Keep Your Guard Up
Prison guards serve a needed purpose in society. The primary responsibility of a prison guard is to account for the prisoners on their watch at all times. To this end, guards do head counts frequently and must monitors which prisoners go to meals, to internal jobs, and to counseling throughout their shift. Prison guards make sure prisoners are not sick and are doing well mentally, and the guards are also responsible for reporting any problems. While most prison guards work for the government, a growing number of prisons are run through private corporations according to correctionproject.com. These corporations hire prison guards, who operate under the same general guidelines as government-employed guards. The benefit to the guards is that they typically receive better pay and often can negotiate their hours more easily than guards in state-run facilities.
Being a prison guard comes with certain benefits. For starters, these jobs tend to have decent wages, particularly for the areas where they tend to be located. The guards also have good benefits, including 401(k) or pension plans and health insurance. Guards often have a leg up if they try to move into other positions, such as being a police officer, because of the training they receive while serving as a guard. Fulltime employees get 13 sick days more year and occasional absences granted if possible. They also reimburse employees commuting back and forth to work. Another great benefit is the life and Health Insurance governments will pay up to 72 percent of the cost (bov.gov).
There are many great benefits associated with a prison job; however there are some drawbacks about working in prisons. Being a prison guard is not the easiest job out there. The work does come with risks from being so closely associated with inmates. Prison guards must be people who are ethically upstanding and able to exert control when needed. A prison guard who doesn't do a good job could put everyone else in the building at risk. Just because prisoners are locked up doesn’t mean you’re safe. Guards are responsible of the lives if these prisoners, which means breaking up fights often putting your personal safety at risk. Prison guards also have to watch out for urine or feces being thrown into the face from cells.
The work environment is very stressful factor dealing with incarcerate people unpredictable tempers and also mentally issues. Working in such an environment could even change his or her view of the world. You may begin to develop mistrust of people, become very defensive, and always on edge. Working in a prison is not your typically job it design for security, not comfort or beauty. Your surround with sounds of human misery are everywhere. (chron.com)
In my opinion working in a prison is one of the toughest careers out there. Constantly be alert of your safety and the others around you. There no such a thing as a "typical day” at work as for how the inmates treat you, depends on how professional you are and your demeanor. Respect is a two way street. If you give it, you will get it back as well. Sounds like great benefits but it would be a career choice for me. I honestly couldn’t handle that amount of stress.

Works Citied bop.gov (Web)
Chron.com
(Web) correctionproject.com (Web)