Rod Lashley - Secong Year Trainee Probation Officer
I was attracted to being a Probation Officer because I wanted to help make a real difference in people's lives. Before becoming a Trainee Probation Officer, I worked in the private sector as a pub manager. My responsibilities centred on hitting sales and profit targets. I had been running pubs for about nine years and was ready for a change.
On training
So far the training has been pretty hard going for me. It's a bit of a roller coaster ride. Some days I feel like I am getting it, but others I feel overwhelmed with theory, facts and figures. There is a lot of theory to get your head around, but we've been well looked after by our Practice Development Assessor and there is a good support network. I love the opportunity to work with offenders and now we're 'in practice' we're getting more opportunity to get stuck in. Time management is quite challenging; although we have limited responsibilities, and workload, there is lots of University work to do. A three-year degree is basically squeezed into two years.
On Probation
I sometimes find the Probation Service frustrating because the way it does things can seem a little ad hoc. Lots of different systems for things and lots of paperwork!
