Classroom breaks have been extremely useful. This affords an opportunity to talk to the guards who have been there awhile.

Thus far, all of them have been supportive, and free with advice. None has given an attitude of “Why are you bothering me?”

All of their advice has been consistent. “Pay attention in class, everything you need is right there.”

We’re reminded that the C.O.s back each other up, and thus far, their help for us newbs has proven that.

For me, the best part of the class is the informal introduction to “jail-speak”.

“Chi-chi” is a fascinating jailhouse gumbo that I never hope to sample. Don’t confuse it with “Fifi”, a term I shan’t go into here.

From there, off to class.

The Captain that runs training is extremely cool. He’s done this before, he gets the concept that the class is apprehensive.

On day one, the class has whittled itself from 14 down to 8 of us that actually show up.

The Captain intersperses the requisite boring classes with humorous anecdotes. It keeps us from falling asleep.

Once contacted by H.R., I was notified that I would be doing a physical, a psych eval, and an agility test.

Nobody could shed light on exactly what this entailed. Online searches produced results beyond the vague.

The physical was pretty standard. Expect to fill a cup. If you think you’ll come up hot on a urinalysis, I’m not sure why you’re applying.

The psych eval requires one thing; honesty. If you’ve never gotten angry, never gotten drunk, never wished ill towards a bad person, you don’t need to be in corrections, you need to be Pope.

Agility test? Mine required a set of tasks that simulated a typical shift at Jail, whilst wearing a heart rate monitor.

I passed all of it. I was in.

Hello.

I’m new to Corrections. Indeed, I’m approaching day 4 of The Academy.

My reason for this thread is pretty simple.

After my interview, I was reasonably confident that I got the gig. When Human Resources set up a physical, I started researching what I could expect. I didn’t find a lot.

My hope is that this thread will shed a little light for the new guys on my particular process. It’s important to note that your process may vary wildly. As for me, I’ve attained appointment to a County position.

I invite the experienced to contribute as much as they see fit.

Let’s begin….