To consider working in a men's prison

[TheQuickGoldSheep]

I'm in the Civil Service already, I'm on 24.8k, do overtime every week to earn more but they've confirmed this is stopping soon.

I've applied for a role in a men's cat B/C prison, completed the tests which were bonkers and waiting to hear if I've got an interview.

For 41h the salary is £34.800 a year so literally a 10 grand pay rise, I don't see how I'd achieve such a rise elsewhere. Of course it's for good reason, working some nights and weekends, no WFH like now, and that the role itself is tough.

The role does appeal to me as I have previously worked with 'challenging' people. I'm no stranger to being verbally abused and to the occasional punch, I am good at remaining calm and diffusing situations, I've worked in mental health roles and the role does attract me even though I know it'd be very challenging.

I'm sure I'd have a lot to learn and it'll probably be incredibly daunting. Would be grateful to hear if anyone's done it or knows people who do it.
The role does appeal but also I'm in the process of buying a home alone, my mortgage and bills will soon be costing me around £200 a month more than they currently do and overtime is stopping, so I'm worried.

I'm 33 now and I want to progress salary-wise.

I'm so impressed, just so in awe of all you posters here doing this incredible job especially after hearing the prisons being discussed as the top story on Radio 4 this evening. Just awesome!

More likely piss and shit

Gosh the pay seems so low for a prison officer. Especially when long hours and weekends involved. Good luck though

I have worked in an adjacent facility- hospital type setting for violent prisoners with mental health complications. It sounded awful description wise but in reality I found often the men there were often quite chatty and respectful and the work wasn't all that bad. We had training on what to do if grabbed etc. but I never had to use it. The hardest part was feeling the patients sadness at things. I think you should give it a go, you sound well suited.

I think, from what you have said, you would be an amazing officer.
However, definitely agree with a lot of what a PP said regarding the work relationships. I used to work in a children’s prison, which I would say is quite similar (arguably worse sometimes - teenage brains!). Lots and lots of affairs, because of the set up it really does feel like once you’re inside, the outside doesn’t exist.
However, you will absolutely make friends for life and I think it’s an amazing career! Go for it!

My sis in law works in a men's prison and loves it. She is an authoritarian type though so the job suits her. She has seen her fair share of stuff. She's seen many a Kettling...throwing boiled water mixed with sugar on people to burn them, a few drug induced rapes and hangings..its not for the faint hearted. Mostly its boring rounds but you do see some extreme stuff. You need a thick skin.

Have you considered Policing? - lots of opportunities both officer and staff.
It gets a lot of flack as unfortunately there is a minority who overshadow the good ones. Have a look at your local forces website.
That said a friend of a friend is a Governor at a Cat A male prison. She loves it. Stressful. But never boring.

You’ll never know until you try… have a plan B though and do get out if you don’t feel safe. A male relative of mine used to be a prison officer, for several years, seemed to enjoy the challenges of the job but was assaulted by a prisoner in the end, badly injured and needed a year off work to recover physically and mentally. He didn’t go back to prison work.

@TheQuickGoldSheep

They recruit every 6 months pretty much so if you register on the 'traintobeaprobationofficer' website, you will get notified. Although the starting salary might not be much more now, you will qualify between 15-21 months and after that the pay jumps up. Top of the bracket is £42k which you achieve within 5 years. Also now shifts or weekend work...

On a different tack, if you have a degree and experience in mental health support work, you could consider doing the Think Ahead fast track post degree training to be a mental health social worker. Leads to being able to apply for band 5 jobs, most people quickly move from band 5 to band 6 roles which is a reasonable wage.

Thank you so much!
I'll go ahead with the application, and go in with an open mind.

I worked for four years in a male YOI for 15-17 year olds. I loved the job, but so many of the boys never had a chance and six month (do three) sentence locked up with other young 'offenders' was not going to turn their lives around. I know it is a different context, but many of the YOs ended up in the adult custodial system.

This has been such an interesting thread. I have so much respect for all of you who work in prisons. Please do come back and update us, OP - I hope you get the job.

I worked in a men's prison for 7 years as a medical professional. I loved it. It was a real challenge.
We did have a lot of paedophiles but I wasn't there to judge people, that's the courts job. I was there to carry out my role regardless.
I only left because I got a big promotion in the NHS and had to move cross country.

Hi I’m a probation officer and work exclusively in prisons (community never appealed). I know it’s a slightly different role but it’s face to face like the officers.

The main thing I find, and my colleagues would agree is that the men can be very ‘groomy.’ They try to find out little tit bits about you, build a picture, compliment etc etc and hook naive staff in to do their bidding. You get so much training on anti-corruption though, you’d have to willfully ignore everything you’d been taught (although it does still happen sadly).

There really isn’t a lot of violence toward staff, especially female staff. Other men will generally defend women and prisoners stand to lose if they misbehave. For example, they could lose their enhanced status and it would go against them in parole hearings or they would lose other privileges.

While there are people in prison who are monsters and should never see the light of day, most of them are regular people whose crimes do not define who they are. They have made bad choices. They have loving families and friends. Most will be regular members of our society again. If you treat everyone with fairness, respect and dignity you will find you receive the same in return.

You sound ideal and I think you would find the job very rewarding.

Honestly, I think you are mad.

There are other jobs that will pay more and I would be on the lookout for one of those.

Don’t underestimate the impact that working shifts will have on your life-especially if you’re going from a Mon-Fri 9-5 job.
Your entire life will revolve around the shifts, your social life will go down the toilet, and that’s before we start on the health impact.

Ive worked shifts for 20+ years, and once I hit 50 and menopause I had to stop doing nightshifts-couldn’t sleep during the day, couldn’t stay awake at night. I’m mid 50s now, still working shifts to a degree and I’m completely and utterly done with it and it’s impact on my family’s lives, and am looking to make a change

They have kettles 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s definitely not for everyone, but you’re going into it with your eyes open and you’ll soon know whether it’s for you.

I worked in a Cat A men’s prison (not as a PO) for a while, and it was fairly gruelling emotionally. The POs had a tough job. The worst bit about it for me was the environment - actually going into a prison day in day out and being effectively locked in all day. It was quite depressing in the end.

I second the poster who mentioned policing. Have you thought about that as a career option? Much more varied and with scope to specialise.

My cousin was locked up as a teenager for a first offence many years ago during the era of the "short sharp shock " He said it was just a college for crime. He was taught how to break in to a car and house and about law . His eyes were opened about how devious and lazy the police were . He never offended again but he said there were boys who were on the path of being serial offenders and were resentful and angry about being locked up for long periods of time with nothing to do. I would imagine that things have changed since then though .

This . They would probably want to exploit you more than hit you . If they hit a woman they would automatically be labelled as weak by other prisoners.

Definitely go for it. You sound like the right person for the job and you have a tonne of experience. I work in a female prison so not quite the same, but prisons need people like you. Good luck!

There is PLENTY of overtime and an overtime incentive scheme a £500 bonus each month ( if your prison run this) or you can go on detached. You get extra for various situations, dirty protest etc

You can climb the ladder for promotions very quickly....officer to dep gov in 7 years is achievable

And it's rewarding. Very. But I won't sugar coat it op. Can be tough. Walking onto those landings sometimes still makes my stomach lurch. The noise,smell,atmosphere... not for the faint hearted

Found out today I've got an interview!
The behaviour based assessment was absolutely nuts, it was very much like a PC game, need the reaction times of a 17 year old boy on energy drinks 🤣

How did you get on op?