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Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist resume example

A resume for a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist needs to show the work itself: provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Day to day that means work like this: prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender; gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Correctional Counselor
  • Juvenile Probation Officer
  • Parole Officer
  • PO
  • Probation Officer
  • Adult Probation Officer
  • Deputy Probation Officer
  • DPO
  • Parole Agent
  • Probation Agent
  • Probation and Parole Officer
  • Probation Counselor
  • DCC Parole Officer
  • OES
  • OWDS
  • Adult Probation and Parole Officer
  • Attendance Officer
  • Community Supervision Officer

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
  • Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
  • Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans.
  • Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
  • Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
  • Investigate alleged parole violations, using interviews, surveillance, and search and seizure.
  • Recommend remedial action or initiate court action in response to noncompliance with terms of probation or parole.
  • Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.
  • 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.
  • Administer drug and alcohol tests, including random drug screens of offenders, to verify compliance with substance abuse treatment programs.
  • Inform offenders or inmates of requirements of conditional release, such as office visits, restitution payments, or educational and employment stipulations.
  • Participate in decisions about whether cases should go before courts and which court should hear them.

21 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Appointment scheduling software
  • Case management software
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
  • Court records databases
  • Customer relationship management CRM software
  • Electronic tracking device software
  • Email software
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint

19 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Breathalyzers
  • Desktop computers
  • Dictating equipment
  • Drug testing kits
  • Electronic tracking devices
  • Laptop computers
  • Laser facsimile machines
  • Law enforcement handguns
  • Metal handcuffs
  • Mobile radios
  • Multiline telephone systems
  • Passenger cars

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Social Perceptiveness
  3. 03Speaking
  4. 04Critical Thinking
  5. 05Reading Comprehension
  6. 06Complex Problem Solving
  7. 07Monitoring
  8. 08Writing
  9. 09Judgment and Decision Making
  10. 10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Law and Government
  • Public Safety and Security
  • English Language
  • Psychology
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Sociology and Anthropology
  • Administrative
  • Customer and Personal Service

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 88%Bachelor's Degree
  • 5%Associate's Degree
  • 2%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist do?
Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Day to day that includes work like prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender and Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
What skills should a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Appointment scheduling software, Case management software, Corel WordPerfect Office Suite, Court records databases, and Customer relationship management CRM software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Correctional Counselor, Juvenile Probation Officer, Parole Officer, and PO. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 88% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialist role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.