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  1. crazyfire999

    Beer (newbie)

    Irish lad In London this weekend from another part of the UK. About to become a probationer with the Met… waiting on vetting to clear. If anyone is around for a drink in a public place… be great to get the real stories and what I’m getting myself into 👍🏼 - be great to make a few pals too!!!!
  2. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13122815/Metropolitan-Police-receives-just-six-applications-latest-armed-officer-recruitment-drive-hundreds-quit-cop-charged-murder-Chris-Kaba.html The lack of new recruits follows one in 10 members of the force quitting
  3. https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/met-police-losing-more-officers-recruiting-commissioner-sir-mark-rowley/ The Commissioner, giving evidence to the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, said recruitment has been challenging and his biggest concern now is that he’s losing more officers than he’s bringing in.
  4. For the information of those who are interested and meet the criteria, https://letsjoinforces.wa.gov.au/join-the-team/police-officer/international-transition https://letsjoinforces.wa.gov.au/join-the-team/police-officer/international-transition/am-i-eligible
  5. Policeman123

    Moving abroad

    Hello all, Currently serving for a force down south. I have been looking at moving to the states or Canada to become an officer. It does really interest me, and I'm conpleltley aware of most forces won't consider me due to not being a an American or Canadian citizen. However I am aware that some departments will consider you and sponsor you as long as you have a green card/permit to work. Has anyone Done this? Can anyone shed light on this? What are people's honest views.
  6. BP98

    Application complete

    From as young as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a Police Officer. From watching almost every Police TV programme possible to watching Police Officers at work, it has always appealed to and been the dream career of mine. After previous discussions and failing to be successful, this evening I spoke with my partner again about my thoughts of applying to Essex Police... this evening, we agreed that it was the right time to make this change!
  7. LosingGrip

    It's been a long time coming!

    Bonus points to whoever knows the song that has the blog title in! Happened to be listening to it as I was thinking of a name! As the title suggests, its been a long time to start my PC training. I'll start from the beginning. Some will be vague for a reason. Ten years ago I was in a rut. In a job I hated (petrol station) about to start a uni course I wasn't interested in, but felt forced to apply for uni at college (radio production). I was at work and got talking to a police officer whilst their colleague was fuelling up. There job sounded amazing! The conversation was cut short as a job came in and they went off on blues. Whilst at work I googled joining the police. Actually found this form (before it was Police Community) from that search. Annoying my local force had just stopped their most recent recruitment phase. No worries, they recruit a number of times a year. In the meantime, I learnt about the Specials. I've always been a quiet person and wasn't sure if I was suited to policing. Was I fit enough? I grew up wanting to be a policeman officer (won't lie, Hot Fuzz has something to do with it!), but never thought I would do it. I figured by becoming a Special first, I could at least try before I buy as such. Ten years ago today I found out that I had passed the papershift and was invited for a interview and some tests. I don't remember much about these, other than the interview was over really quickly. A few years ago a supervisor told me the scoring system for it (its changed now). It was scary how bad it was and how easy it was to pass! Not that I was complaining...I was joining as a Special! I started my training in January 2010. The training wasn't brilliant, in fact it was rubbish. 13 days in total. One a week other than personal safety which was a full weekend. But I passed. My station choice was a mistake thinking back, but also a good thing. Thankfully things have changed massively now. It was seen by regulars as a place to get away without doing any work. They didn't want to be proactive. Their patrol would be from one nick to another for a cuppa. Annoying to say the least. Even more annoying as I don't drink tea or coffee! Anyway, I moved stations. It wasn't as easy as just asking to move though. But that's a whole different story that ended with me resigning and coming back a few months later. My new station was brilliant. The regulars were amazing. Supportive and happy to see me. Felt like one of the team. My tutor was great. Saw what I was good at and what I needed to improve on quickly and helped me with all that. I got signed off as independent and got a A to B car course. Traffic was my passion. I would take the laser out and go to any places members of the public had moaned about speeders. Would call up for any jobs that came in and deal with them as well. Call up for the rubbishy jobs to help out. Annoyingly my force didn't allow Specials to take statements from witnesses (I know!), so there was only so much I could do. We also couldn't interview. But, the squad were happy to help. Around 2013 recruitment finally started again, although not in my force but another one. Seeing as I was with my girlfriend who lived in this force, and we had talked about moving in together it made sense to apply for them. Thankfully that didn't go any further than the papershift as we broke up in 2014! I applied for my force again but failed the papershift. I was never any good at application forms! 2014 I moved to another department. Traffic. I loved it. The squad was amazing. I still did some shifts at my old station, but mainly with traffic. Crewed with the regulars and with other specials. Dealt with some cracking jobs (mobile phone stop ended with a PWITS and the person getting three years inside for his first ever offence!). Once a year I seemed to get a phase of not enjoying it. I was doing a lot of hours (100+ a month). I had moved departments at my day job and was now a delivery driver. It was normally around Xmas this happened, when work became manic. Things were also stressful at home and my on/off relationship was now off fully (woo!). 2016 I applied again. Passed the papershift and had my assessment centre. Wow...I don't remember much of it, but when I got home I slept for 16 hours. I was sick twice during it as well. Unsurprisingly I failed. I wasn't upset though. 2017 I applied again. This time I had been giving extra time due to my dyslexia that had been diagnosed between the two. Failed again...but got the paperwork late so appealed. This was upheld. All this meant was another AC in six months time. 2018 was my third attempt. I had told myself that this would be my last attempt. I considered other careers, was looking at becoming a driving instructor. I had been given my response ticket in 2017, was loving my role and work was OK. I passed! Not a great score, but I passed! I got my email whilst waiting to see a doctor about a injury from a car crash, so couldn't really jump up and down like I wanted to! Next stage was my interview...they didn't know when this would be. I passed my AC in June/July time. September I emailed HR to see If they had any update. Didn't hear anything back (I had huge problems with HR during the process). December I still hadn't heard back. The MET had removed their requirement to be a resident there before applying so looked at transferring my AC result across. For family reasons I decided to withdraw this in mid January. A week later I got a email saying my final interview would be a week and a day later. Result! Thankfully I had the day off. Annoying the day after I put my back out and couldn't walk! Three weeks off work in the end. But as I couldn't do anything but revise that's what I did! Interview was so much better than the AC interview. I think it helped it was at my HQ compared to Ryton College of Policing HQ and knew my way around. The interviewers were great. Friendly, relaxing. I also had man flu. Everything was against me. My back was killing and every time I coughed I wanted to cry! I found out there and then if I passed or not. Longest five minutes of my life waiting in the HR room. Thankfully just myself and some HR people. Small talk was awkward! Called back in, sat down and told I've passed. I was over the moon. Massive sigh of relief. Had to remind myself not to swear! Next was medical and fitness with vetting in the background. Only thing I was slightly concerned about was my medical due to my back, and my vetting due to my dad who I have nothing to do with. Medical passed. Fitness test passed. Vetting passed. Told I was given a start date of July, but would hear once my references had returned. Annoyingly my day job required me to sign some paperwork to say they can give my reference to the Police...but no one knew this! In the end a friend who is a Special and a manager at another store phoned my manager and asked him to email one across to HR that day (company policy is Head Office do references not managers at the store). Got my offer the next day! (This was made more stressful as I was buying a flat at the time and needed my offer of contract for the mortgage company to give me a mortgage!). I have never been so happy. There is something nice about knowing you can quit your job you hate at any time! I lasted a week before I handed my notice in (only had a week to give), giving me two weeks off beforehand. I'm now into week three of my training and loving it. Being a Special has helped massively. Some days are a bit boring (IT for example. My access got taken away and wont be given back until I do all the training again!). The class is great. We all get along really well. The trainers are fantastic. I'm struggling with the Monday to Friday bit though. Most my shifts were lates as well, so my 0600 alarm five days a week is a killer! I've got no social life at the moment as I'm so tired. I'm doing two hours+ revision a night. But its the best thing I've done (other than meeting my girlfriend if she sees this!). It doesn't feel like I'm going to work. The saying 'if you find a job you love, you'll never work again' is true. I'll do a post about what I've done so far later. I'll do it on a weekly case as its easier.
  8. Hi all. Hope you are all well ? Apologies if this is the wrong form i couldn't post anywhere else. I am looking for help with the assessment centre for police Scotland. I have had my first attempt this week and have unfortunately failed but concerned as to why. My feedback was pretty poor and doesn't really give any guidance or room for improvement. I failed on "Effective communication" Interview -I was "a few marks short" on meeting one of the competencies which was "personal effectiveness". Overall it was very good. I know were i went wrong as i used my situation for personal effectiveness to demonstrate good team leadership. I am a team leader in my current job. This left me on the back foot to answer this so know where i went wrong. Assessment 1 - 30 Minute deadline "Little to no marks lost. Good overall performance" - I felt this was my weakest. Assessment 2 - Group discussion "Lost a few marks for not taking on other team members opinion" - I did shot down a members input but immediately apologized when i realized how abrupt my response was. Assessment 3 - Tunnels "Little to no marks for communication" - FAIL This was the task i felt i done really well in and i am really confused to why i got such a poor mark. Feedback given. "Told to speak up when reading instructions out to the team" - I was last in and furthest away from the materials at the back of the room. A few members of the team passed the instructions back and forth before i volunteered to read them as i could see the assessors staring. I made sure everyone was in front of me before i started to read. I was immediately interrupted with "We need to hear as well" I apologized. Cleared my throat and read allowed making sure to make eye contact with the assessors. "Not loud enough when giving instructions to team members" - After 10 minutes of unsuccessful group discussion it was agreed my example "made the most sense" So would take lead in planning the construction. Team members would approach me and would look over my should to see instructions to which i informed them what to do next following their request. Taking in their input and discussing the plans further. I understand the assessors would really struggle to hear what was said but given the size of the room i would have to shout at an unsociable level to someone standing less than a foot away. "Said to another member of the team (Jesus that was hard)" - I don't recall saying that but as a team we were very frustrated as we only figured out what to do 10 minutes before the final call and was only 2/4 of the way through. This was all the feedback i was given yet my mark was so low it failed the entire day. I can't help but feel cheated as the points mentioned are extremely harsh. Especially afterwards i was congratulated by the team for rallying them at the end. I am unsure what to take from this don't know exactly what to change for my next attempt. Would really appreciate others input.
  9. Rick29

    Qualification

    Hey Guys, I'm new to the forum i just have a quick question, i have recently passed day 2 with the met but need to send proof of my qualifications which i have only recently passed, and will take 8 weeks to receive the certificate do you think a proof of pass email will be sufficient in the meantime? Thanks
  10. Hi guys, ive tried searching but haven’t managed to find a thread where the direct entry scheme is discussed. Is there such a thing here? Cheers.
  11. Do we have any dog handlers on the forum who might be kind enough to offer some advice? I'm currently in the process of completing my application for a transfer from response to dog section. The application basically consists of one question and as such I'm having a bit of trouble with structuring my answer. The question is: "Using the role requirement and advert please state the reason for your application and provide evidence of your personal qualities and skills that are relevant to this opportunity". I know that I need to go through the advert and role requirement and pick out jobs I've been involved with to evidence my capabilities. My concern though is I feel a bit like I'm over selling myself, saying look how good I am you should pick me! If there are any handlers that are able to offer any tips or advice for getting through the paper sift I would be very grateful. Thanks
  12. Hi all, I'm currently going through my police officer application and have reached my medical stage and I'm just awaiting a date to go speak with the force medical team. My question regards pre-reading prior to starting training school have any of you done this and if so did you find it beneficial? I've been considering getting a copy of the latest Blackstones Policing Manual to have a read through so I can better equip myself for when I do finally start training. My current role which is also within the police allows me to have knowledge of law and crime but not to the scale of a police officer? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
  13. H-H

    At Long Last

    So having arrived in Glasgow last night for a festival, I went out on the hunt to find suitable parking spaces in the city. I left looking for a parking space, and came back with a final offer of employment as a Police Officer! At the moment it hasn't really sunk in, and I doubt it will seem real until I've passed out, but after starting a degree in Policing in September 2013, to applying and being rejected in 2014, it feels like a long long process has finally come to an abrupt end! Thanks to the many of you on this forum who have offered support and advice throughout the process - I wouldn't recognise any of you walking down the street but your help throughout has got me the job I always wanted and I'm truly grateful to those who are too many to name individually! Have a good weekend everyone, time to celebrate with Thom Yorke and a pint of warm, watered down lager!!
  14. H-H

    Home Visit

    It's been a while since I've posted on this blog, mainly because nothing's been happening. I attended my medical which went smoothly, but involved waiting for 4 hours with other candidates in the piping hot waiting room of a converted semi detached. Aside from that it's just been chasing up references and trying to extend my son's vocabulary past "dog", "mum", "dad" and "gone" (which is apparently now a noun used to refer to a bin) Late this morning I got a call from my local Neighbourhood Sergeant asking for a home visit. Nearly an hour later and the kettle was on and I was panic shaving the mess that I haven't bothered to touch since my interview at the start of the month. The home visit was the part of the process that really intrigued me, having not made it to this stage before it was a complete unknown although some of the saints on here gave me at least an inkling of what to expect. The first test was a fairly simple one - white tea none. I didn't get any feedback on that but there was no vomiting so I'm taking it as a pass The visit essentially consisted of an ID check, around 20 questions designed to find out my attitudes towards drugs, binge drinking and right wing political groups as well as making sure that there was nothing that I hadn't failed to declare on my vetting forms. The questions were fairly formal, but after they were out the way I had an opportunity to sit and have a cuppa with a serving supervisor who could answer any questions about the job in a formal setting. Just the vetting to wait back on now so hopefully this time next week I'll have a final offer of employment Hopefully...
  15. Well well well... I made it through to the finals without any of Gazza's tears or Psycho's missed penalties and it looks like all those years of hurt might be coming to an end at last. I haven't heard the result yet - at least not formally - but one of the officers who interviewed me gave me some positive feedback once the interview had ended. I'm not going to count my chickens until I've had that email with a big thumbs up, but hopefully we're getting there! The interview itself was really friendly and supportive - to anyone who is preparing for theirs, I would look at the priorities, values and PCC's plan for Kent. It's also worth thinking about community engagement etc as you did for the Assessment Centre and what you can do to contribute, as well as the local and national issues confronting the police. I really felt the interview seemed harder to fail than to pass! Hopefully I won't have egg on my face this time next week! Have a good weekend all!!
  16. The last 4 working days have felt like 4 working years, filled with endless refreshing of emails and irrational Google hunts as to how long for SEARCH results... This morning I got the call that I had been waiting eagerly for/dreading, I've passed the assessment centre! Ecstatic is not the word! Whilst I'm under no illusions that the final interview is far from a formality, I'm confident after my past experience was that it was a much less robotic and unfriendly assessment environment than the AC. I'm booked in for the interview next Friday morning, so it feels like the journey is slowly but shortly coming towards its end - hopefully not too abruptly. Congratulations to all those who got good news today, and commiserations to those who didn't, I know how it feels to be dumped out of this process but, to use a cliche, pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get back on that horse in 6 months time. Cue garbled panicking post on Friday around 1pm, it's time for a beer...
  17. So yesterday was the first stage of the process which involved travelling to the training school. Definitely a trip I hope I'll be making much more before 2017 is out! The Assessment Centre briefing was essentially what it said on the tin. If you're about to go for yours, the gist is that you hand in your relevant ID/qualification/eligibility documents to the Recruitment team, and then sit with your potential future coursemates in the canteen, making small talk until you are called through to book an assessment centre date and then directed to a lecture theatre where you are given a presentation on the rest of the recruitment process and essentially just a bit more information about the job that you're applying for. I was given a date for the assessment centre (18/05/2017 at 0800) and told that the rest of the process should pass much quicker than I expected!! All in all, the briefing took around 2 hours, despite the possible 4 hours mentioned on the invitation email but it was good to meet a few other people in the process and to have at least some more idea of timescales but now time to book holiday from work and prepare for SEARCH!!
  18. H-H

    2 years on...

    Well well well... I haven't posted on here since the 30th April 2015. Fast forward nearly two years and we've lost the likes of David Bowie and George Michael, Donald Trump is now President of the United States and England's football team still haven't won anything (I guess some things never change). On the 31st March, I handed in my scrupulously drafted application for a PC role and this morning, 10 days on, I received an email telling me that I was successful in the paper sift. One half of me is filled with an excitement that I'm finally back on the road to doing the job that I've always wanted to do, after 24 months of twiddling my thumbs and the other half of me filled with a sense of apprehension that it's going to be another 6-12 months of constantly refreshing my emails, as well as having to go through the SEARCH assessment again. In January 2015, I had a regs application withdrawn due to an unsatisfactory reference, after going all the way through the process and it honestly felt like the day would never come when I'd be looking at getting back in the saddle. I guess if anyone is in the same position - or even looking at the 6 month wait after rejection - it's a sh*tty time, there's not a lot you can do about it, but dust yourself down, get back up and do your time and the opportunity will come around again. Next step is the briefing for said assessment - I thought I'd blog the process, not sure if anyone is remotely interested or whether anyone will read this, but hopefully this time next year, I will be writing about training and the year after be writing about punch ups, fast car chases and telling naughty children to go to bed. England still won't have won anything by then mind...
  19. Hello! I completed the assessment centre last month and found out I passed. Having received my report yesterday i was over the moon with a 73% pass score. I was intrigued to know exactly how well others had done percentage wise? I found out today that final interviews will be conducted w/c 16th Jan. Does anyone know how soon after that the fitness test will be done? having recently lost 4 stone (ish) i'm concerned that my BMI will be too high still. To get within the correct BMI level I have about another 2 stone to lose.. with only 6 weeks until the interview and Christmas to contend with I'm now slightly worried about the fitness side of things.
  20. All new police officers in England and Wales to have degrees - All new police officers in England and Wales will have to be educated to degree level from next year, the College of Policing has announced. Under significant changes, prospective officers already with a degree can do a funded post-graduate conversion course. Alternatively, they can do an unfunded degree in policing or complete a paid three-year "degree apprenticeship". The Police Federation, representing the rank and file, said it was glad no minimum requirement had been imposed. Currently, recruitment requirements vary from force to force, with some insisting applicants have A-levels or a certificate in policing and others demanding experience in a policing role. The College of Policing, which is responsible for setting standards of ethics and training for the police service, said about a third (38%) of those currently going into policing officers have a degree or post-graduate qualification. 'Very lopsided' But the college's Chief Constable Alex Marshall said the current workforce was not getting the same investment in training and development as people in other professions, such as medicine or the military. "It is very lopsided and we don't do a lot of professional development training," he said. The money for the apprenticeships, due to be introduced next year, is expected to come from a new 0.5% apprenticeship levy on all employers with a wage bill of more than £3m. Under the apprenticeship, new recruits will undertake a three-year course, spending 80% of their time on the frontline, and the rest completing their degree while receiving a salary. A six-month postgraduate conversion course would also be funded by the police. In contrast, the policing degree would be self-funded and the student would need to apply for a police job once qualified. The syllabus is likely to cover the law, safeguarding the vulnerable, understanding how a police officer behaves on the street and how an officer builds trust by interacting well with communities, Chief Constable Marshall said. The College of Policing is in talks with 12 universities about running the courses. Master's degree The announcement follows a two-month public consultation. Of the 3,000 responses received, almost 80% were from police officers who mostly said they were keen to gain accreditation for their existing skills, Mr Marshall said. Other changes to be introduced include: A national set of qualifications for officers following promotion, including a requirement that those applying to be assistant chief constable or above have a master's degree A higher-paid "advanced practitioner" position to try to retain people working in specialist areas, such as cyber crime, and deter them from seeking promotion in a different area Andy Fittes, general secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales, welcomed the move to accredit qualifications to serving officers, and supported the idea of a framework that might standardise policing courses. He added that the federation was glad to see a move away from requiring minimum education requirements for those joining the service. "There is a balance to be struck around encouraging people to have a certain level of education before joining the force, and marginalising and excluding good quality candidates from all communities by limiting the pool of potential candidates if they are unable to afford it," he said. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38319283 What are the PC faithful thoughts on this?
  21. Hi Everyone, Wondering if you can help me, its quite a specific question to be honest. I applied for both a Regular and Specials role for Lancs Constabulary at the tale end of last year, and I have a specials assessment this week at Lancs HQ Hutton. My problem is that, despite being pretty healthy & 24 Years of age, I managed to somehow pick up guillain-barré syndrome early December, and didn't realise till the tail end of December where I had almost full paralysis of both of my arms. I didn't click onto it as a major problem at first as I thought it was a gym injury. Anyway, Long story short, I received 5 days of intensive treatment (Over new year) and have made a rapid recovery, one of the quickest the hospital neurologists have seen and may be signed off back to work as soon as 3 weeks, and that's only because i'm a driver, If I was an office worker, I would've been signed off fit to work on discharge. Has anyone heard of or know anyone who has been in a similar situation? Do I still have a chance with the current intakes or will I have to write them off? Could it affect future recruitment chances for me even though its a non-recurring illness? I'll be phoning the Recruitment team for there take on it asap, but just wondering if anyone else has came across the same situation. Kind Regards ~ ScottishFox PS. Unsure if this is the correct sub-forum, sorry if its not!
  22. Monday 5th December - Friday 9th Decemeber Our first week as Student Police Officers is over! I can genuinely say it's been one of the most exciting weeks of my life so far. Despite feeling glad to be home to catch up on some sleep and see my family, I can't wait for Monday to come around again for week two to be honest. The week went so quickly, and there was a lot of information to take in. We went over things like the Code of Conduct and spoke to people from The Federation and had visits from important people. On Monday, we all arrived in business wear and waited around in the reception. Lots of familiar faces from different stages of the application process and everyone seemed really friendly but equally as nervous as I was. We went through formalities for the day and finally got given all of our uniform and kit. This was by far the most exciting part of the process to that date. I got back to the hotel that night and tried everything on, video chatted my family and showed them everything. They were most impressed by the bullet/stab vest. I like the divisional uniform the most (the black fleeces and wicken tops) but our uniform for training is pretty smart too, white shirts with and cravats. It feels really strange to have a real collar number and actually be part of the force now instead of just a hopeful! With all my kit on I really feel like I'm in fancy dress for Halloween! All of the trainers are really nice, and have so many brilliant stories to tell about their time on the beat. They've made sure to check we're all doing okay, especially those of us staying in the hotel for the week, and gave lots of advice on our uniform and how best to iron it. We've all done a lot of ironing this week, from our everyday shirts and trousers to the Number 1's we wore on Friday for parade inspection. Luckily there's a couple from the army on our intake so they helped us out with getting the initial shine to our boots, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it myself. We have our Attestation next Friday, so my mum, step dad , nan and boyfriend are going to come to that and I'm super excited for it! We've also been given the date for our Pass Out, which will be in May. It seems so far away now but the group who are passing out in the next couple of weeks have reassured us that the whole process of training goes so fast, and after this week I really believe them. Each of us in our intake has at least one other person who is going to be based at the same station after training, there's only two of us for the station I'm going to but one other from the previous group too, so it'll be nice to know someone else has just been the newbie at the station before us. We've been issued our radios and mobile devices (the upgraded version of a PNB) and been over how to use them, and have been told we'll be doing first aid next week as well as having our first fitness test, so I'm expecting next week to go just as quickly, especially with the Attestation on Friday. So far we've all really bonded as a group, there's some really funny characters and everyone is so enthusiastic about the job which is great to be surrounded by. I'm the youngest, as I expected, and by at least three years as well! I definitely feel like the baby of the group but so far it hasn't seemed to have made much difference. There's quite a few who have been Special's, in both DPP and other forces, so it's useful to be able to ask them questions, but it's also quite daunting being one of the few who has absolutely no policing background or even family members in the job. I've got a lot to learn! I’ve learnt my cautions, so you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not believe me when I say I learnt this by watching far too much Traffic Cops and the likes! The food is really good, which is dangerous, I can tell that over these 6 or so months there may have to be a few trips to Stores to request bigger trousers! Our group has bonded really well, and I can tell I’ve made some friends that will remain with me for a long time already, which is great to know since we will be spending such a long time together. So all in all, it's been a hectic but amazing week, and I'm so looking forward to what's to come. Thanks for all the positive comments on my last post, I know this one isn't quite as interesting as it only covers a week but I thought I'd update before the work piles on, as I doubt I'll have time to do an update every week. Here's to the next 6 months and what sounds like an incredibly rewarding career ahead! (P.S, Sorry, I'm a serial exclamation mark abuser and an atrocious speller)
  23. This is probably going to be my longest post as it covers such a long amount of time, but I thought I would start off with a post about the recruitment process including the timescale from my initial application to receiving an unconditional offer. I wish I'd had one of these blogs to follow when I started the whole process myself so hopefully it's useful for people who are in the middle of/are thinking of applying! I dropped out of my first year of University in February 2016 to pursue my dream of becoming a Police Officer and waited several months for recruitment to open in my local force. Around 5 and a half months after my initial application, here I am to tell the tale. I plan on blogging through my training and hopefully on the job as well! Here's how it all went, starting from the very beginning! Wednesday 22nd June 2016 – Application for role of Police Constable for Dyfed Powys Police successfully submitted. Thursday 14th July 2016 – Successfully at shortlisting stage of application due to successful Competency Based Questionnaire. Invite to Interview at HQ in Camarthen. Thursday 28th July 2016 – 1:30pm, interview at HQ in Camarthen. Left early and arrived 45 minutes early in my excitement. Found HQ and parked up in visitor carpark, desperate for a wee but nowhere to go without booking myself in. Didn’t want to be seen to be too keen, so sat in the car for half an hour going over my notes. For the whole hour and a half journey I had recited my answers to questions I was expecting and for my 10-minute presentation on the role of Police Constable in Dyfed Powys Police. Went in to reception and signed in, put on my pass and sat with other candidates, all as nervous as each other. We were greeted and taken into a waiting room where we were briefed and asked to complete forms that gave a long list of different character traits and asked us to circle three which we thought were most important to the role. We completed two of these forms then were called to our doors. Each of us was interviewed in a separate room, and we were to knock and enter. My two interviewers were two male officers, and I can’t remember what roles they were, I remember one being fairly young and one more middle-aged. We started with the presentation, which I stood up for. They both took notes the whole time I spoke, and this really helped with my nerves as they barely looked up from the paper, so I could just focus on what I was saying rather than my body language. I sat down after what I felt was a rushed-through version of my presentation I had so meticulously planned. The younger man lead the interview while the other took notes of what I was saying and asked questions for me to expand on my answers. They asked a lot of questions and I, luckily, found that my answers came easily for all of them. The competency based questions fit perfectly with the examples I had planned from my everyday life and working life. They nodded and agreed with things I said, saying positive things like “very good” after most of my answers. I felt positive and even had a little bit of a joke with them at the end of the interview. I left feeling like it had gone relatively well, but was very aware of the fact that I was the youngest person attending the interview, and I think it was by quite a long margin. 10th August 2016 – Booked into familiarisation day for Assessment Centre after finding out I had been successful at interview. Very exciting moment but I also knew there was a long way to go yet. 18th August 2016 – Familiarisation day at HQ, Camarthen. We all signed in and waited to be taken through to a teaching room where we were advised on how the day would commence. We went through each different stage of the AC and what to expect, as well as what was expected of us. It was a very informative day and made me quite nervous for the AC. We watched examples of terrible role plays where the candidate had failed to meet any of the competencies and we were advised how this candidate failed. Obviously, not too much information could be relayed to us as to the specifics of the AC but overall, a very helpful day. I sat with a girl who was currently working in a foster home and had lots of experience with difficult people. She was telling me about scenarios she had faced that she would likely use in her competency interview during the AC. I, again, felt very young and inexperienced in comparison to the rest of the people in the room, however, I knew that I had some experiences that I could use as well and overall felt confident that I could give the AC a good go. 13th September 2016 – Thames Valley Police HQ, Reading. The night before the Assessment Centre, mum drove us both up to Reading to the Premier Inn that we had booked ourselves into for the night. We had dinner at the service station (yuck) and bought snacks and magazines to take back to the room with us. We would have to leave fairy early the next morning to make the 30-ish minute drive from our hotel to the HQ, so I was anxious to get back to the room, do some last-minute revision for the day and get a good night’s sleep. Prior to this day, I had scoured the internet high and low for tips for the AC. I had practiced writing reports and done a bit of maths practice here and there, revised my Westshire Centre Pack back to front and practiced for the role play’s with mum on the way to Reading. Overall, I was feeling really nervous, especially after reading a load of horror stories on my iPad in bed that night of people who had thought they’d done well at AC then failed, or people who had passed but had not got the 60% required for Dyfed Powys. It took me a long time to get to sleep that night, my brain wouldn’t turn off. I woke up super early on the 13th (unlucky for some), showered, put on my interview gear and looked through my notes while I did my hair and makeup. I could barely eat but managed to get through a flapjack in the car on the way to the HQ. We missed a turning in the busy traffic of Reading and ended up on back roads all the way. Fortunately, we weren’t late and I wasn’t the last to arrive. We all waited outside the big white building and chatted about where we’d put as our preference areas, what we thought the day was going to be like and our expectations to all fail miserably. Everyone was really lovely, but none of them were from my interview group, I saw a couple of familiar faces later on as my group left and they arrived though! We were lead into a room where we were briefed on who would be doing what parts of the AC first. I wanted to do the role plays and interview first as I knew these held the most weight, and were going to be the most difficult. Just my luck, I was placed in the group doing the written exercises first. We were taken out of the building to further building, a small ‘out house’ style place with several rooms. We left all of our bags and belongings and went in to complete the tests. This took about 3 hours, although I completely lost track of all time during! I didn’t really know what to make of them except that they were difficult, challenging and really made you think. I thought I had completely messed up on report writing due to losing track of information as it was being given to us. But everything else seemed to go OK. Next we were allowed a short (3 minute) toilet break and I had a drink and a couple of bites of a breakfast bar. I had a horrible headache and in my concentration for the written tests, I felt like I had completely forgotten everything I had learnt for the Role Play and Interview. We were to do our role plays next. We were taken and briefed for these, the people who briefed us all through the day were so lovely, helpful and calmed our nerves so much. We chatted until the role actors and assessors were back from their lunch break and then went through formalities. We were allocated numbers and these corresponded to doors. When the first roleplay started, we were to read through an information pack quickly and make any notes we needed to take in with us. I wrote notes for the first one but just read through the info for the rest. All the packs contained was a brief history of events and an overview of the person we would be dealing with. We went through the motions of all four Role Plays, some I managed to resolve quickly and others I had more difficulty finding a resolution to but managed to say the right things in order to keep the actors happy, I think! After these were finished we all breathed a sigh of relief before we were taken into our 20-minute competency interviews. By this point I was knackered, physically and emotionally drained from the constant stress and pressure of the day and felt like the interview would be a complete write off. I barely even remember the questions I was asked let alone the answers I gave. I felt like I stumbled over myself many times and my examples were nowhere near as strong as they were in the Interview I had passed before the AC day. All I remember clearly was a wasp flying in through the open window and hovering around between me and the interviewer, who didn’t look up from his scorecard the whole time and didn’t notice it, so I fidgeted around and tried to waft it away without him thinking I was having a funny moment. We all had our debrief and were told what we couldn’t tell anyone about the day (the specifics, basically!) and we all left together. We were all as shocked as each other about how fast the day had gone but how stressful those 5 hours were. “5 hours of hell” was a phrased used by not just one person and I completely agree! We joked about how we all thought we’d definitely failed, and talked about how we wouldn’t be able to apply for another 6 months as if we had all already received rejection emails! Mum picked me up and I slept the whole journey home from Reading, trying to fight off my horrendous headache. Monday 26th September 2016 – This was my first day at a new temporary job that I thought would perfectly fill the gap between the present date and the proposed intake of April 2017 that I expected to be in. It was absolutely horrendous, I was spoke to and treated like rubbish and had been basically lied to about what the job would entail. I sat in the freezing cold, shed-like office that would supposedly be my base for the job and decided enough was enough. So, I stood up and told them I would not be continuing with the job as I was disappointed to have been mislead, thanked them for their time, got in my car and left. I got home pretty upset that the day had unravelled as it had, and was angry at myself for thinking this would be the ‘perfect opportunity’ to switch up my job before I joined the force. I told my mum and stepdad all about the day and they were just as angry as I was at how I had been treated and we were all just pretty peed off, that’s when my phone vibrated indicating that I had received an email. I looked and could hardly believe what I saw, an email from Dyfed Powys Police titled ‘Police Officer Application’. I knew that this would either be telling me I had passed or failed the assessment centre. I could barely bring myself to open it as mum stared over my shoulder. We both screamed when the first line read “Congratulations we are pleased to inform you that you have been successful at both the interview stage and the National Police SEARCH Assessment Centre for Police Constable. We are therefore in a position to make you a conditional offer of appointment as a Police Constable within Dyfed Powys Police.” It stated the conditions I would have to pass in order for this to become an unconditional offer and the proposed intake of April 2017. I cried in shock, happiness and complete disbelief of the timing of the email that had taken the worst day and turned it into one of the best days I’ve had to date! I rang my boyfriend while he was at work to tell him about the fail of a first day in my new job and the results of the assessment centre, and then rang my sister to tell her all about my rollercoaster of a day as well. I could hardly believe it!! I had passed the Assessment Centre!! I was so much closer to the job of my dreams and all my hard work had paid off. Thursday 29th September 2016 – I arrived at HQ for 3:30 for my fitness test and biometrics. We were taken through reception and had our fingerprints taken, all the staff were really nice and making jokes with us, reassuring us that we’d all pass the fitness for sure. We were rallied up and taken into a big sports hall where we were briefed on how the Bleep Test would work. We warmed up together, doing stretches, and then were asked to run to Level 1 of the Bleep Test as part of the warm up. This was easy enough and made me confident for the test. To say it was easy wouldn’t really be the truth, the pressure of the situation definitely made it feel difficult, although reaching each end of the hall before the beep wasn’t that challenging at all. We all encouraged each other as we ran if anyone seemed to be struggling and all managed to pass first time. By this time, I was starting to recognise some familiar faces from each stage of the application process. We were taken back to a holding room where we filled some forms and chatted amongst ourselves about which areas we’d applied to, what intakes people thought we’d be in, at which point I realised there was a December training intake that we weren’t informed about that some of us might be on due to geographical demands. I didn’t think much of this as I had been told I would be considered for April intake. We then had swabs taken for Biometrics, and the nurse told me this was basically to make sure our DNA wasn’t pulled up in crime scenes we attended on the job. This made it feel so real, ‘on the job’, on the job that I was so close to starting! Monday 17th October 2016 – After being signed off medically by my GP and sending off my medical forms, drugs testing day arrived and I once again returned to HQ. We read through briefings and what we would be tested for and one by one went in to have chunks of hair chopped off and sent off for testing. We never heard back about these results, meaning I had passed (as I fully expected!) I remember laughing at a current PCSO/Special (I never caught which she was) who said she’d been at a job involving a cannabis farm in someone’s house recently and was worried she’d show up positive for weed on the test! This recruitment process fills you with so much self-doubt! Sometime between this date and the next entry I had my medical examination, which went fine and I found out I had perfect 20/20 vision and excellent hearing, despite thinking that the hearing test had gone awfully as I was sure I was hearing beeps that didn’t exist! Friday 4th November 2016 – Just as I was about to leave for work, I received a call from an Unknown Number. It was the lady from the workforce planning team who had been at all of our stages at HQ and she told me she had good news for me and asked if I was available to talk. She said they were happy to offer me an unconditional offer of employment to the force as Police Constable and that training would start on the 5th December, in a month’s time! She told me where I would be based and that I would receive my unconditional offer along with other information in an email on Monday. Monday 7th November 2016 – I received my unconditional offer of employment in writing along with lots and lots of forms to fill in and return, and a list of online modules that we would have to complete prior to our start date for training. I booked myself in for accommodation as I live pretty far from HQ (about an hour and a half drive) for the first section of training and let everyone at work and my employer know that I would only be sticking around for a few more weeks! Everyone was so excited for me to be in the December intake instead of having to wait for April like I was expecting and I’m so happy to be well on my way to becoming a Police Officer in Training at the age of 19! Tuesday 15th November 2016 – Another journey back to HQ for Uniform Fitting and my first Hep Jab. Putting the uniform on made me feel like a real-life Police Officer. It was quite a surreal feeling to be honest, stood there in my high vis with the bullet and stab vest on, kit belt around my waist. I had to go for the smallest hat they had available because I have a pea head, and will need altered trousers (long leg problems!) but overall it was pretty successful. Everyone back home was disappointed I didn’t get any pictures of myself fully kitted out! I’m sure the novelty of the uniform will wear off, but for now, it’s sooo cool ;). Boots ordered and tried on, last shift at work at the end of this week and the holiday to NYC I had booked months and months ago for what is now the second week of training cancelled and I’m so ready to get to HQ and start! A week and a half to go.
  24. Shock new figures have revealed ethnic minority applicants are being frozen out of careers as officers with Police Scotland. The Press and Journal has learned that no Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, African or Caribbean candidates were accepted to divisions in the north and north-east in the last two years. Full Story- Press & Journal The media might see it is a shock, but how can you get more ethnic minority applicants without lowering the standards?
  25. HappyValleyNewbie

    PCSO Blog

    I shall post my experiences as I go along, so others can compare or have an idea what's going to happen or what was different for them. If I bore anyone just scroll past it's going to be a sort of Blog. For you exciting OSU or firearms officers with your really cool uniforms ( or so says my daughter ) please feel free to scroll on by ok, so after passing all the requirements back in 2014, I sadly got the email telling me that due to Buget cuts, the whole of the 80 odd PCSO's would be shelved. I always wanted to be a police officer and now being in my middle years and after having 4 children ( forgot to say I'm of the female variety ) I pretty much thought " that's that then " but, seeing as 90% of my family are either was an officer, is an officer or are on the route to learn how to be an officer, I didn't give in and applied for a staff job at WYP. Then I got the email in February asking if was still interested and, of course, I replied yes, very much yes, yes yes. I wouldn't need to go through all the tests and role play again, just the medical. But, with WYP employing PC's as well at the same time it's not until now that I have finally been made an offer and a start date for training on the 24th October. The medical was a story on its own and I wouldn't tell it to my colleagues till they were all present. It wasn't bad or hard, but did include a back fastening disposable gown and some unwanted bed hygiene paper stuck somewhere undesirable whilst doing the movement tests. It made the staff laugh, I will just say to make a tale short, make sure you wear nice matching underwear and certainly nothing thong like. This is when big knickers has no shame. I passed the medical, which of course is the most important thing, to be a PCSO. The doctor told me if I wanted to be a PC he would stop it there as my BMI was basically through the roof. I was thinking it's basically reaching the heights of Emley Moor Mast, but hey ho, I'm sure I'll walk it off. Then next contact was with the lovely gent in charge of PCSO recruitment, who on the phone offered me the post and told me I had been posted to Calderdale. He doesn't know where in Calderdale, I would find that out later in training. So, laptop out and find all the stations in Calderdale, routes there in summer and of course in winter when we have two foot of snow to battle... Todmordon? Gosh. Fingers crossed on that one then. Later In the day I got an email telling me my collar number and a link to the new starters website at WYP. ( this is seriously out of date, I must remember to tell HR that they are knocking the building down that all the extension numbers relate to) and an instruction to buy good quality leather boots that can be buffed. So I've looked on here and seen the favourites. £150+?!? I'll visit Go Outdoors and see what Magnums they have on offer Collegues have started to ask questions at work. They're mean ( in a nice way) and talk about the cold, the sleet and unruly teenagers. Outwardly, it's not working, I live on the moors and have four grown up kids. Inside I'm thinking " oh hell, what have I done?" So here I am. At this moment, wanting a friend to face it with. My next post will be about the boots. See you then
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