Prisons are a vital part of many societies. While these workplaces are not for everyone, many people enjoy the opportunity to aid in the rehabilitation of prisoners and the management of prison life. There are many different types of prison jobs that require a wide variety of different skills.
Most prison jobs require applicants to meet certain basic requirements, as well as have special training for their particular position. In some countries, a person cannot work for the prison system if they have a criminal record or do not hold citizenship in the country. Other requirements may include physical fitness and age limits. Most new prison workers take an extensive training course to properly prepare them for the unusual working environment.
The running of a prison is a complex and interesting process. While prisons are built to hold people who have committed crimes, modern philosophy and the legal system requires them to be just and humane locations. Some prison jobs involve the day to day managerial and administrative tasks of running a prison and require secretarial or management skills. Processing paperwork, liaising with other sections of the legal system, and keeping accurate files on inmates may be common requirements of an administrative job in a prison.
Since prisoners can sometimes be violent or unpredictable, most prisons have a large force of guards to maintain order and calm. While these guards must be physically prepared to deal with dangerous situations, many experts stress that guards must be professional at all times and not engage in harm or brutality. Being a prison guard often requires firearm licensing as well as completion of specific training programs. Since the job can be dangerous, prison guards are often quite well compensated for their work.
Most prisons feature health facilities for the inmates, creating many prison jobs for health care workers. Since many prisons are communal places, illness can spread through a prison population like wildfire, requiring immediate attention and action to contain. In addition, since fights are not uncommon in some prisons, healthcare workers skilled in dealing with traumatic injuries are highly valued.
Some prison jobs are designed to improve the education of inmates in hopes of rehabilitating them. Teachers may be required to do many types of prison jobs, from teaching inmates to read to providing vocational training for life after jail. By educating prisoners, teachers hope to open their minds to things in the world besides crime, as well as equipping them to lead a crime-free existence once their sentence is up. Although all prison jobs involve a measure of danger, many teachers find working with prisoners to be a highly rewarding experience.
