How to become a PROBATION OFFICER

As a Probation Officer, your communicational ability will be your biggest and most important tool. There is arguably no attribute that is more essential to the role of a Probation Officer than good communication.

The majority of your working hours will be spent dealing with extremely difficult individuals, many of whom will be uncooperative. You’ll have to demonstrate extensive powers of persuasion and negotiation in order to convince these individuals to agree with your proposed course of action, and there will be times when they simply refuse to listen to you altogether. In these cases, you’ll have to be incredibly patient and understanding. Although you might feel it, you must never show anger or frustration towards offenders. There will be times when you must be stern, and you will have to make decisions that are difficult, but you must always be polite and respectful no matter who you are dealing with.

As mentioned, when working as a Probation Officer you will need to demonstrate a respect for others at all times. It is extremely important that you aren’t judgemental, and treat every person that you work with as fairly as possible.

There will be many occasions when you find yourself working with people whom you don’t necessarily get on with. It’s crucial that you don’t go into these meetings with preconceived ideas. Remember that your goal is to help offenders, not judge them. The best way to do this is treat every case with an open mind. An understanding of diversity also falls under this competency. There may be times when you have to deal with ethnic offenders, or even racial issues that have arisen with other offenders.

Whether you are someone looking to get into the field, a trainee probation officer, or someone already employed as Probation Services Officer, the first place to start looking is online. Due to governmental changes (as of July 2014) up to 70% of Probation Services Officers and Probation Officers, are now employed by outside agencies, where previously they were employed by local probation trusts. This means that while you can still apply via the NOMS (National Offender Management Service) careers service, you should also expand your search to other external sources. In this section, we’ll give you some advice on how to fill in online Probation Application Forms.

Below we have included a mock job description for a Probation Services Officer, to give you some idea of what you might expect to see:

HOW TO BREAK DOWN THE APPLICATION FORM

When studying a job application, it is important to break down the key qualities that the application is looking for. This is best accomplished by breaking down the application form into manageable sections. Below is a way in which the above application can be broken down in order to make it easier to understand:

‘Arranging, supervising and monitoring community work placements for offenders’.

This duty will require your ability to organise activities or placements for offenders.
It will also require you to be an adaptable person, who is prepared to find alternative means to solving issues.
Finally, you’ll need to use risk assessment skills to establish whether the placement that you have arranged is suitable for the candidate who is taking it.
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Along with the standard set of questions that you would expect to be asked in an application, the online form will also ask you a number of competency based questions. This section is the most important part of the application form, and will test your knowledge of the role and motivation for joining the service. It is the most common area (pre-assessment) in which candidates fall down, and therefore you need to pay careful attention to the way that you answer. Below is a sample question that you might expect to see in the application form, along an example of how to go about answering it:

There are a number of reasons why organisation is important in this role. As Probation Services Officers, we are tasked with enormous amounts of responsibility. It’s vital that officers are able to stay on top of things, so that they can provide a good service to clients. As Probation Services Officers, it is imperative that we can set a good example to both the public, and to the offenders we are working with. In order to perform the job successfully, we need to generate a level of faith and respect from all of the individuals we come into contact with. Keeping organised and on top of things is extremely important when it comes to submitting case files for review, general offender management and being called upon as a witness.

The written test is generally the first stage of the assessment centre. It lasts for up to 90 minutes, and is used to assess the following skills:

• Communication;
• Planning and Organising;
• Problem Solving;
• Adaptability and Flexibility.

Requirements: To be eligible for this role, applicants will need at least one year of substantial experience in probation work or of working in a similar environment.

In the written test, you will be given an example scenario, and some basic information to go along with it. You’ll have to read over all of this information and then produce a report documenting your decisions and the reasons that you have made them.

The next stage in the process is the presentation. This will be presented to and assessed by two examiners, and will last approximately ten minutes. In some cases, you might be asked to perform two presentations. The exact details and title of your presentation will be provided to you prior to attending, meaning that you will have ample time to prepare.

As with every element of the selection process, there are a number of criteria which you will be judged against during the presentation:

• Ability to relate to others;
• Communication;
• Planning and organising;
• Self-management;
• Problem-solving

The title of the presentation will normally be based around one of the above qualities. For example, you might be asked to give a presentation on the steps that you took to solve a difficult problem. You will be assessed against the content and the way that you communicate the content to the assessors.

The third stage of the assessment centre is the psychometric tests. A psychometric test is based around the key skills and attributes that are required for the job role for which you are applying. The types of psychometric tests you will be expected to sit will very much depend on the position to which you are applying.

The most common types of test you’ll see during the probation officer selection process are:

• Numerical Reasoning. This will test your mental arithmetic, data interpretation, quantitative reasoning, speed / distance / time, charts and graphs.
• Non Verbal Reasoning. Spatial, abstract and inductive reasoning.
• Memory Tests. Remember words or phrases over a set amount of time.

Requirements: To be eligible for this role, applicants will need at least one year of substantial experience in probation work or of working in a similar environment.