okay, don't laugh....my degree was in microbiology, and after dinking around in a lab, working for the USFS, and being an EMT for the fire service, at age 40, I became a jailer. Custody Officer, to be PC. 40 - 45 is the perfect age to start in Corrections. It gives you 20 years to get a great retirement, and that's about burn out time. I don't know about Canadian jails, but in Washington State, we pay for everything. You go to the academy after you are hired. It is a growth industry, with vitually no chance of being laid off for lack of work. We work a 12 hour shift, with a 4 on 4 off rotation. The pay isn't bad. This is a holiday, so I"ll be making almost $700 today. One guy figured out that if he were to work over time on a holiday, he'd be making a dollar a minute.
Anyway, it is never dull. You are doing good for the community, you have an opportunity to change a life, and there is no heavy lifting.

I am now 60, and as I tell people, I am just one really bad day away from retirement. As yet, that day hasn't come. Close, but not quite. I've had a great career, and am now the chair of the Corrections board for the Wash. State Training Commission, as well as being an Operations Sgt. for Clark County.

Give it some thought.

Victoira