Prison Officer

allyg

hi all

is prison officer very dangerous job

metman

allyg wrote: »

hi all

is prison officer very dangerous job

Abbreviated form of my answer to your question on the main forum; yes.

allyg

hi

what are prison officers hours/ shifts. waiting on call up to recruit prison officer. are there any warders on boards

thanks.........

DenMan

Hi OP

I am not quite sure what the hours are like here in Ireland, but I have a few friends who work in the UK. I would imagine that the hours would be very similar. They operate a three shift rotation and are as follows:

1. 06:00 - 14:00
2. 14:00 - 22:00
3. 22:00 - 06:00

There were off once every three weekends. Over here the population is much lower so I would hope in your case they are flexible with hours as there are less prisons to be maintained. You may be moved around a bit for a while until you get placed somewhere, very similar to the Gardai. It is a well paid job, but there are hazards and it can get quite rough (as I have been told), you are dealing with the dregs of society. A very good career nonetheless. Good luck.

allyg

thanks denman............

DenMan

No probs, hope you enjoy it. A very secure job by the way as crime is a growth industry, .

DenMan

Hi allyg

Let me know how you get on ok. Good luck with it. Hope it works out for you.

It can be, i can till you what kept me out of trouble(mostly). It's like a game and most know the rules so the sooner you learn them the better and you do that by listening to the older hands and watching what works and what doesn't, i decided early on what i would allow and what i wouldn't, like drawing a line in the sand, i would be consistent with this and it would mean under pressure i wouldn't be uming and aring so my reactions were faster as the prisoner would dictate my response and what level(i found only the crazy ones really wanted to fight, the rest wanted to look tuff). ultimatums are dangerous as i have seen a few officers lose their credibility after giving a order and not following threw, so if you are under pressure be carefully how you word things. I excepted the worst i could get was a good kicking, so i stopped worrying about it, the worse injury i had in four years was from being stabbed in the head with a afrocombe by a 20 stone social worker who just got sent down for a month for road rage, she had anger issues. I found it to be a great job and i enjoyed most of it and the bits i didn't make great stories. Good luck, Gary.

timmywex

The worst injury you had was being stabbed in the head..........love the way you make it sound like nothing!

allyg

gary71 wrote: »

It can be, i can till you what kept me out of trouble(mostly). It's like a game and most know the rules so the sooner you learn them the better and you do that by listening to the older hands and watching what works and what doesn't, i decided early on what i would allow and what i wouldn't, like drawing a line in the sand, i would be consistent with this and it would mean under pressure i wouldn't be uming and aring so my reactions were faster as the prisoner would dictate my response and what level(i found only the crazy ones really wanted to fight, the rest wanted to look tuff). ultimatums are dangerous as i have seen a few officers lose their credibility after giving a order and not following threw, so if you are under pressure be carefully how you word things. I excepted the worst i could get was a good kicking, so i stopped worrying about it, the worse injury i had in four years was from being stabbed in the head with a afrocombe by a 20 stone social worker who just got sent down for a month for road rage, she had anger issues. I found it to be a great job and i enjoyed most of it and the bits i didn't make great stories. Good luck, Gary.

thanks gary71

which prison do u work in

Feltham young offenders mainly, which is near Heathrow airport. i left after snapping my ankle when my dog fell on it, so much for worrying about work, it's the bitch at home you have to worry about.

matchthis

Hey allyg,

Where do you apply/enroll for prison officer and what are the requirements? Always wondered about a job like this. Thanks

Match

allyg

public jobs. ie
then aptitude test/ interview/medical/and physical test.
must be under 35 years

matchthis

Being a public sector job, i'm guessing that leaving cert is needed. Is this the case?

metman

From the Publicjobs website:

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible for selection as a Recruit Prison Officer, subject to paragraph B below, an applicant must, on the 1st March, 2007:

Paragraph A.

(i) Be at least 18 years of age (i.e. must have been born on or before 1st March, 1989)

(ii)
(a) be a national of a European Union Member State, or
(b) a national of a European Economic Area State or the Swiss
Confederation; or
(c) is entitled under section 3, 18 or 24 of the Refugee Act, 1996; to the rights and privileges specified in section 3 of that Act, or
(d) have had a period of one year’s continuous residence in the State immediately before the 1st March, 2007 and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years.

(iii) Have obtained:
a) five subjects in the Irish Established Leaving Certificate Examination or Irish Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme or equivalent a grade not lower than C3 at Foundation Level or D3 at Ordinary level one of which much be English and/or Irish
or

(b) the Merit Grade in the Applied Leaving Certificate

Or

(c) like grades in another examination, which, in the opinion of the Public Appointments Service, is not of a lower standard than the above


Among the qualifications, which are considered as acceptable alternatives to the Leaving Certificate Examination, are the following:
Matriculation of a recognised university;
A General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level);
NCEA / HETAC National Certificate;
NCEA / HETAC National Diploma.

Applicants who do not hold any of the above qualifications are advised to contact the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland to ascertain if the qualification(s) they hold “can be recognised as being broadly equivalent”. They can be contacted at info@nqai.ie The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland also has a fact sheet and an application form available on their website at
http://www.nqai.ie/en/International/RecognitionofInternationalAwards/

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Stage 1
Stage 1 of the selection process shall consist of 2 tests, a Visual Test and a Procedural Test. These tests will be held in Dublin on week commencing (w/c) 23rd April 2007 and in other locations (as listed on the application form) on week commencing 16th April, 2007. Test Familiarisation Material will be posted on www.publicjobs.ie in advance of the tests. The number to be called to Stage 2 will be determined having regard to the number of vacancies to be filled.

Stage 2
Stage 2 will comprise an interview, a Group Exercise and Written Exercise.

Optional Language Test
If invited to Stage 2, you may have your ability to communicate effectively in Irish and English assessed. Your ability in the language in which the interview is conducted will be assessed at the interview itself and in the other language by a separate language test. This test will comprise conversation on ordinary topics. Candidates who satisfy the Public Appointments Service that they are proficient in both Irish and English will be awarded marks in respect of such proficiency. Please note that this test is optional and you should not apply unless you propose to undertake the test.

Stage 3
Those successfully selected to go forward from Stage 2 will be required to undergo and pass a pre-employment Medical and Physical Assessment (see paras 7 (a) and 7 (b) for further details.).

480905

allyg wrote: »

hi all

is prison officer very dangerous job

check out evening herald 26-08-2008 page 8.

Salmon

Hey There!

Just to let you know that the hours in ireland are mainly 08:00-20:00 and you will work five days one week and two the next! You will also have to work 360 hours of overtime throughout the year! There are 7 night shifts built into your roster every twenty weeks!

Best of luck!

DenMan

That's terrific news Salmon, great help to the OP. I worked in Manchester Prison (Stangeways) for two weeks in 2005. General duties and was assigned to the kitchen. A pal of mine was going on holidays and needed someone to cover for him. Just kept the head down and got on with it and the weeks flew by. The UK is different as they are more flexible and encourage more people to join as a Prison Officer. They offer part-time and job sharing opportunities which I am not sure is done in Ireland. Hopefully somebody can help others with that information.

minidazzler

As Salmon said, 12 hour shifts. My Dad works around 4 shifts every week at least. His longest run of straight shifts has been 15 shifts in 15 days.

In some prisons you will have your hours from the start of the year. So you know when you are working. This does get switched around though. But not that much!!!

Raze_them_all

does anyone know when they're recruiting next??

PeteK*

Is it hard to get into this career?

I've applied but then cancelled cos it was at the same time as the normal gardai.

They've contacted me a few times asking am I interested.. I've more or less said no.

But now I've a letter out at my other house waiting on me, it's from the Prision Service..

I'll go for it this time if I can!

dropsey

hi all,
anyone know what it like being prison officer in ireland?

Frankdtank

Does anybody know when the next recruitment campaign for the Prison Service will be?Thanks

dropsey

the current prison officer recruitment ia actually part of 2007 campaign. cant imagine another campaign for awhile.

480905

keep an eye on the Prison Service site

irishprisons.ie

Any future campaigns should be announced on the recruitment page.

tinofapples

Do they take into consideration family status when placing recruits similarly to what the Gardai apparently do ? i.e would they place a person within an communtable distance drive of their home

Salmon

hey!

No there would be no consideration for location when you are placed! Almost everything in the job depends on seniority. Everyone will be placed in dublin and will apply for a transfer. The typical wait for a transfer would be in the region of 7 years (at the moment), but with the large amount of retirements due in the coming years this may be a little quicker!!

Hope this helps!

DenMan

Salmon is right there

Flexibility is a huge thing and they want to know if people are avilable and willing to be based anywhere first, then it may be possible to be located near to where you are from. Comes with the territory I am afraid and it can make the difference between making it in or not. Hope it works out for you.

tinofapples

Thanks for that folks. Rules it our for me then, my wife and 8 month old daughter wouldn't be happy with me located in Dublin for any length of time.

li@mo

I saw an ad in todays Irish Independent business section.

Now recruiting

http://www.publicjobs.ie/cand/JobDetails_eng.asp?JobID=3641&hdnGUID=&hdnJobID=2337&sgDest=JOBLISTING

robpurf

has anyone tried applying for this when i hit the application form all i get is a big java symbol and nothing else??anyone else having these problems

li@mo

Although Im not fully sure about applying, when I clicked to see the applicaion form I had the same problem as you

robpurf

i tried everything liamo but i use firefox and when i opened it in internet explorer it worked if thats any help

li@mo

That might explain it.........I was using Google Chrome

newballsplease

i had no problem applying there....not sure if this would be what i want, but no harm in going for it anyway.

Electrician

Hi all. Is there any one currently working as a prison officer? And if so can they pm me any information about their duties, opinions about the job etc. Thanks in advance

darragh o meara

i myself hope to get into the prison service this year. As i'm not the fittest can anyone recommend a training plan to help me get up to a level that i can pass it.

480905

http://irishprisons.ie/documents/PCT_Information_Leaflet.pdf

this taken from the Prison Service website. any info you need is on there

robpurf

Omeara_darragh wrote: »

i myself hope to get into the prison service this year. As i'm not the fittest can anyone recommend a training plan to help me get up to a level that i can pass it.

easy way is to join a gym they will give you a programme.theres also a download on publicjobs.ie about preparing for it or failing that get out running on the roads

Turbo_diesel

Hello all interested in the prison service meself just wondering would anyone have any information regarding the visual & procedural test to be completed during the selection test? Also is there any prison officers on here what do you think of it as a choice of career?Is there much danger to your family due to the individuals you deal with? Please private mail me if you do not want to reply on here.

NDM

Hello everyone. Has anyone else yet tried to download the Prison Officer Familiarisation booklet from Publicjobs.ie? The resaon i ask is because i cant seem to download it. Just keeps saying page not found. Any ideas?

So anyone else going for Recruit Prison Officer??

newballsplease

NDM wrote: »

Hello everyone. Has anyone else yet tried to download the Prison Officer Familiarisation booklet from Publicjobs.ie? The resaon i ask is because i cant seem to download it. Just keeps saying page not found. Any ideas?

So anyone else going for Recruit Prison Officer??

i cant find it on there..i dont see where your seeing it...????

Electrician

Hey all. I downloaded it yesterday without any problems. Try right clicking on the link and then select "save target as" and see if this will let you save it to your computer first and then try opening it. Other wise ring public jobs and tell them the problems that you are having with the link and see if they can email you the booklet instead. Let me know how you get on

gb88

Here is where you can find the Familiarisation booklet, it is down the list a good bit, i think you may need the Latest Adobe Reader or right click, save, and open in word to view it (Im no computer expert so not sure)

Good Luck to everyone, iv applied myself

https://www.publicjobs.ie/en/campaign/inprogress.asp

newballsplease

Yea i just downloaded it there myself, theres also 2 interview videos with two current prison officers on the site.
goodluck anyone whos doing it.

NDM

cool thanks for the help got that sorted and also got the test date confirmed aswell as im sure all other applicants did....

wonder with the way things are at the moment will there be thousands goin for it?

also i wondered, if a person is successful in gettin a position how long would it take from test date to start date? anyone have any ideas?

LoanShark

Hi,
I got my date for Apt. Test..

Does anyone know if those one day courses for familiarisation tests are worth the money?

NDM

i wondered about this myself to be honest?

i mean the tests dont look that complicated but i guess it would be no harm to do the day course if ya have the money to do it..

are there any people with experience of these day courses that could help us out??

Angus MacGyver

The sample tests they give you in the familiarisation booklet are a piece of piss compared to the real thing. there is about 6 times the detail in the real test pictures plus you are under pressure for time

NDM

Angus MacGyver wrote: »

The sample tests they give you in the familiarisation booklet are a piece of piss compared to the real thing. there is about 6 times the detail in the real test pictures plus you are under pressure for time

so you would recommend doing the day course then? its just ive heard they help some people but others find it a waste of money and gained nothing from it(these are not my opinions just what ive heard/been told)..

to be honest if i had the cash i wouold do it no probs but completely broke..

you have you done it in the past by the sounds of it?

robpurf

im not going to bother with the day course to be honest im still in two minds if id take the place if offered.just going to go along and see what happens on the day