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There are a plethora of skills a good probation officer must have. In addition to being able to read people, get information out of them, and know what's best for them, you have to get book smart, too. Familiarize yourself with the laws in your state and at the federal level. And the consequential punishments, of course. Knowing the procedures when it comes to what's happening around you will help you make sense of your environment. You'll be writing reports almost daily, so hone those writing skills. Other people will be judging you on your writing, so make it good! People skills, as stated, are invaluable on the job. Keep up with policies in your work environment (harassment, confidentiality, etc.) in addition to gaining the trust of those who depend on you. If you're familiar with another language or two (in the US, Spanish and prominent Asian languages will be the most useful), stay on it. If it's not incredibly useful already, it will be. Most of the time you'll be working with people that only have minor offenses to their name.</ref> Those on probation will be first-time offenders and those that aren't doing jail time (hopefully). That being said, that doesn't mean you won't get put into situations that aren't slightly threatening. You probably will. And if you know that's in the cards, you can prepare yourself. You'll be wandering through your fair share of halfway homes or houses, decrepit parts of town, and just in general not being around, well, the most trustworthy of folks. You may find that people don't like you just because of your job title. Things can get heated. Never resort to violence if you don't absolutely have to. A large part of your job as a probation officer will be to run constant check up on your offenders. You'll be doing interviews, seeing how they're doing, making sure they're on the right track, helping them pay fines, pointing them in the right direction, and finding them opportunities in addition to running urine tests and the like. This won't always be fun, but it can be rewarding when you see someone who's turned around and living life to the fullest. If one of your cases doesn't violate their probation, you do have the power to arrest them. Depending on your agency and your cases, you may be issued identification, a firearm, and other tools to pad your arsenal. Some probation officers are on-call pretty much 24/7. If a case of yours goes awry, you may get a phone call in the middle of the night. These things will happen. You deal with them in stride. Phil and a UFC fighter. Though they're sort of mutually exclusive, for you they can't be. You need to be a metaphorical arrow for the people you work with, showing them where they need to go. You also need to show them who's boss. If Dr. Phil were kicking butt and taking names, he'd look like you. It's a fine line to toe, but an understanding hard-ass is what would serve you best in this work world. People will be tempted to take advantage of you and you can't let them. However, you also have to act in their best interest and not your own. If you can cultivate a personality that's both oriented to the other and yet rational, logical, and unmoved, you'll be off to a good start.
Brush up. Be prepared for dangerous situations. Check up on your parolees. Get ready for a hectic schedule. Be both Dr.