Protective Service · Holland code RCS

Correctional Officers and Jailers

Guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures. May guard prisoners in transit between jail, courtroom, prison, or other point. Includes deputy sheriffs and police who spend the majority of their time guarding prisoners in correctional institutions.

Also called: Correctional Officer, Corrections Officer (CO), Detention Officer, Jailer, Booking Officer, Community Services Officer (CSO), Deputy Jailer, Detention Deputy.

O*NET 33-3012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $58,940; Middle half earn $48,640 to $75,850. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 92% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Conduct head counts to ensure that each prisoner is present.
Inspect conditions of locks, window bars, grills, doors, and gates at correctional facilities to ensure security and help prevent escapes.
Monitor conduct of prisoners in housing unit, or during work or recreational activities, according to established policies, regulations, and procedures, to prevent escape or violence.
Search prisoners and vehicles and conduct shakedowns of cells for valuables and contraband, such as weapons or drugs.
Guard facility entrances to screen visitors.
Record information, such as prisoner identification, charges, and incidents of inmate disturbance, keeping daily logs of prisoner activities.
Inspect mail for the presence of contraband.
Search for and recapture escapees.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
Active Learning3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Public Safety and Security4.1 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Law and Government3.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
Administration and Management3.5 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic72
Investigative12
Artistic1
Social48
Enterprising36
Conventional63

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

lieutenant · DE Leutnant/Leutnantin · FR lieutenant
correctional services manager · DE Gefängnisdirektor/Gefängnisdirektorin · FR chef d'établissement pénitentiaire
prison instructor · DE Lehrkraft im Justizvollzug · FR instructeur technique pénitentiaire/instructrice technique pénitentiaire
probation officer · DE Bewährungshelfer/Bewährungshelferin · FR agent de probation/agente de probation
police detective · DE Kriminalbeamter/Kriminalbeamtin · FR gardien de la paix/gardienne de la paix
court bailiff · DE Justizwachtmeister/Justizwachtmeisterin · FR huissier audiencier/huissière audiencière

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Prison service officers (below principal officer) (3314)38,500 employed
Officers in armed forces (1161)33,700 employed
Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Service and sales workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€32,957
Sweden	€32,596
Netherlands	€29,198
Austria	€29,068
Germany	€27,471
Ireland	€26,978
Italy	€24,995
France	€24,971
Spain	€18,303
Portugal	€10,656
Poland	€7,579

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.89. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (33-3012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test