Just passed the written and physical tests, now I have an oral board interview in a week. What if anything should I know? Any key phrases they look for? Or possibly anything that they would frown upon?

This is my first attempt at all this, so any ideas or information would help out greatly.

Thanks

Be truthful, don't get upset, pick an answer and stick with it.

If they offer you a glass of water, take 3 glasses.

After picking your answer and allowing it to leave your mouth stick with it.

The interviewers will start with several what if this or what if that.  Your giving an answer on the information at that time.  Do let them convince you that you need to alter you answer.

It might not be the popular answer or even the correct one but that's your answer.  Sometimes having the wrong answer and standing behind it is better than having the right one and changing it.....  

Exactly.  They'll know that you don't have any LE experience, so they won't be necessarily be expecting a "right" answer.  They are looking for your ability to make a decision under pressure, and your reasoning ability.  

Also, body language is important.  Things like crossing your arms over your chest can make you look timid or defensive.  Be confident, but not arrogant.  

Dress conservatively.

Like these guys said.

I flunked every police oral I took because I was wishy-washy on my answers.

When I worked in the jail at one station, one of the Patrol Sgt's got with me and taught me how to take oral's.

Lowest I ever finished on a test after that was #3.

Oh Yeah, just look at them as normal people. Not as someone who has the power of life or death (just and example) over you. So don't sweat it.

ED

Whatever you do, don't try to be a clown!  One of the first oral reviews I did in my quest for the badge was also my worst one ever.  Towards the end of the interview, they asked me if I had any questions for the board.  I thought I had developed good rapport with all of the members of the board, so I thought I would try to inject some humor into the interview.  One of my standard questions was something along the lines of the "what type of calls can I expect to see a lot of working here."

Some important information here - this interview was for the Wilmington, OH police department.  Yep, Wilmington, as in the Kehough Brothers Shootout (most everyone has seen the dashcam video of this).  

So I ask, "Other than the occasional Kehough brother driving through town, what other types of calls can I expect to see here?"  They room became very, very quiet.  I was the only one smiling.  One person answered my question in very short sentences.  And then the interview was over.

Strangely enough, I never heard from them again.

I also never made a joke in an interview again.

Dave

The "Pick an aswer and stick with it" crowd has the right idea.

#3/4/5 interviewies, one'l be black, one'l be a woman....be firm'n'direct,... and as PC as you can without [puke] do not evade things that might already be in your "profile".[;)]

I had my first oral board interview a week ago.  

The first question they asked me was "What in your previous education and work experience has prepared you for this job?"  I'd suggest making a list in your head of all things in your education/previous work that would help you in being a LEO so you can spit it back out to them in a nice precise manner.  I didn't, and I think my answer came out a bit disorganized because of it.

During my interview the board members would ask the question in monotone voice and as I was answering they would listen stone-faced displaying no emotion at all.  Be prepared for subtle little mind games like that.  They're trying to ratch up the pressure on you to see how you'll handle it.  

Like everyone else has said, don't make jokes and after you decide on an answer to the hypotheticals, stick with it.  

Really, not knowing how it was going to be was the worst part of it.  Now that I've been through an interview I'm confident I can improve my preformance on the next one significantly.

This probably won't be on your board, but it reminded me of this. Being on the other side of the board is a lot more fun.

I was a Lieutenant at the time and was one of the members of an interview board and one of the questions that had been prepared by the Chief was:

If your partner was suddenly overpowered by a suspect and the suspect held your partner's gun to your partner's head and told you to "Drop your gun or I'll kill him", What would you do?

The reply from one applicant was:

"I would shoot my partner in the leg and when he fell, I would then shoot the suspect."

When he asked where he came up with that idea, he stated that he had been to a security guard school and thats what they taught him.

He was not selected.

Now, to answer your question. Dress nice, look at each of the members when you answer them, be sincere with your answers. Sincerity, Honesty and Appearance go a long way.

Good Luck with YOUR interview.

So what was the correct answer for your dept?  I'm assuming it's "don't ever give up your weapon"

I've had two interviews and 'failed' them both.  I thought I handled them both fine but apparently not.

Brian

Is this particular question, we were looking for pre-planning between the officers for different situations.

The officer being held could have given a pre-planned signal to his partner, then created a distraction (such as grabbing his chest, faking a heart attack or fainting from fear) or something of that sort. At that time the non-hostage officer would have taken action and then the hostage officer would either get out of the way or assist depending on what action was taken.

The applicant was going in the right direction with his answer with a pre-plan.

BUT! Shooting his partner would take his partner out of the situation and then he would then have to handle his bleeding and VERY angry partner AND the suspect by himself till someone else arrived.

Sexual Chocolate,

Go to www.lapdonline.org and click recruitment.  There are tips for oral interveiw preparation.

Good Luck!

wasn't the shoot your partner in the leg thing straight out of the movie Speed?

It may have been, but this was long before the movie came out.

The correct answer for us is to shoot the hostage-taker in the head, as soon as you have a shot. If the hostage-taker's mouth is moving, he can't pull a trigger. Go for the brain stem shot. Never, ever give up your weapon; then, instead of one dead officer, there are now two.

We run this scenario on folks every couple of years or so at Sims training. The first time, we got very, very wild reactions. Since then, we don't bother with it much because we get mostly get rapid head shots, which is what we are looking for.