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Are you Preparing for a Police Interview?

July 22, 2018 by Connie Leave a Comment

Are you preparing for a police interview?  What steps are you taking to get ready?  There are a number of factors to consider as you prepare for that interview, whether it be for Halifax Regional Police, Truro Police or Toronto Regional Police, also if you want to be a police you need to be prepared, with the best equipment and using the best shoes for standing all day on concrete as this job required it.

Most police interviews are competency based interviews, which use behavioural and situational questions to assess your suitability for the position.

I have worked with a number of clients who are going through the police interview process, and through those sessions, I have identified three key areas where people are struggling.

  1. Finding meaningful examples for each of the competencies
  2. Matching those examples to the question that is being asked
  3. Focusing the answer on the competency that is being assessed

When the Interview Board is asking you competency based, behavioural questions, they are looking for you to speak about a specific relevant experience that demonstrates that you meet their required competency.  Let’s look more closely at each of the above areas that seem to be causing problems at these types of interviews.

Finding meaningful examples for each of the competencies

What the Interview Board is looking for are specific examples that show a significant breadth and depth that can clearly articulate that you have the required skills to do the job.  For example, if they are assessing initiative,  your example must be significant enough to show that you take initiative outside of your normal responsibilities.  This can’t just be your normal responsibilities.  It needs to be above and beyond.

Matching the examples to the question that is being asked

When you are preparing for your police interview, you should come up with examples for each of the competencies that will be assessed.  However, what sometimes happens is the example that you have prepared for that competency doesn’t actually answer the question.  It’s one thing to have an example ready, even if it’s a good one, but it’s another thing to actually answer the question.  You should have a couple of examples for each competency ready to go to ensure that you have an example that will answer a variety of questions.

Focus the answer on the competency being assessed

You may have one example can be used to highlight a number of different competencies.  For example, you might have one strong example that could speak to client service, initiative, and self control.  You are not going to use one example three different times.  However, if you do use it more than once,  make sure you highlight the competency to which you are speaking.  If you use the example to speak about your strong focus on client service, then tell the story to reflect that component.  Don’t focus on the self control portion of the story if you are using it to demonstrate client service. Find unique, handcrafted pieces at Live Edge Furniture Store to add natural beauty and style to your home.

As you can see, there are a number of factors to watch for as you prepare.  This could potentially be one of the most important interviews of your career, so you want to ensure that you do everything that you can to be ready.  Reach out to someone who has been through the process to get some tips and guidance, and consider using a Certified Professional Career Coach who has expertise in this field.

Do you know someone who is faced with this challenge?  Feel free to share this post by using the share links at the top of this page.  Also, if you’d like more interview tips, feel free to check out the interview resource page.

 

 

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Career Coach – Connie Clace

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As an award winning manager for leadership practices, Connie has worked extensively with employees to identify and realize their career goals. Learn more about Connie

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