Posted: 5/21/2008 11:07:52 AM EDT
| I just got the thanks but not thanks letter from a smaller department I interviewed with. The interview was the first step in the process and I did not even make it past that. I got nervous during the interview and knew I did not do as well as I should have. Oh well, I guess you live and learn. I have oral board tomorrow with another much larger department and I think the experience from the first one will help me on this one. |
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Interviewer: Any problems with shooting dogs? You: Yeah, I like dogs. Interviewer: Good luck in your job search. Thanks for playing. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm sure a better opportunity will come along. Use it as a growing experience so you don't make the same mistakes in the next interview. |
I have not spoken with anyone at the department, but my guess was that my answers were not long enough and I could have worded them much better. Since the interview I have thought of about many different way I could have answered the questions better. I am figuring that I probably messed up the interview because that was the only step thus far unless of course they just had better candidates. I do not have my peace officer training so that could be another thing that did hurt me. |
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To help you out going forward search "interview questions" on the internet, a lot of questions will be 2 part or 3 part questions, such as What happened, how did you handle it and what was the end result. You should pull a bunch of practice questions offline and have a friend do several mock interviews with you. Remeber some basic things such as the S.T.A.R accronym, means Situation, tactics, action results, a lot of interview questions revolve around situations, what tactics were used, what actions did you take and what were the end results. Peoples major failures in interviews are not fully answering multiple part questions... Good luck! |
There will be plenty of other interviews. FWIW most departments have an idea of who they want to hire before they interview anyway, at least that's been the majority of my experience back when I was interviewing and from what I've seen on my Dept. We are going to have an opening sometime this summer and we already know who is getting hired. Not saying it's right, it's just the way it is. Stay safe... |
Thanks for the advice. I have visited numerous websites with the questions asked in oral interviews. I am going to spend some time rehearsing tonight with some friends. I think I am going to do better this time around.
Yeah I figured it was going to be harder to get on with a smaller department, than it would be a larger one that is looking to hire a lot more people. But the experience of the interview I think will help me with the other departments I am still in the process with so it is not a total loss. |
Practice more. Both on your own and by applying to many police agencies at once. I found recording my self while answering random flash card questions helpful. As suggested already do mock interviews. Interviewing is a skill. It is something that you can prepare for. Good luck, don't give up! |
| Keep your chin up. Smaller depts are harder to get on, especially if you have no prior LEO experience. Larger ones would be your best bet, since they have bigger budgets and can afford to send hordes of fresh meat to the academy. When I tried getting into LE, I applied with about a dozen agencies. Got an offer with 2 depts, both of them larger depts. |
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There are a number of good books that can help in that area, the interview. The books can give some really good ideas about the types of questions you will be asked and the type of response and words that the board is looking for. Hit the local Barnes and Nobel...they will have something. You can pretty much be guaranteed to get a question about integrity - You observe Ofc. Y put X into his pocket... Something along the lines of Why you wanted to be a cop...often times a multicultural/how to deal with Spanish speakers... Just practice a lot. |
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I have a friend that was interviewing with two captians from his SO... one of which he'd worked along side for awhile and the other he had in the academy, so he was pretty comfortable with them. The last question was "Do you or have you supported any terrorist organizations or any group that advocates the overthrow of the government?". He told me he kinda smiled and said, "No, not unless you count buying gas". Instead of a chuckle he was met with, "What do you mean by that?" He got his "thanks but no thanks" letter several days later. 
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It's sad to see but that is the PC mentality these days. I thought that the gas comment was pretty funny and true but you can't joke about anything without somebody getting offended or saying "you shouldn't have said that". I pretty much just say what's on my mind and don't really care what people think about it, it's less stressful that way. Stay safe... |