What's funny about that article is, they say they have to cut probation jobs and are in a rock and a hard spot. The truth is, they can cut other things like welfare, Social Services, secratarial type jobs, ect. There are so many other things they can cut from. Cutting law enforcement jobs is a joke!!!! If there going to cut these types of jobs, the State better allow citizens to carry firearms. If they can't protect us, they had better let us protect ourselves. I know, it's a pipe dream to think California would allow it's citizens to protect themselves from all the thugs and sex offenders that are in our communities. They don't want to trample on the rights of these good people.
Regarding how to get a job? The State just tested for Parole Agent I back in April of 2008 and will be working off that list for new Parole Agents. It will be a long time before the state tests again because the new list will not expire. In the past, the Parole list would expire after 24 months. However, do to the State budget they can not afford to test again and will have to work off of the 2008 list.
It's really hard to become a Parole Agent and if you want to have a chance, you had better have a BA degree and law enforcement experience. Here some numbers from the 2008 testing. 17,531 people took the Parole Agent test in 2008, out of the 17,531 only 3,100 people past the Parole Agent test, out of the 3100 that past the test, only 450 people past high enough to get ranked and receive an interview. It's really hard to become an Agent for the State of California. The state needs new agents really bad. The Bay area alone needs around 350 new Parole agents and Los Angeles needs around 100. I believe the state needs around 700 new agents for all counties in the State of California. We need more and new agents really bad. Like I said before, the crime rate is going up and parolees know they can get away with violating their parole.
The Parole Agent test is 4 hours long and very difficult if you have not worked in some sort of law enforcement job. The best place to monitor these types of jobs is on the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation web site. Currently the State has suspended accepting new appliications. They were accepting applications for Correctional Officer, however, have suspended that too. It use to be pretty easy to become a Correctional Officer. All you needed to have was a clean record, free of mental problems and a high school diploma. However, now you need to have a BA degree to even have a chance to become a Correctional Officer. Times are changing. It use to be you did not have to have a degree to make money or get a good paying job, but do to the economy and the unemployment rate, many people are looking for a job and that makes it harder for those who don't have a degree. It looks like those who took the time to go to college are finally seeing the benefits of having a degree. For a long time a college education did not mean anything when it came to certain jobs, now it means everything. If you have children or if you are debating going to college, I would highly recommend you get a degree and preach to your children how important it is to have a college education.
For years, I was told by so many that my degree was worthless and would not help with getting a job or getting a raise. For a while I started to believe them, however, now I am so glad I went to college. Like I said, check the CDCR web page at leas twice a week to get an update on current job openings. I was told around the end of March or beginning of April the state will start accepting applications for CO, however, you will need at least an AA or BA degree to even have a chance. Good Luck, and I hope this info was informative. It's really crazy in California, and I would buy a gun as soon as you can.
