for a crew of inmate janitors.
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It is hard to say what stresses one person and not another. I never had a staff member murdered on the job in all the time I was there. I did have staff members die. I had to tell staff that family members had died. I had to tell inmates that family members died, and tell family members that inmates died, often violently. I had inmates I got along wel with murdered, at least once by mistaken identity of having gotten in the way of something that was going on.
For some people the on-going stress, not immediate situation stress, is what gets to them. When the alarm goes off you don't know if it is a false alarm or someone has just gotten murdered. At the end of shift and you really want to go home you can't, because some butthead called in sick so he could watch the game. (That happened to me on Y2K when a couple of guys that had been prescheduled to come it simply didn't show.)
Sometimes the stressors are from above, from management. I had one boss who I truly beleive was deliberately trying to get me hurt to force me out of the job. I had one or two others who were lazy and/or incompetent. One or two that were just plain nasty for no reason. I was screwed with repeatedly on promotional opportunities, little things like mailing my interview notice to a "mistaken" zip code in Saskatchewan so I got it after my interview date. Once I showed up for a promotion interview 12 minutes early and I was ordered to leave as I was "too early" or I would be arrested for trespassing. Really. You get used to the inmates trying to screw you over. Its expected. You don't get used to staff trying to screw you over.
Soledad was a very violent place at that time. People trying to kill you just because you are there can mess with your head.
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Not exactly my field of expertise. If she lives with you and is a minor, you can and should have some control over her. However, selling pot is semi-legal in California and have guns and money is not illegal (unless he is an ex-offender). If, however, he is known ot have drugs and money in the house and is known to be a pot seller he is at increased risk of home invasion robbery. You might be able to leverage her actions by threatening to turn him in if any of his conduct is illegal, but if she calls you on it and you do not carry through you might be in a worse position than before. Also if she is still a minor and there is some joint custody you might be able to get CPS involved if you can assert the house is a dangerous environment for her, even if his conduct is not horribly illegal. There are also safe firearms storeage laws in CA which might give you some leverage, if he is not obeying them. Good luck with your situation.
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Waitress
Do you get annoyed when people use Groupons?
Sitcom Writer
Is reality TV here to stay?
Social Security Employee
How do you check to see whether someone claiming disability is actually disabled?
A lot of it will depend on you. The first two years it will be hard due to the llve-in academy followed by several months of rotating shifts. After he gets settled in to a regular job with known days off and a known shift it gets better, much better. (Some people bid for a VR (vacation relief) job when they can so they get some good gigs along with some crappy gigs.) When you get some seniority you can start bidding for jobs that you will probably like, working with people or working with situations that appeal to you. Some people never get used to it. Most people do. The closer to retirement it gets the more it looks like it was a good decision. Mule Creek is a relatively new, well laid out prison in a nice area. Last I heard it had a decent administration that supported the staff.
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Sorry. Question is so general it makes no sense to me. Good and bad? Male and Female? Smart and Stupid? Young or old?
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Only a high school diploma or GED is required for entrance. There is significant training at the academy, currently 12 weeks, and regular required In-Service Training. Work conditions can be difficult. There is shift work involved, especially when you have little seniority. Most areas of the prisons are not air conditioned and during the summer they can be unpleasant. Sometimes people try to kill you, though that does not happen often. You have to be willing to listen, willing to learn, willing to take orders and be willing to interact tactfully with people who don't particularly want to listen to you. It is an entry level position so there is no actual EXPERIENCE required beyond a satisfactory history as a law-abiding citizen, though a stable work or school history before application is highly desirable and looks good.
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