Bee BOP,

Congrats. Use this to you advantage. If you have some college; you may qualify as a teacher or a drug treatment specilist. Get you GS’s (now GL’s) as high as you can. Then be ready to move to get promotions.

I can’t thank you enough for you words of wisdom. Thank you.

As a BOP officer, I say welcome brother. One of the best ways to learn is to get with a couple officers with good reputations and learn from them. You need not be just like them but listen to them and develop your own way to do your job. Always keep learning. Take advantage of the cross development courses that the BOP offers. They look good in your file and unlike most things in life, they are free. As you learn the different career paths in the BOP, you will decide which graduate program will best fit your progress. If you want to advance, mobility is key. Most of all, be safe brother!

Rest in Peace Jose Rivera

Welcome to the family! And yes, it IS quiet in here! The activity is so low I don’t check this site as often as some other sites I belong to, and I suspect there are a lot of others who do the same. Hopefully you’ll get more responses as they log in.

Thank you for your opinion. I guess I will form my own in due time. I’m sure the environment tends to turn an optimist into a pessimist.

I know this might seem petty to some, but the best part of the Job for me is when I can foil some scheme the inmates are at. Finding the drugs or weapons, or gaining that vital piece of intelligence that breaks up some plot or scam really makes the Job seem worth while. I could have given you the text book version about rehabilitation and helping society. But the thing about the Job it makes you cynical. When you see just how base and devious some inmates can get. Thoughts of rehabilitation go out the window.
The worst part of the Job for me was sitting in the back of an ambulance with a friend and colleague that had been badly injured in an attack by an inmate. Everyone in the Job has a different point of view as to what are the good and bad points. All I can do if give you mine. In time you to will look back and answer a similar question from a new Officer. And you will give them your own good and bad points.

Thank you for the reply Mick. I’m looking forward to that military-like camaraderie. What would you say are the best and worst parts of the job?

It can be very quite. But then you get a flurry of activity. And welcome to the Corrections family.
The Job is like nothing you will have ever experienced before. The best way to describe it is like being the Law in a city populated entirely by criminals. and if you take you it you will love it.The camaraderie you will have with your fellow Officers is the same as that is experienced by front line soldiers.
So best of luck with the training.

Sir, I greatly appreciate your advice. My first response came from a Warden; I couldn’t ask for a more professional source. Once again, thank you.

Congrats on your recent acceptance to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). Soon you will discover how exceptional FBOP is - staff are professional and the work environment is overall safe and secure. I would recommend continuing your academic education in criminal justice, management, or training for a career with the Bureau.

I retired from the FBOP after 34 years in local, state, and federal correctional experience. As former warden of the United States Penitentiary “Supermax” in Florence, Colorado, I strongly support your career in one of the most honorable professions.

Bob Hood
National Security Specialist
GE Security – Corrections Division

So…it’s quiet in here…

I recently received my acceptance letter for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I start my in-house training on March 30th. I can’t say how relieved I am to start this career. After I seperated from the Air Force last year, I applied to dozens of police and corrections agencies. The BOP process took me three weeks…and I was hired. One of the police agencies just called me after six months..six months and now they want to schedule a background interview. I told them thanks, but no thanks. Now that I’m in, I’m wondering what kind of graduate degree I should go for to progress. If anyone has any advice on education or career advancement, I’d appreciate it.