This is the 5th installment in chronicling my journey into law enforcement. If you would like to read from the beginning, it is best to start with The Foundation.
Despite being a professional procrastinator, I actually started preparing for the interview as soon as they called to schedule it with me. This saved me because since I was so busy trying to sort everything out at work, I had little time left to devote to actually preparing and practicing in those last few days before the interview. I would be willing to bet that few people put as much time into preparing for interviews as I do. A lot of people at least practice some questions they think they might be asked, but I would say that few, especially young people, actually put enough time into doing the research.
When you interview for a new job, no matter what the career field may be, you need to devote some time to research and learning as much about the agency or company as you can. I was always told to spend at least an hour just learning about the agency, but I spend a lot more than that! When you are applying for police departments there are a number of places you can look to gather information about that department. Obviously a good starting place is to visit the department's website. I always make sure I have a basic understanding of the structure of the department, and the different units or task forces they may have. For this particular interview I wrote all of that information out on note cards and then I studied it as if it was a test for school or something. Another good way to learn about the department is to read the annual reports. These are often found right on the website, but these will give you more details about some of the most important happenings for the department in that year. You will really have a good idea of what kinds of calls they deal with because a lot of the crime statistics are listed or at least summarized. Make sure you visit the city website and learn a little bit about the community as well! I like to search the local newspaper archives. That is the nice thing about police departments, they are always in the media so you should be able to gain a lot of useful information from newspapers online.
I also like to know the players, that is, who I think may be interviewing me. A lot of times you won't know who will be waiting for you in that room, but the websites usually list the different command staff leaders and some will even have short biographies included. I am not sure how much this will help you, but it helps me feel like I know who I am talking to so I feel a little more relaxed. It also can give you some clues as to what kinds of things may be important to them. If all the command staff leaders have college degrees, advanced degrees and a bunch of continued schooling listed...then I would make sure that you really highlight your educational credentials. Maybe you will be able to tell that they are all former military guys or something so you can highlight your military experience if you have any as well. Also, don't forget to pre-write some Thank You cards! In all honesty I have no idea how common this is in the world of law enforcement but in the business world people will send thank you cards after interviews to their interviewers. Go ahead and call it kissing ass but when I get the job because somebody remembered me over someone else who blended in with the rest of the applicants, I will happily accept that label. In the case of this interview I learned from online biographies that I shared the same college Alma mater with one of the Lieutenants, who then happened to be one of my interviewers.
Be sure to practice some common interview questions and review the different experiences you have had in the work place, but make sure you do some research. Once you have all those weapons in your arsenal then use them. I will give you some examples later.
It is about a 90 minute drive to get to the city where my interview was. I left about three hours before my interview time, which means I got into town extremely early and found myself bored out of my mind sitting in the Arby's parking lot. I just went through hell to get to go to this interview though so I wanted to make sure if my car broke down or something, that I would still have time to hitchhike the rest of the way.
When I was called in the room, I was greeted by a panel of 5 interviewers. The chief, the city's safety director, and three lieutenants. With the exception of the safety director, I knew the names and faces of everyone else in the room including what units they each oversaw and each one's career background. (Do your research) I will admit that I was nervous as all get out. I had interviewed at a couple different departments already, but it still is nerve racking.
I started out sort of slow, meaning I felt my answers for the first two questions were just OK. If I was interviewing me I don't think I would have remembered the responses to my first two questions. After that I started to get comfortable. The applicants that were called in for their interviews before me seemed to take about 20 minutes to go through the interview. I had to jump through multiple hoops to get here, not to mention I was sure that I had the farthest drive to the interview so I decided I was going to take as long as I needed to sell myself no matter how long it took. I know I was in that room for at least 45 minutes, maybe even an hour.
I thought I did a pretty good job and they even told me so before I left. One of the questions was "Have you ever had a disagreement with a supervisor?" I was sure to tell them in detail the disagreement I had just had with my supervisor and all of the lengths I went to in order to make the interview. I knew this was a good example because even though I was ticked off at my boss, I was still respectful in everything I did and I followed the chain of command. It also help them see how committed I was to their department. There were 13 of us who interviewed and they would be hiring 4. They told me that I would be getting a letter in the mail sometime soon letting me know the outcome of everything. I was able to drive back home feeling good about the interview. It had been a long week full of ups and downs and now all I had to do was wait.
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