While corrections officers often work eight-hour days, there is little in their occupation that gives rise to the day-in/day out characteristics of an office job. Their setting is a jail or prison and the population they work with--oversee--is of incarcerated individuals serving time for a crime. The prison setting can have a lot to do with the enjoyment they garner from their job--if it's an overcrowded and older building, the situation might be less than desirable. However, those working in well-lighted and ventilated settings that house a manageable prison population could find the job to be more like what they envisioned as they were working their way through the police academy.
Corrections Online Colleges
Corrections officers receive their training by entering and completing a police academy. There, they learn about legal rights, use of force, discharge of a weapon, and much more. This knowledge needs to be hands-on and is quickly gained as students of the academy work their way from one subject area to the next. For this reason, officers will not find online corrections programs applicable for their training. However, there are ample degrees available online that could help them to advance in pay scale in their occupation or that could give them widened context about their work. These programs include an Associate degree in Criminal Justice as well as Bachelor's of Science degrees in Criminal Justice with a focus on Corrections and in Criminal Justice Administration. There are a variety of other related criminal justice programs that are online that could act to supplement the education of a person who has completed their police academy training.
The corrections field is projected to grow by 9 percent during the 2008-2018 decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This growth is considered as fast as average, and while that doesn't seem like phenomenal change, nearly 50,000 positions are expected to become available during this time period. Many of these positions could become available due to officers retiring from the field or those who leave for other reasons. According to the BLS, some leave because of low pay and poor work conditions that exist in some areas. However, the mean wages earned by corrections officers of $42,780 might be attractive to anyone looking for a job in today's economy. Additionally, there could be room for advancement in corrections that leads to higher pay and broadened responsibilities. Those that enter corrections management earned mean annual wages of $58,290, according to 2010 BLS data.
