Federal Bureau of Prisons

• Oral communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Writing
• Organizational awareness
• Managing human resources
• Stress tolerance

To be considered at the GS-05 level, requires successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in any field leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.

OR

You must have at least 3 years of full-time general experience, one of which is equivalent to the GS-04 grade level, or one year of specialized experience. This experience must demonstrate the aptitude for acquiring knowledge and skills required for correctional work. It also must demonstrate the possession of personal attributes important to the effectiveness of correctional officers:

• Ability to meet and deal with people of differing backgrounds and behavioral patterns
• Ability to be persuasive in selling and influencing ideas
• Ability to lead, supervise, and instruct others
• Sympathetic attitude towards the welfare of others
• Ability to reason and think out practical solutions to problems
• Ability to make decisions and act quickly—even under stress
• Poise and self-confidence, and ability to remain calm during emergencies

This general experience may have been gained in work such as:

• Social case work in a welfare agency or counseling in other types of organizations
• Classroom teaching or instructing
• Responsible rehabilitation work, e.g., in an alcoholic rehabilitation program
• Supervising planned recreational activities or active participation in community action programs
• Management or supervisory work in a business or other organization that included directing the work flow and/or direct supervision of others
• Persuasive sales work or commissioned sales work, other than taking and filing orders as in over the-counter sales

9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours of graduate study, from an accredited school, in:

• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Social Science
• Another field of study related to the position such as law

OR

You need 1 year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty to the next-lower grade level in Federal service. This experience must have equipped you with the particular knowledge and skills to perform the duties of the position:

• Ensuring individuals confined in a correctional or mental health facility adhere to rules
• Responding to domestic disturbances
• Apprehending and arresting individuals violating the law

Examples of occupations where specialized experience may have been gained:

• Correctional Officer
• Detention Officer
• Police Officer
• Border Patrol Agent
• State Trooper
• Sheriff
• Park Ranger
• Deputy Sheriff supervising inmates in a jail
• Mental Health Residential Facility Worker

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

• Providing supervision, care and security of inmates plus guidance to lower-graded Correctional Officers
• Supervising inmates in living quarters and instructing them in housekeeping and sanitation
• Working as a Police Officer responding to domestic disturbances and issuing citations
• Experience in investigating crime scenes as a State Trooper
• Experience as a Mental Health Worker in a mental health lockdown facility.
• Enforcing rules and regulations governing facility security, inmate accountability and inmate conduct to ensure judicial sanctions are carried out and inmates remain in custody

At time of appointment, applicants must not have reached their 37th birthday unless they previously served in a Federal civilian law enforcement position covered by special civil service retirement provisions, including early or mandatory retirement. Qualified Preference Eligible Veterans may be exempt from meeting the maximum entry age of 37.