Prison officer or probation service officer?

[Vaanyawonderments]

Hi all, i am a mum of 5 year old . My husband works full time (no wfh) . I applied for both prison officer and probation service officer roles few months ago. Passed interview and cleared fitness / premployment checks for both roles. Now i am in a position where i am unable to decide which one is better for me ( considering my daughter is just 5) If you were in my position which role would you have gone for ? Any current prison officers here? What is it like to work in shifts in a prison especially if one has kids? And for current probation service officers what are the working hours like? And is there any possibility to work hybrid? Please advise .

I was a prison officer and it was awful. The shifts are haphazard, poorly thought out and often illegally close together. Finishing at 10pm and they starting again at 6am!

Bullying is rife. Some senior staff are ok but mainly they are bullies and so it is accepted at all levels. A lot are extremely immature, bitchy, unpleasant, violent if nobody is looking..! And it's weirdly nepotistic. Senior staff having their kids working there who then take advantage of colleagues' fear of their parent's senority to bully and lie about people but openly break the rules themselves. I wouldn't do it again.

@Sunsnet oh .. i am so sorry you had to go through all of this. Yes i was reading it that most people leave prison services not because of prisoners but the fellow colleagues . This is awe fully sad. And looks like the shifts not gonna fit in with my lifestyle and will impact work life balance. Thanks so much for your insight. I’ll look forward to join probation office then.