Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Let me start off by saying I'm female and in my late 20's- and I've been interested in joining the Police Service since my late teens. Now, the timing is right for me to apply to become a member of an Auxiliary Squad.

Recently I went through the recruitment process to become an Auxiliary, within Communications, ie: the Call Centre. At the initial testing phase, another applicant asked the question: "how many vacancies are you looking to fill?" with the answer given "as many as there are people suitable". Other intel advised me that there were currently 25 vacancies in this area.

Today I received my letter advising me of my unsuccessful status, two weeks after my panel interview (last step in the recruitment process). Understandably, many in my position would feel the sting of disappointment, and the letter did go on to extend that it was a likely reaction to have.

Certain contents of the letter that cause me the most concern can be paraphrased thusly:
"Faced with the decision to advance you in the recruitment process, we matched your profile against characteristics associated with the performance of successful Auxiliaries".

By nature, I am a very friendly person. My background is stable, and work history includes work in HR (Recruitment and Training), dealing with people of many different ages and personalities; to working as a Teacher (Adult Education) and children/family entertainer. Who I am is not likely to change, as I believe we are who we are. Feedback from friends and family include "You're too nice to be a Police Officer" as well as "You'd be great in this role" (yes, these are of course subjective opinions!). Also, I know that my references were not contacted.

My Question: Do you think, given the above information; that this is a defining feature of my "Profile of Characteristics" and would be a permanent barrier to my gaining a position?

I understand that the information alone that I have provided does not give to you the full insight into my candidacy for the role; but I am willing to answer questions you might have that may help you to help me gain some closure.

I must wait a full year before I may re-apply, and as reminded in my letter that I have signed a statement acknowledging I would receive no feedback about my application. I do feel discouraged from applying again as I feel I would face the same situation.

Thank you kindly for reading and I would really value some input.

Every department is looking for something different.

I know a great cop who finished dead last in his first application process, then applied to a different department and came in in the top three and is now an academy instructor.

I have worked for two different departments, but I have applied to other departments and been rejected in my career. I am now a squad Sergeant in my current department.

Sometimes, a department will see a candidate's personality as not a good fit, and pass that person over for another applicant. It's not a reflection on you as a person. My advice to you would be to keep applying to other departments and see what happens.

-Citicop.

Citicop, thank you kindly for your reply.

Regardless of the position you apply to in my city, we must still wait a full year before re-applying. One of my friends had been unsuccessful in her first application, but did make it through in her 2nd application (same department). Our personalities are quite different so this made me feel that she was more the suitable 'type' they were looking for.

However, your words do comfort me. Thank you, as these examples that you are citing does give me the hope that there will be further opportunity for me to succeed in the future.

Cheers!

mousecat-

I was not only recommending that you re-apply. If you really want this as a career, you may need to branch out and apply to other departments in your area besides just the city you live in. Rather than sit back and wait a year, go to surrounding cities you may want to work at and apply there too.

-Citicop.

Like the others said, it will vary from department to department. If you got the letter after your oral interview, it is likely that your response to their questions were the problem. I can't speak for the agency you applied with, but here's how it works in my area.

First you will get simple warm up conversation (Hello. How are you? Tell us about yourself) Among other things, this measures your ability to interact with others. While it is an important part of the process, it is not a major part.

The interview usually moves on to a series of job related questions that are asked of all applicants. They measure your ability to perform the duties of the position you are seeking. It has been decided ahead of time what an acceptable response will be to those questions. Points are awarded depending on how close you come to giving a full and correct response to each question. (If five elements must be met for a question and you only give four, then you get 80% on that question.)

At the end of the interview you are scored depending on how many correct answers you gave to each question an how thorough your answers were. People are then ranked according to their scores and placed on a list. Highest score gets picked first, next highest score gets picked second, etc. There is usually a cut off - people who do not score above a certain point simply do not make the list. It sounds like you did not score high enough on the job related test, suggesting you lack the characteristics necessary to do the job.

Don't be disappointed. It may be that at this point, you simply lack the knowledge necessary to.do the job. Fixing this may be as simple as studying. I'm sure that sometime in your past you have come across a task that seemed impossible, but once you took time to learn it, the whole thing turned out to be easy.

Look at the exam announcement for the position you are seeking. Buried in the fine print that no one reads, they usually tell you what you will be tested on. Study that material. Talk to a recruiting officer. Ask them what the test will consist of and what you will be tested on. While they won't give you the test questions or answers, the general testing areas are not government secrets. Ask them if study materials are available. Ask them if there are prep classes for applicants. If you are applying for a communications position, call the dispatch supervisor, tell them you are an applicant, ask to do a "Sit Along" in dispatch to get a feel for what the job is like and pick their brains to prepare yourself. Ask the other dispatchers for pointers on what to study. They may even give you copies of their comm ops manuals to study. Go to the criminal justice section of your local college. As them if they have any material on dispatching. Study that to prepare yourself. It's all a matter of doing your homework.

This sounds like UK, no? Why not apply for A&E positions while you wait for police to open up again?

Sorry, Citicop as I believe that I may have misconstrued your advice. I live in Australia, in an area that is classed by our own Government as a remote area. Recruitment is operated from this one location and covers Police employment for all areas of the Territory. (To help put things in better context- "With a population of 229,675 it is the least populous of Australia's eight major states and territories" - thank you Wikipedia.)

L-1: Thank you for that very insightful view as to the processes involved that help them to reach their decision. Your advice sounds right on the mark and I appreciate very much your in-depth response.

And finally, thank you MikeG for your suggestion . That is some great advice and something I will definitely look into.

From my own critical analysis of my interview, and what I have gained for reading these responses and other aspects of this forum; I have been able to identify areas that I can improve in. The knowledge I have gained is invaluable.

This is something that I finding is difficult for me to put into words as it forces me to acknowledge my shortcomings. In the end I do realise and acknowledge there are areas for there to be someone to posses as it is put: ''a greater claim to the positions available". My intent through posting to this forum was to gain some feedback from those of you who can offer your knowledge and expertise, as unfortunately it cannot be received from the those who have conducted the recruitment process.Thank you all for helping to achieve this.