George, a Ghanaian prison officer in the UK, recently appeared on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide show with DJ Nyaami to share his inspiring story of perseverance, setbacks, and eventual breakthrough.
George revealed that he left Ghana in 2023 on a caregiver visa, hoping to start a better life abroad. However, things didn’t go smoothly at first.
“I went through a lot of hustle and rejection. I applied for several jobs and kept getting ‘unfortunately’ emails,” he said.
Eventually, he came across a job advertisement for a position in the UK prison service. Excited, he shared the opportunity with an older Ghanaian man he trusted. Unfortunately, the man discouraged him, advising him to stick to warehouse jobs instead. George listened briefly and tried warehouse work for two weeks, but he couldn’t shake off the urge to follow his instincts.
“I decided to go back and pursue the prison job. I wrote the entrance exams online, passed the initial service test, and to my surprise, I got selected,” George recalled.
He later discovered that the same man who had discouraged him secretly applied for the job using the information George had shared—pretending it was for his nephew. When the man returned asking George for help with “his nephew’s” application, George chose to help anyway, only to later find out it was for the man himself. “He didn’t pass the interview, though,” George added.
George now works as a UK prison officer and proudly notes that while the job was once considered a “white collar” profession for whites only, times have changed. “Today, there are many Black officers, especially Nigerians. Ghanaians are few, mostly because they lack the information,” he said.
He cautioned that many Ghanaian immigrants tend to follow the old path of doing only warehouse, caregiving, or cleaning jobs because of the influence of older migrants.
“My best friend is Nigerian, and he shares valuable information with me. Through him, I learned how to work at two different jails to earn more money. A Ghanaian won’t share that,” he added.
George explained that UK prison officers receive 8 weeks of training for adult prisons, 12 weeks for women’s prisons, and 11 weeks for juvenile facilities. Part of the training includes physical restraint techniques and dealing with violent inmates. However, applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK—visitor visa holders are not eligible.
He currently earns £27,900 annually from his base salary, with total earnings reaching up to £39,400 per year thanks to social hour bonuses. “After one year, I get a £1,500 bonus, and another £1,500 after two years,” he said. Working 37.5–39 hours a week with the option of overtime, George sometimes earns up to £4,900 in a single month.
“In a normal month, I make £2,600 without stress. With overtime, I earn even more,” he said, encouraging fellow Ghanaians to explore opportunities beyond traditional roles.
“Most of us aren’t scared of hard work, but we lack the right information. That’s the real issue.”
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