Career profile for Bailiff

What does a Bailiff do?

Bailiffs maintain order in courts of law.

What kind of tasks does a Bailiff perform regularly?

Bailiffs are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Screen persons entering courthouse using magnetometers, x-ray machines, and other devices to collect and retain unauthorized firearms and other contraband.
Escort prisoners to and from courthouse and maintain custody of prisoners during court proceedings.
Maintain order in courtroom during trial and guard jury from outside contact.
Provide security by patrolling interior and exterior of courthouse and escorting judges and other court employees.
Guard lodging of sequestered jury.
Enforce courtroom rules of behavior and warn persons not to smoke or disturb court procedure.
Arrest persons in court when arrest warrants have been issued.
Report need for police or medical assistance to sheriff's office.
Check courtroom for security and cleanliness and assure availability of sundry supplies, such as notepads, for use by judge, jurors, and attorneys.
Stop people from entering courtroom while judge charges jury.
Screen, control, and handle evidence and exhibits during court proceedings.
Provide assistance to the public, such as directions to court offices.
Announce entrance of judge.

The above responsibilities are specific to Bailiffs. More generally, Bailiffs are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others		Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings		Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge		Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others

Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

What is a Bailiff salary?

The median salary for a Bailiff is $48,000, and the average salary is $51,730. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Bailiff salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Bailiffs earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Bailiffs earn less than $25,680 per year, 25% earn less than $35,630, 75% earn less than $66,560, and 90% earn less than $81,360.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Bailiffs is expected to change by 0.5%, and there should be roughly 1,700 open positions for Bailiffs every year.

Median annual salary: $48,000
Typical salary range: $25,680 - $81,360
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 0.5%

What personality traits are common among Bailiffs?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Bailiff are usually higher in their Realistic, Enterprising, and Conventional interests.

Bailiffs typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Also, Bailiffs typically have moderate Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Lastly, Bailiffs typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Bailiff tend to value Relationships, Support, and Independence.

Most importantly, Bailiffs strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Bailiffs moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Bailiffs moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Bailiffs must consistently demonstrate qualities such as self-control, integrity, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Bailiffs, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

What education and training do Bailiffs need?

Bailiffs often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Bailiffs usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Bailiffs

0.7% did not complete high school or secondary school
20.0% completed high school or secondary school
27.0% completed some college coursework
14.0% earned a Associate's degree
29.1% earned a Bachelor's degree
7.0% earned a Master's degree
2.3% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Bailiffs

Bailiffs may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as public safety and security, law and government, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Bailiffs might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Public Safety and Security		Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Law and Government		Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology		Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Law and Government

Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Psychology

Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Important Abilities needed by Bailiffs

Bailiffs must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Bailiffs need abilities such as problem sensitivity, oral expression, and selective attention in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Bailiffs, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Selective Attention		The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Selective Attention

The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Critical Skills needed by Bailiffs

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Bailiffs frequently use skills like social perceptiveness, speaking, and monitoring to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Bailiffs, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Social Perceptiveness		Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Judgment and Decision Making		Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

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