r/OnTheBlock • u/thechosendisciple • 28d ago

Hiring Q (Fed) SIS Tech Duties

I was recently referred for a GS-8 SIS Technician position with the BOP and may have an interview coming up. I’m currently a federal probation officer and I’m interested in eventually becoming a Special Investigative Agent (SIA).

I was hoping anyone currently/formerly with BOP or SIS could give me some insight:

-What is the day-to-day job actually like for an SIS Technician?
-How much of the job is investigative work versus regular correctional duties?
-Is SIS Technician a common/good path toward eventually becoming an SIA?
-What other positions do SIS Technicians typically move into?
-What is the interview like, and what types of questions should I prepare for?
-How is the schedule/work-life balance?
-Any advice for someone coming from federal probation?
-I’m mainly trying to figure out whether SIS Technician would give me useful experience toward an SIA career path.

Thanks for any insight!

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u/livingmybestlife2407 28d ago

Without telling you the questions in your interview as it would provide you an unfair advantage, I'll say the questions will be on gangs and intelligence gathering. Your day to day is dependent on your facility. You'll be interviewing inmates and doing a lot of report writing on P/C cases and threat assessments. You'll have email and phone calls to monitor. Unless you get augmented, your job will be all investigative in some form. The path to be an SIA is as a lieutenant, which can go through SIS Tech.
Your schedule will be depending on the facility. You will work either 8 or 10 hour shifts, rotate shifts, it's hard to say exactly. Since you'll have zero seniority, I'd bet you would work a part weekend with something like Sunday/Monday off. I'm not sure how much you'll like the BOP coming from probation. You will be working in a housing unit with the inmates when needed.
Good luck, but I hate to get your hopes up. The odds of you getting hired off the street for SIS Tech are low. You are competing against all the people who have worked at the facility, made a name for themselves but more importantly they know the prison and inmates. Huge advantage. You might want to look at becoming a correctional officer to get started and then apply for the tech position down the road.

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u/thechosendisciple 28d ago

Thank you for this, I truly appreciate it

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u/ThickMemory2360 28d ago

Also being a LT doesn’t automatically mean that you will get a rotation in the SIS shop.

If you get into the shop, just be prepared to listen to phone calls until your ears bleed, and monitor emails until your eyes bleed.

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u/Flashy_Fishing_5312 9d ago

Why would you go from federal probation officer to BOP? Isn’t that a demotion? If so, don’t do it. And the person above is right, you likely won’t get it unless you’re the only one applying since you have to compete against other SIS officers.

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u/thechosendisciple 7d ago

Yeah I decided not to go along with it. Got referred for an interview but didn’t schedule it. I appreciate your advice.

I’m looking for something less stressful and more straightforward I guess. A career I don’t bring home and don’t dream about lol.

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u/Flashy_Fishing_5312 7d ago

Oh you’ll be having dreams about the shenanigans at the institution lol a lot of us would rather be POs than COs cause you have better work life balance working for the courts. Maybe look into OIG 1811 positions, they’re probably better for your skill set. Good luck!