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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Law and Government
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Psychology
- Therapy and Counseling
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Administrative
- Customer and Personal Service
What the work involves
- Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
- Write reports describing offenders' progress.
- Inform offenders or inmates of requirements of conditional release, such as office visits, restitution payments, or educational and employment stipulations.
- Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
- Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
- Develop liaisons and networks with other parole officers, community agencies, correctional institutions, psychiatric facilities, and aftercare agencies to plan for helping offenders with life adjustments.
- Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.
- Provide offenders or inmates with assistance in matters concerning detainers, sentences in other jurisdictions, writs, and applications for social assistance.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (88% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (28.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (36.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 96% of occupations compared | 96% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 94% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 51% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 53% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 97% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 73% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 4.11%
- Constant contact with others: 95.89%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 7.39%
- Very important: 20.66%
- Extremely important: 71.95%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 3.13%
- Important: 19.12%
- Very important: 25.41%
- Extremely important: 52.34%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 4%
- Limited freedom: 15.83%
- Some freedom: 40.62%
- A lot of freedom: 39.55%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.4%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 4.78%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.72%
- Every day: 55.09%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.85%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.08%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.07%
- Every day: 63%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 11.51%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2.83%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.98%
- Every day: 56.67%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 12.45%
- Fairly serious: 25.83%
- Serious: 0.99%
- Very serious: 15.09%
- Extremely serious: 45.64%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 21-1092.00 · SOC 21-1092 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8