There is no more intimidating part of the law enforcement hiring process
than the oral interview.
While some agencies utilize a comfortable,
informal chat session, others will place a panel of as many as ten
police officers of all ranks in front of you each doing his or her best
to rapid fire questions, challenge your responses, and create an
uncomfortable environment to see how you perform. While there is no one
single solution to conquering this giant, your best strategy is to be as
prepared as possible.
First, before you start allowing panic to set in, consider what you are
going to wear.
Actually, there’s not much to consider. Nothing less
than a business suit is appropriate for both men and women. We’re not
going get into fashion, and you don’t need a $2,000.00 Armani suit,
but a decent, clean, pressed, well-tailored, and matching suit is a
must. In fact, throughout the entire hiring process the members of the
department you’re applying to should never see you in anything
less than a suit. After all, you’re trying to become a member of a
profession. Show them that you are professional.
With attire hopefully out of the way, your next objective is to practice
with sample oral
interview questions. There are probably hundreds you
can get over the Internet and print out. This practice is not an
exercise to do between other things. You need to set time aside, read
the question, and attempt to answer it as if you were facing the panel
of doom. After you become proficient doing this yourself, your next step
will be to set up a simulated panel to throw the questions at you.
Family members or friends are fine. It’s important that all involved
take it seriously though. They should take turns asking questions from
your list and challenge you on your answers. While this is not the real
thing, you will find that even in front of family members or friends,
there is a certain amount of nervousness.
Also, accept the fact that you may practice with a thousand different
questions, and not hear one of them during the actual interview. That’s
okay. The practice questions will help you become skilled in handling
questions. They’ll also help you build an readily available arsenal of
information from you r past to utilize in constructing answers.
Now, some strategies. First, be honest. The people asking you the
questions are trained interviewers. If you try and squeeze through with
lies you will be caught. Second, follow the law. This especially applies
to scenario questions where they put you in a situation and ask how you
would handle it. Consider the following:
“Mr.
Smith, let’s say you’re a member of our agency. One day you and
another officer who is senior to you stop a motorist who is completely
intoxicated. The other officer knows the motorist personally as he is
a local businessman. The other officer instructs you not to arrest the
motorist but to instead bring him home to his wife. What would you do
in that situation?”
Often, the first instinct in answering a question like this is to not
look like you’ll rock the boat. You might suggest that you would go
along with the senior officer. By doing so you would be covering up a
crime. That’s not exactly what agencies are looking for. However, no
matter how you answer it, you’ll probably be challenged. For instance,
if you said that you would arrest the violator and report the other
officer to the supervisor, one of the interviewers might tell you that
the other officer is a good cop with a family and rebuke you for turning
on a fellow officer. That’s okay. You can defend that position because
it is following the law which all officers are sworn to uphold. When
handling scenario questions, choose the defendable answer. Also, don’t
be afraid to change your answer if they change the circumstances of the
question.
Below are some other suggestions:
-
Make
eye contact with all the members of the panel
-
Don’t
be afraid to smile during the introductions
-
Don’t
be afraid to ask them to repeat a question
-
Control
your answers. Don’t start rattling on for hours. Construct your
answers with a beginning, a body and a closing
-
At
the end of the interview you might be asked if there is anything
else you would like to say. Use this opportunity to cover assets you
weren’t able to get to in the interview
Finally, arrive early. Nothing will make you more nervous than having to
explain why you’re late for the biggest interview of your life. Good
Luck!
