The Connecticut Department of Corrections advertisement for new correctional officers last summer drew a record number of candidates. Nearly 10,000 people applied to take the written exam to become a correctional officer. About 71% of them actually took the exam, with 6,100 passing it and gaining eligibility to apply for positions as correctional officers.
The number of people from this group who applied for current correctional officer positions overwhelmed the Human Resources interviewing process, since 4,600 potential candidates applied for a few hundred positions. Two classes of cadets are currently in training, and the department may be hiring more in the fall.
This gives Connecticut a chance to hire the best and brightest of those who applied. According to the Hartford Courant, the Human Resources Department considered the following criteria to choose those who will be interviewed:
- Providing all of the requested documents and following the instructions
- Two or more years of stable work history
- Related experience
- College education
- Military experience
- Not having been fired from a job
The department will consider applicants for interviews if they meet four or more of these criteria.
Union officials have some concerns about these standards, since having any college credit will satisfy the criteria for having a college education. The Department of Corrections does not currently require a degree, although having one should help applicants to stand out. The department may be revising these standards in the future, since being a veteran should count for more than having taken a course at a community college.
Another potential reason for the exceptionally large number of applicants is that Connecticut’s Department of Corrections does not currently have a physical agility test, although the department expects to reinstate that in the future.