Community and Social Service · Holland code SCE

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Make recommendations for actions involving formulation of rehabilitation plan and treatment of offender, including conditional release and education and employment stipulations.

Also called: Correctional Counselor, Juvenile Probation Officer, Parole Officer (PO), Probation Officer, Adult Probation Officer, Deputy Probation Officer (DPO), Parole Agent, Probation Agent.

O*NET 21-1092.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $66,270; Middle half earn $54,250 to $84,780. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 88% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +3% · As fast as average; 92,300 jobs in 2024, projected 94,800. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists".

What the work involves

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

Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans.
Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
Investigate alleged parole violations, using interviews, surveillance, and search and seizure.
Recommend remedial action or initiate court action in response to noncompliance with terms of probation or parole.
Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5
Monitoring3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Law and Government4.4 / 5
Public Safety and Security4.3 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Psychology4.1 / 5
Therapy and Counseling4.0 / 5
Sociology and Anthropology3.6 / 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.

Realistic23
Investigative41
Artistic19
Social76
Enterprising49
Conventional53

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)

correctional services manager · DE Gefängnisdirektor/Gefängnisdirektorin · FR chef d'établissement pénitentiaire
sexual violence counsellor · DE Berater bei sexueller Gewalt/Beraterin bei sexueller Gewalt · FR professionnel de l’aide aux victimes de violences sexuelles/professionnelle de l’aide aux victimes de violences sexuelles
probation officer · DE Bewährungshelfer/Bewährungshelferin · FR agent de probation/agente de probation
substance misuse worker · DE Sozialarbeiter im Bereich Suchtmittelmissbrauch/Sozialarbeiterin im Bereich Suchtmittelmissbrauch · FR assistant social dans un service de lutte contre les addictions/assistante sociale dans un service de lutte contre les addictions
youth offending team worker · DE Sozialarbeiter für jugendliche Straftäter/Sozialarbeiterin für jugendliche Straftäter · FR éducateur de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse/éducatrice de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse
criminal justice social worker · DE Sozialarbeiter im Bereich Straffälligenhilfe/Sozialarbeiterin im Bereich Straffälligenhilfe · FR conseiller d’insertion et de probation/conseillère d’insertion et de probation

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Social workers (2461)139,800 employed
Probation officers (2462)11,900 employed
Youth work professionals (2464)10,200 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 “Professionals”. 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, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

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 middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.53. 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 (21-1092).

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