correctional officer

registered nurse

psychologist

physician

psychiatrist

Washington State Department of Corrections

The job can be very rewarding, but also high stress.  There is a real opportunity to impact community safety, and people's lives, in a positive way.  Unfortunately the organizational culture is often toxic.  There are a lot of double standards and favoritism - and you better keep your mouth shut.  If you want to promote, or keep the higher up's happy, your feedback and opinions must always match those of management's (ie: brown-nose or "drink the agency cool-aid").  Divergent opinions and critical feedback are considered a threat, instead of an opportunity to explore alternate ways of doing things or an opportunity to improve.  Safety concerns are swept under the carpet. Incompetent people can easily promote if they play their politics right.  Competent people get burned out and taken advantage of.  Agency culture in the field is also changing to be much more law enforcement oriented versus a balance between law enforcement and social services.  Staff are expected to perform a lot of the same functions as police (too many), but do not get pay or retirement that is commensurate.  Day to day job satisfaction has a lot to do with who your 1st line supervisor is, and to some degree, who your mid level managers / administrators are, so roll the dice.  Some are great, some terrible, and many in-between. Job security is very questionable, as the agency's resources (funds) are at the whim of the legislature.  Every other year (which corresponds with the legislative budgeting process), staff get to deal with the stress of potential layoffs or significant changes being made to the work expected, without additional resources being added.  There is also a lot of "change fatigue", as polices and practices change so much that things can get very confusing, and consequently, subject the agency to liability and litigation.   

You never know what to expect when you enter a penal institution. Every day provides a new challenge.

I learned how to effectively communicate with a very diverse population of people that come from all walks of life. I can typically diffuse hostile situations utilizing my training in "Communication" which places an emphasis on the individual actively and constructively thinking about what they are upset about. Listen to the person, and hear their issue. Ask them what outcome they feel is appropriate. Depending on their answer, provide the least desirable outcome and how it will affect them first. Then follow up with one or two more positive / constructive resolutions. This deescalation technique often allows a very hostile person to calm down on their own without further incident. Any job within the Law Enforcement community is highly stressful and it takes a unique individual to weather that storm day after day.

As an Officer I often felt like the middle man. On one hand the inmates were always upset about something, and on the other hand management was always questioning the day to day decisions that we (as Officers) were forced to make. The one and only thing that I will miss about law enforcement is the camaraderie felt between my fellow brothers and sisters in blue.

The most enjoyable part of the job is very rare. However, occasionally you feel that you've made a positive difference in someones life. Sometimes it can be in the form of a lecture, a life lesson, or simply leading by example. It is an amazing feeling when a person tells you that they chose to take the right path, or make a positive decision based on a previous interaction that they had with me. It has only happened a handful of times in over 7 years, but it's a feeling that I'll never forget.

While I work like working with the inmates and some of the other psych Associates, it was really a toxic work environment especially when it comes to supervisors and very little training. Just kind of thrown into the work. Expected to know what you're doing and how to do the job. How to input stuff into the shared drive and then uploaded into places where staff, other staff from other facilities and current facilities. I'm located. High expectations of doing assessments you had to to three a day as well as given other tasks be able to manage those for me. It was reaching out to sending facilities and getting information on them plus doing my three mental health appraisals and getting them written up and turned in within 24 hours. What I liked about the position was a crisis management component going out to the units assessing for crisis situations, suicide, etc. And also liked receiving because I was able to do much of the same thing assessing clients, current presentation and really building that rapport with people. Also, working with the staff on the floor was always a positive. The officers and medical staff were always eager to have engagement with mental health staff. So to say I gave it a three because of the positives but really the toxicity of the mental health staff especially the higher ups was definitely a pitfall for my position there.

What is the best part of working at the company?
For me, it was being able to work in a field that I had passion for. I enjoyed the challenges if the job itself. The pay was great as well.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
You don’t have much of a life outside of work. You are working mandatory overtime and only have 3 opportunities to turn down a mandatory shift. You can easily work 180 hours in 2 weeks. You see, do and hear things you never expected to see which changes you as a person.
 You want to stick to yourself because this is like a highschool environment (your coworkers/supervisors) so any and everything you say will get around. They will try to sabotage your job, so having one close friend is enough. This is also a very strict environment to work which is understandable. Be prepared, keep to yourself, and stay professional.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very strict, your coworkers will sabotage your career, you practically live at your job, you will be treated badly by inmates while some are more respectful. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It was stressful, busy, consistently worrying about staying safe and wondering what supervisors will try to sabotage you today.

Just don't. As a licensed 06 electrician you can make a better career decision. No standards, no accountability for anything tech related and you will be forced to sit on your hands and accept everything as it is, broken. If they sit and allow things to be broken long enough Capital projects may just replace everything. Maybe. 

Some managers have no idea of how to get in front of issues or own anything they say.  "We don't have time to put things in writing." Managers are gifted at avoiding documenting anything that can hold them liable for their actions. Pay close attention to what is said because, "If it's not in writing it didn't happen." They talk a lot! 
 
If you want to work with tech join the IBEW and fight to keep the position you earn. If you don't want to join the IBEW find a position with a private company because this place will teach you how not to do things. If you love life and care about what you do for a living move along, this place may stain you. If you choose to work here I'll leave you with this note written by one of the officers that I found in one of the guard towers: "They are not your friends."

I worked in a prison treating felony sx offenders.  The treatment aspect of work can be good; however, when management promotes their associates who have no experience in treatment or program development, things do not go well.

Treating this population can be challenging, and enjoyable. Unfortunately, these qualities are negated by management's constant political shenanigans.  HR "investigations" are used constantly to manage and manipulate professional staff who are unpopular, usually because they adhere to ethical standards or advocate for appropriate and effective client treatment.

If you are thinking of working for the Dept. of Corrections' Sx Offender Treatment Program, do yourself a favor - research the program's history (look into senior management's work history), do focused public disclosure requests. Talk to experienced current and former staff. Look at the development of the current treatment program - look at it closely. Check out professional staff turn over rate.

Think about how awful you imagine it could be, close your eyes. Imagine trying to control the behavior of 300 inmates in the yard with only pepper spray, a walkie talkie and restraints. Sure, there are tower officers with guns monitoring also. If they aren’t asleep. Yes, that happens. Not because they are being willfully negligent. No, some of these “officers” willingly work overtime. A lot. Like 16 hour days 6 days a week. So, yeah, they fall asleep sometimes, because at some point your body will just shut down. I don’t blame the officer for that, I blame the greedy administration that “runs” it. So again, just imagine you are in the yard, how secure do you think you’ll feel since the inmates know this happens as well?

The amount of incompetence, cronyism, misogyny and racism you will encounter is mind blowing. And that’s just from the staff, some of the inmates or “offenders”, as the state calls them, are better behaved than the staff. The most unprofessional work place I have ever encountered. I got out after 3 years, I couldn’t stand all of the absolute jerks that make up most of the workforce or the hypocrisy of the system any longer.

The academy was fun and I met some great folks. The job itself, pretty easy for the most part. There will be staff that seem shadier than the inmates. Sometimes it feels like staff don’t have your back and want to set you up for failure. And there’s a lot of long timers who are just plain cranky every day. If you are a single parent, plan on never seeing your kids. Because there is tons of mandatory overtime because people call out in droves all the time. And you will face disciplinary action if you decline the overtime. Even if you are good at your job. You will be the most hated employee if you don’t accept your overtime. In the academy they tell you not to act like a know it all once you start your position. But when you start, senior staff treat you like you should know it all. Making you feel like you are just dumb if you don’t. It’s crazy. You just can’t win here. I loved this job but there were things I hated. Some days I thought I’d die of boredom. And felt very alone. Hard to know who you can trust here. 

DEI is non-existent at DOC. There is little diversity in positions higher than the front-line and entry-level workers. It simply isn't a "thing" there. Promotion is based on who you know, not what you know. And, no matter how good you are at your job, if you don't look like or rub shoulders with the big boys you won't go anywhere. It's a systemic culture of the "good old boys", most of whom are privileged white people. As a result, they've lost a lot of high quality employees who were committed to their teams and the work, but just didn't fit in. Before I left, I shared with HR and agency leadership what I had endured. They were dismissive and tried to make me feel like I was the one with the problem and showed zero remorse for how I and my team had been treated by their chosen managers. It's really quite sad because there are some really good people there who deserve more than what they are getting from this administration. 

This place is, how do I put it? I guess the best word to use is toxic.  The inmates are the least of your concern.  Want to know why people become compromised?  It is because staff are so insistent on trying to stab the other staff member in the back that the only thing it creates is a toxic work environment.
Management does not listen.  There are some (and a small number) of supervisors that listen and do their job, but most are laughable.  Don’t trust anyone.  Keep your business to yourself and learn that inside those walls your biggest threat are those you work with.  
The job itself is not bad.  The work can be fun and keeps you on your feet.  Just know that this place (especially MCC) really needs some serious help.  

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Correctional officer 19 salaries reported	$5,872 per month
Registered nurse 7 salaries reported	$9,287 per month
Psychologist 5 salaries reported	$149,606 per year
Physician 6 salaries reported	$232,938 per year
Psychiatrist 6 salaries reported	$261,660 per year

Working at Washington State Department of Corrections: Company Overview and Reviews

Washington State Department of Corrections

Washington State Department of Corrections Ratings

Popular jobs at Washington State Department of Corrections

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected