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Probation Officer Examination

13K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  nbancroft89 
#1 ·
Opening Registration Date: April 16, 2014
Last Day of Registration: 11:59 p.m. on May 7, 2014
Examination Date: June 28, 2014* (Start time to be determined)
Registration Deadline: May 7, 2014
Examination Fee: $80

Note: An orientation and preparation guide will be provided to all confirmed exam registrants several weeks prior to testing at no additional cost.
Examination Location:
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC)
415 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210

http://www.mass.gov/courts/jobs/probation-officer-exam-info.html
 
#4 ·
An exam? Wow, they really are hurting for money. I can imagine what the questions will be like. If a state rep hands you an envelope do you A. Go and do what he asks. B. Look in it and use it for yourself. C. Look the other way and give it to your boss who will spend it on hookers? D. All the above.
 
#7 ·
I don't know if this is an appropriate place to post this but this post is concerning the probation officer positions. I noticed a few posters mentioned it. I was called today for a "screening interview" at Fall River District Court for next week for a probation officer position. I grew up in Massachusetts, spent 24 years there. The military brought me to Arkansas 4 years ago.For the past two years I have been working as a Parole/Probation Officer for the Arkansas state law enforcement agency that oversees all felony probation cases and all state and interstate parole cases. I noticed that the system here in Arkansas is vastly different than in Massachusetts. First and foremost as a Parole/Probation Officer in Arkansas I am a fully certified law enforcement officer and exercise full policing power including serving warrants, conduct investigations, file felony casefiles for prosecution and so forth. I understand that probation officers in Massachusetts serve the same purpose but are organized differently as they are not certified LE. Anyway that isn't hear nor there. My question stems in the hiring process. What exactly is a screening interview? Is it a personalized interview for a specific position or is this a generic interview for all candidates who passed the exam in July? Also I noticed that the requirements for employment are two years experience or two years as an associate probation officer. What is an associate probation officer? Lastly, how many more interviews can I expect if I make it past this one. I have to fly back and forth for this; which I am not opposed to as I will do anything to keep my career as a probation officer and return to my home state of Massachusetts. I just need a general idea so I can plan my time off and vacations around interviewing. Thanks for the help. Good luck to all the applicants out there.
 
#9 ·
I worked for Probation in a previous life (and no, I didn't know any one and didn't have a dime to give. Just got very lucky). The only interview they had was the one for the specific court I worked for. The training was a three week orientation. An associate probation officer does not supervise anyone. They sit in the courtroom and record the outcome of cases, on occation give recomendations for regular PO's that are out, give criminal records to the judges and assist with intakes as new arrests and cases come in.

I'm sure the interview process is a little different now so I'm not sure how many they would have. I can't imagine they would have any more than two. Good luck.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for moving the post Goose and thanks for your input rock. I did a little research. It looks like as a result of recent events regarding corruption among the commissioner's office regarding hiring practices a General Law was passed to outline a hiring process for probation officers. However it is not detailed or specific. Just mentions a test which I completed and passed, a review of qualifications and interviews and background checks. As well as highlights the appropriate way for a reference or recommendation to be made. I guess I will find out the details next week. It really is sad what people were involved in regarding the corruption by public servants. Unfortunately it is not limited to Massachusetts. Arkansas had our own scandal last summer when a parolee was released from county jail after the supervisors and directors ignored the supervising officers pleas to place a parole hold (no bond) warrant on a violent offender. Sadly, the offender was released and two days later went out and murdered an innocent college student after car-jacking him and robbing him. An investigation uncovered serious misconduct by upper-level managers and directors who were intentionally skewing numbers and requiring high risk offenders to be supervised at lower to low risk conditions in order to make the recidivism rate appear lower. Upper level managers and directors were refusing to revoke parolees back to prison, refused to place no bond holds on parolees who committed new offenses while on parolee and just overall a gross intentional lack of enforcement of conditions of supervised release. I think criminal charges are still pending on some of the former upper level management involved. The one good thing that came from this was complete overhaul of our agency with a more law enforcement focused mission and a better trained and equipped force. My point in posting all of this is that maybe this new hiring process in Massachusetts will improve the overall success of probation in Massachusetts by hiring the best qualified for the position. Rock, I think you'll agree you need to have a passion for this job otherwise you'll burn out quickly.
 
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