Correctional Officer Resume

To get hired as a corrections officer, you need a resume that highlights your most relevant skills and experience. Learn how to make your application stand out to hiring managers by looking at our correctional officer resume sample and reading job-specific writing tips.

November 18, 2024

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A correctional officer resume sample with bold black text for the applicant's name and sections for the applicant's resume summary, professional experience, education, and additional skills

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Correctional Officer Resume Template

This template helps you format your resume in a way that will catch employers’ attention.

[Your Name]

[Your Address] [City, State]
[Your Email Address] | [Your Phone Number]
[LinkedIn Profile] (optional)

Professional Summary

Correctional Officer with 6+ years of experience ensuring compliance with Department of Corrections regulations and fostering a safe environment among prison populations. Proven record of successful legal investigations and implementing security procedures, well trained in crisis prevention, and passionate about supporting prisoners in their rehabilitative process.

Skills

MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Safety policies
Record maintenance
Courtroom practices
Inmate rights
Search procedures
Restraint techniques
Communication

Professional Experience

Correctional Officer

Sumter Correctional Institution, Bushnell, FL

May 20XX – Present

Supervise the daily activities of 600+ inmates by restraining attempts of violence, enforcing security procedures, conducting daily safety audits, and reporting any alarming occurrences
Inspect conditions of gates, grills, and window bars of over 300 cells and perform periodic patrols of work areas to ensure the integrity of the institution and prevent assaults on staff or other prisoners
Instruct detainees to keep common areas clean and supervise the distribution of clothing and personal items
Reduced infractions by 15% by ensuring detainees follow prison rules and maintaining a safe environment through early intervention tactics in line with Department of Corrections policies

Correctional Officer

Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Orlando, FL

August 20XX – April 20XX

Reduced injuries among prisoners by 18% by monitoring inmates’ daily activities, keeping daily logs of their behavior, and performing regular head counts at the start and end of each day
Performed periodic patrols of common areas and exercise rooms, ensured all inmates maintained clean housing units at all times, and responded promptly to emergencies occurring both inside and outside the buildings
Guarded the institution’s outside premises and visitor flow, and screened inmate mail for possible contraband

Education

Resume Genius University
Bachelor of Arts in General Studies
Graduation Date: May 20XX

Average correctional officer salaries in the US

The following table includes information from O*NET Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license, this data is pulled from the most recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment & Earnings report (as of 10/16/2024), featuring the top states by use.

Average correctional officer annual salaries by state

State	Salary / Year
Texas	$48,030
California	$93,160
New York	$71,300
Florida	$41,180
Pennsylvania	$59,240
Illinois	$64,440
Ohio	$56,530
Georgia	$41,880
North Carolina	$46,440
Michigan	$62,460
National Average	$53,861

How to write a correctional officer resume

Correctional officers have a tough but essential job. They work in a high-stress environment, thinking quickly in dangerous situations and ensuring the safety of the inmates.

But writing a resume for a correctional officer position doesn’t need to be as difficult as the work you’re targeting. Our three easy tips will help you put together a correctional officer resume that lands you a job at your preferred facility:

1. Write an eye-catching summary for your correctional officer resume

The first thing the correctional facility hiring manager will see on your resume is your resume summary — so use this space wisely. Ensure this short paragraph quickly grabs an employer’s attention by showing why you’re the perfect candidate for the job.

In 3–4 sentences, spotlight your skills, experience, and career accomplishments as a correctional officer that best match the requirements in the job ad. Here’s an example of a well-written correctional officer summary:

A screenshot of a correctional officer resume summary that describes the applicant — Highlight your most relevant skills in your correctional officer resume summary.

When you write your resume summary, use exact keywords from the job description. Many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan resumes for selected words. If your resume doesn’t match the keywords, it might get automatically disqualified before it even reaches the recruiter’s computer screen.

To avoid having your resume rejected by ATS, underline keywords or phrases in the job description and requirements. Then work these words into your summary and throughout the rest of your resume sections to ensure your application gets past the ATS.

2. Highlight your correctional officer skills

In moments of crisis, correctional officers must stay calm and act decisively. Therefore, employers need to know they can rely on your good judgment to protect the order and safety of their facility.

To assure an employer you have what it takes, highlight your skills in enforcing regulations and de-escalating conflicts, as well as your respect for the legal rights of the inmates.

Give examples of your hard skills (trained abilities) and soft skills (personality traits) to show that you have both technical know-how and the ability to interact well with others.

Here’s a list of some hard and soft skills you can include in your work experience section:

Remember that certain facilities require specialized skills. For instance, juvenile prisons focus on corrective training programs to lead young inmates down a better path. But a correctional officer working in maximum-security facilities may need extra training to monitor the psychological welfare of inmates.

3. Specify your correctional officer experience with hard numbers

Correctional facilities can differ widely across different states. That’s why it’s important to be specific about your work experience on your resume.

One way to do that is by listing exact numbers to quantify your work experience. For example, include precise numbers for the:

size of prisons you worked at
cells you monitored
inmates you oversaw
reports you logged daily
officers you trained or supervised

Here’s an example of how to use hard numbers to work history:

By listing numbers, this work experience entry gives a thorough scope of this correctional officer’s past roles.

So remember to quantify your own correctional resume’s work experience as much as possible to give an employer a clearer idea of what responsibilities you can handle and what makes you stand out.

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