Government Position HELP!

[preciousjeni]

I'm looking into three state jobs (Parole Officer, Probation Officer, Juvenile Probation Officer) all of which have a reasonable starting salary (around $30,000). I've also been granted an interview for a bank job for around $14,000 (yeesh!)

The bank job is pretty much in the bag, but the state jobs are all up in the air. Does anyone know how long it usually takes (minimum) to get through the process of being hired by a state? I'll be very unhappy to take $14,000 when I could have more than twice that much!!!!! Of course, being hired for the state jobs isn't as probable as being hired at the bank job. The pool of applicants is different.