Hey all, so I have a test date for a PD in South Dakota. Now, the written and physical portions im not worried about, its the oral board im a little nervous for. Not really a great interviewer. Any tips? How do I "sell" my training?

Answer the questions asked. Be forthright. Do not lie. If you are forced to pick a position in a hypothetical, stick to it, don't get all wobbly. Don't be afraid to take a little time to think about your answers before you speak.

From my limited experience (only went through one true LEO interview) they're looking to see if you understand what the job entails, if you are decisive, and if you are honest. They might also ask you what you know about the agency. It's probably a good idea to brush up a bit on your basic knowledge of the department. You'd be surprised at how many candidates will show up and know nothing more about the department than they're located in the city they are presently in for the interview and they're police.

For specifics of selling your training, it might be wise to let us know what your training is. It will probably be hard to sell your training if you're a printer repairman.

Thanks Skycatt,

Training wise, I have 6 years active duty, 2 deployments, and currently a member of the Iowa Air National Guard. Been a cop since 2012, graduated the Security Forces Academy ( a FLETA accreteded program) this year with honors, about 40 hours of ride along time adn 4 months of classroom work(once a week) with the local PD reserves. Personality conflicts ended that.  


Also, the fact I can pay for the academy with my GI bill. Something to bring up, or no?

Eye contact... make it with everyone on the board as you answer questions... don't just look at the person who asked the question.

Avoid too much "talking with your hands".

Pause for a second before you answer... and then paraphrase the question IN your answer... Q- what color is the sky?  A- The color of the sky is blue.

Avoid distracting verbiage/sounds like Um,,, you know...

Avoid using slang terms unique to LE or the Military... hell, just avoid slang all together.

that last one intrigues me, mind elaborating?

Thanks guys! I am SO excited, and yet nervous. One of my buddies on the local SD told me I need to work on my confidence. Said to stop "eyeing up the competition" and just go in there as if I was the only one testing/interviewing.

Everyone hit excellent points. You have a great background, so tell them what you told us. With the two deployments, etc. They will automatically assume you work well under stress, so use that to your advantage about gaining confidence.

WEAR A SUIT! No matter what anyone tells you, wear a suit. My last supervisor was on the hiring review board, and he said that wearing a suit goes a LOOOOONNNGG way.

Answer the question asked, don't ramble  because that may dig you in a hole that can be a pain in the ass to come out of. Rambling leads to further questions from them.

Be honest. They will know if your full of crap. When they ask you why you want to be LE, do not tell them you just want to "Protect & Serve". Elaborate, and think of something that's in relation. I always liked saying,
I'm the kind of guy that doesn't like to sit back and complain or watch. I want to have a hand in making this city safer for my kids (I don't have any, I said my little sister). But the key issue, is sound passionate. Don't sound like you're reading a bullet list in your mind. (I did, and they stopped me real quick on that one)

Again, you have a great military background. Not a lot of guys have that, so be happy and use it to your advantage.

Good luck, and I'm sure you will do fine. You will be nervous as hell, don't worry, everyone is. They are there to break you.

ETA: Keep us updated. Great profession, and we are here to help. If you need to PM a personal question, I'm sure none of us would mind

Everyone said good stuff so far.

Worth repeating, wear a suit, try to interview early in the day, due research on the agency and city/county etc,

If they ask you about calling in sick when you really are not and then you witness a crime what do you do?
Start off with I would never do that but for the sake of the question I would act and respond to the situation regardless of the latter consequences.

I forgot about that. Wear a suit. Everyone not wearing a suit when I tested didn't make it past the interview phase. It could be an instance of correlation not being causation, but we were told specifically to dress "professionally" for the interviews.

FPNI. And OP, I CANNOT agree with the highlighted part any more! I remember from mine, it wasn't really about selling youself at all. Rather, it was about getting a feel for you as a person. Your integrity and candor is paramount. And if you are brutally honest with your oral board, you'll probably do ok.



Best of luck to ya!

Just avoid using slang terms as they may not be familiar with something you say. When speaking, use proper terminology.

I've been in LE for 20 years and am an oral board interviewer for my dept.

DO SOME RESEARCH ON THE DEPT AND CITY YOU ARE APPLYING TO. Our very first question is "tell us what you know about our city and dept and why you want to work here." One interviewee actually said " I only live 10 miles away so it would be a short commute."

Dress nice, eye contact with all interviewers,shake everyones hand when you walk in and introduce yourself, sit up straight, if the chair is away from the table dont pull it up, if its at the table dont lean on the table, dont bring in anything to drink etc (you'd be suprised, lmao).

Answer the questions that are asked, don't read in to or over think them. Answer them as short and sweet as possible and then stop talking.Answer any follow up questions as needed.  I learn more about people when they just ramble on.

I for one do not like when an interviewee brings in "handouts" like a resume etc. I already have all of that in the thick ass file with your name on it sitting infront of me on the table.

At the end of our interviews we always ask if the applicant has any questions. This last round most questions were retarded like " do you carry tasers" " what kind of guns do you carry." etc. Ask questions about the work schedule, advancement, retirement plans etc. Also ask if the interviewers have any constructive criticism for you on how you could interview better.

All of our oral boards are set questions. We do asked at the end if there is anything else we should know, which if you are given the chance would be when you can get in some of your training/experience HOWEVER do not come across as a "know it all" type of a person. Thats a pretty quick way to no call back interview.

All of our interviews are set up to judge integrity,honesty decisiviness, thought process etc and could be answered by a 20 year vet or a bum off the street. Each question assumes no prior experience, knowledge of law, dept policy etc. We will teach you all of that if you are hired.

Just remember that everyone on the other side of the table has sat where you are and knows what it is like and what you are going through.

Hope this helps and good luck.

J-

This is all sound advice.  From one Defender to another, Good Luck!

thank you SOO much guys.

The two things i am slightly worried about coming up:

My credit history SUCKS. had some bad times when I got off active and couldnt find a job, working on getting that all fixed now through a credit management company.

My disability from the VA, i will be claiming vets preference, but should I bring up my disability or not? Will it hurt me if they find out about it later and I didnt bring it up?

Thanks again guys i cant wait.

One last question, I was thinking about going up the weekend before, and introducing myself and seeing if I could maybe do a ride-along to see how they operate, good idea or bad?

what kind of diability are we talking about. It will make a difference and I would NOT try to hide it. Only able to speak about my dept but you hide something and it is found out in your background check or it comes out later, you'll find your shit at the curb faster than u can imagine. Doesnt matter if you still havent gotten hired yet or you have 15 years on, lie about something and your shit is gone.

J-

I had an oral board today and this is how it went.

I wore a nice suit (anyone mention this yet? ) One of the officers actually said something about it!

Every department is different but 95% of my questions were about me and how I handle different situations, not necessarily scenario questions. Be ready to talk about yourself. I had all the standard questions:

Tell us about yourself
Strengths & Weaknesses
Why this department
How would your previous employer describe you
How well do you deal with different people
What does community policing mean to you

Luckily my background is from the hospitality industry so I have TONS of experience dealing with the public. I had 5 people on my board (3 male and 2 female). They all read their questions from a standard form the had.

At the end I was given a chance to ask questions and make a closing statement.

Good luck on your board. It was my first oral board and I was nervous as hell.

Thanks man! what did you ask for your last questions, or did you just say a closing statement?

How do I bring it up? I'm 50% rated from the VA. Some is from a Back injury, other is hearing loss, etc. I mean I can bring my disability packet, but again, how do I bring it up?

I asked about accreditation, number of officers (I already knew), how many people they were interviewing (only 10!), and a few others... and then I made a closing statement, just reiterating some of the things I had said in previous questions. This was for a small agency at one of the universities.

That's not really what the oral board is for. Again at my dept all that stuff would be covered in the medical packet and background packet which is about 55 pages of questions. All that comes after you pass the oral board. If asked specifically at the oral board about that I would answer but it will all be presumably later in the process. Like in our oral boards we wouldn't ask about it as it would be hashed out during medical and background.

One thing I would check on (if you haven't yet) is to make sure that your hearing loss falls within the allowable limits under the state requirements.

Hope this helps.
J-


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thanks sir! greatly appreciated

I have gone thru a few of these and am good friends w/ an oral board guy w/ a dept of 4000 employees (obviously not all sworn just saying the guy has lots of experience)

I am studying for my State Boards for 911 Commo Officer and interviewing w/ local depts right now so I am going thru the same things you are. It fuking suks dick, but as anything the more your do it , the better you get. The hiring process for LEO and Comms  is  almost exactly the same here in S Fl so..

First question asked is "Who is the police chief ?"   do you know about 70% blow that one right off the bat. You are now swimming up stream right from the get go..

GO LAST !!!!!!!!!   lots of people here say go early...my guy says GO LAST.  They will remember you vs the guy that came in 15 applicant earlier.

Surprise question....seriously...Tell us a joke ?? I know  but my guy does it and people just go uhhhhh ummm it has to be clean, none sexist, non racial..alot of guys go blank..it is just fast on your feet thinking..

PRO TIP > ask you kids..my 13 y/o gave me one I use.

I have testing followed by Oral Boards next monday...fuk me  then my State Certif on wed..should be a fun week.

State Cert as in SOCE? If so it was pretty easy. Good luck on your boards too.

Thx...no it's this one
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/demo/ems/911PST.html

Its funny I asked the wife for a joke and all she knew were dick jokes..  I am like what do you girsl talk about at work all day..she says flatly   umm dick

Don't wear any cologne.

Also, as stated earlier, take time to think about the questions answered. EVERYTHING can be slowed down in police work, except when its time to shoot, and time to fight, so think about the right answers before speaking. After the interview let them know how thankful you are to have had the opportunity, but dont over-do it.

Smile and look the people in the eyes.

AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE... Do not walk in, salute, and stand at attention until being told to sit down... Think Im kidding, sit on an oral board.

Oh yeah Cologne..thats a big one..at my agency I interned..you would get written up for it and fired after the 3rd time. I had three C/O's in my PSAP that were on allergy shots and that shit was taken very very seriously..

Oh yeah dont fiddle w/your phone or answer a text.. I know but it happens alot  lolzz unreal that shit I hear.   Also come alone. You are on camera as soon as you enter the police property, no stupid shit in the parking lot..also no family g/f, b/f waiting outside the room. That pisses your interviews off.

I was shocked to hear one of them say on my way out "hey I like your truck" I was like wtf???  so I asked my LEO buddy and he is like of yeah we watch you drive in and park, how you behave when you think no one is watching...damn..

NO profanity..saying fuck every other word is not manly..you do that once you get hired

hey my agency is on COPS right now if you turn on SPIKE

Last big hire my friends dept did, had a LEO from a smaller agency show up ...she literally played w/her hair and twirled around in the chair while whispering her responses.

Once again gents, thanks for all the tips!! I didnt think about the watching you when you think no one is. Good points!

Describe your strengths, and weaknesses in one word.

Compassion for people. The whole board smiled.

haha nice.

Well, that's how she got her last job. She probably thought it'd work again.

well gents, got a call from the LT on the department today. Talked with him for roughly 30 minutes, got some great info, and some good tips. SUPER stoked about everything now. was a little nervous but now just ready to blow it out of the water.

Oh, and have two letters of recommendation as well now, one from a mentor on the local Sheriff's department(written on the departments letter head), and another from my supervisor in my guard unit who is also a Missouri Highway Patrolman.

GOD I CANT WAIT. I feel REALLY good about this one. Hopefully i dont fuck this up lol

T- 4 days! Fuck me im getting nervous