Correctional Officer Worth Considering For Sacramento Job Seekers
In a shift that has those in management in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation taking notice, it was decided that the 16-week state prisoner officer academy would be shortened down to just 12 weeks. According to department spokesman, Bill Sessa, this is all in response to the natural rate of staff attrition that sees many California correctional officers retiring hundreds at a time, month after month. Paring down the length of the academy allows California to produce 264 more correctional officers a year bringing the total amount possible to 1,056 officers a year. It's no surprise either as prison management has forecasted that more than 7,000 correctional officers would need to be added to the hiring pool by as early as 2016. This shortened academy training period is all in response to the need for more correctional officers.
Sure, the life of a correctional officer puts you in stressful and dangerous positions, but proper training and supportive management makes the job a lot more manageable. Oftentimes, it's the salary that brings in most correctional officers. California has statistically always paid its correctional officers extremely well according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay for Sacramento CO's ranks in the top 10 for metropolitan areas with an on average hourly wage of $33.44 compared to the national average of $18.74.
Unlike other occupations where experience is needed right off the bat to be considered a potential hire, candidates for correctional officer jobs according to the CDCR need just a high school diploma or GED equivalent, be at least 20 years old, provide proof of U.S. citizenship and pass a drug test amongst a few other requirements related to the position. The CDCR wants to keep correctional officers as local as possible and avoid hiring from private prison companies who were once lambasted for "stealing jobs" from local workers, thus the emphasis on on-the-job training. As a matter of fact, most Sacramento employers offer some type of on-the-job training as opposed to hiring skilled labor, although there is still a sizeable demand for skills. But by and large, if you're looking to catch the next hiring trend, there's still plenty of opportunities working for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Paulo Acoba is a California native raised in the Bay Area and living in the Central Valley. He enjoys distance running, cycling and grassroots motorsports. He holds a degree in management from the University of California Merced. Paulo has been writing for Examiner.com since 2012 and covering the Fresno area.
