What to expect in the interview?

[desmark6]

1911su16b870-----I got that one on the oral board as well, gave'em an honest answer.....told them that I would like to tell them I would give'em a ticket but I would actually cut them free and then deal with it when I got home, after all, I would still have to live with them!!!

[1911su16b870]

LOL, my answer was I would ticket them with much regret!

[red2sniper]

as far as certs go, what you have is pretty good, but how have you lived your life so as to be prepared for a career in L.E.? expect a question or two on honesty/integrity, maybe one on your ability to arrive at a good conclusion to a specific situation.
like:
you are on patrol in a marked unit, you are driving by a local liquor store when you see a subj. running from the front doors with a wad of cash in one hand and their other hand in their jacket pocket, what would you do?
or:
you go to a closed liquor store for a burglary in the middle of the night, you are riding with your F.T.O. and when you arrive the front window is smashed out. You and your F.T.O. clear the building and you are told to go start the paperwork in the car. You then see your F.T.O. take a candy bar and put it in their pocket and walk out of the store. What do you do?
also make sure they know you have a buy in in the community. Prepare an opening statement and a closing statement (memorized) to tell them in the interview.

[desmark6]

Never hurts to be ready to answer what it is about their department specifically that attracted you/made theirs stand out from all the others. I went to the city web site before my oral interview and studied facts about the city that I could tell them, showing that I had a genuine interest in the city and was not just looking for the job.

Like others on here have said, be ready for the integrity questions, I got one very similar to the candy bar question. Difference was the business was open and my FTO took a cany bar without paying for it. I answered I would just go pay for it assuming the FTO had just forgot, to which they countered that it happened every time we went to the store. I said I would ask a senior officer on what to do and as a last resort go to my supervisor.

[sergeantrex]

What helped me was doing as many interviews as I could. I had a dozen or so LE interviews under my belt be fore I was hired. It's good practice. The most grueling interview was two hours. Confidence comes with practice. Show you can think on your feet with confidence, don't be indecisive.

[B.D.Dubloon]

Thanks for all the tips, keep em coming. I have the interview next Thursday.

[Whiskey84]

Good Luck man!!

[SoCal50Lover]

I'm not applying but have a general question. Maybe it will be helpful to the original poster.

What about a little humor here and there to lighten the mood? Are the interviewers usual stiff necked because really it is a serious position or can they appreciate a little funny occasionally. Nothing smart azzed just funny.

[CaliTheKid]

Be professional.

[BigDogatPlay]

What about a little humor here and there to lighten the mood?

In a word... no.

Professional is the key. You should be relaxed, but professional. If you start cracking jokes I start wondering why you aren't answering the question I asked you.

[Ron-Solo]

I'm not applying but have a general question. Maybe it will be helpful to the original poster.

What about a little humor here and there to lighten the mood? Are the interviewers usual stiff necked because really it is a serious position or can they appreciate a little funny occasionally. Nothing smart azzed just funny.

Definitely NO. Keep it professional.

As far as ticketing your mom, grandma, etc, you have the discreation to give warnings for infractions which includes most traffic matters. Be honest, I would never write my grandma a ticket, nor would I expect any of my deputies to write such a ticket. Departments are looking for people with common sense and compassion.

As far as a partner who is a thief, you owe him nothing and if you can't trust him/her to pay for a candy bar, how can you trust him/her with your life?

Integrity is essential & common sense is mandatory. If you have those going in, they can teach you everything else.

Don't know about WV, but in Cali you would still have to take CPR/First Aid even if you have the certs already for POST requirements. Having them will help in the long run because it will be a review (can help boost test scores) I was a CPR & First Aid Instructor and still had to sit thru the lectures in the academy. Six months after graduation I was teaching recruits CPR & First Aid.

Make eye contact and be confident in your answers. Make sure you understand the question. If you don't understand, it is better to ask them to repeat it and give the right answer than take a wild guess and have them think you will jump into situations without thinking things thru.

Make sure you present a professonal image. Wear a coat and tie, no visible piercings (ladies should only wear small stud earrings). A clean shaven face presents a better image. Goatees should be avoided (you can always grow it back if you don't get the job)

Many departments are adopting tattoo policies. If you like inking up, keep them where they won't show while in uniform. LASD has a policy of no visible tattoos while on duty, including military service tattoos. Some guys have to wear long sleeves even in the summer. My partner has USMC on his forearm and has to wear long sleeves always. Kinda sucks, but some guys were going crazy with 'sleeving' and such. Some of them started looking like the gangsters we're supposed to be protecting people from.

Tattoos are popular right now, but think about things like that if you want to get one.

Best of luck to you.

[thebloodsonthewall]

I interviewed with the CHP last summer. Wear a suit and tie. Show up a little early. Be professional and make eye contact with the person that asked the question. There will probably 2 or more people interviewing you. The recruiters gave me a list of questions that I should know so that helped. I don't remember all of them but some of them were: Why do you want to join? What does the CHP do? What is a hard decision that you had to make recently?

They also asked a few situational questions. One of them was something along the lines of: You are called to a scene and someone is threatening to jump off the freeway overpass. What would you do? I don't remember the other question right now.

My interview went well. It lasted about 45 minutes and I got a perfect score on it. I started my background check and then I decided I wanted to join the Army.

Good luck with your interview. It shouldn't be too bad. Just be confident and respectful.

Oh yeah, I think they had a form that I filled out about me, job history and that kind of think. They went over that with me. They asked all kinds of questions about it.

[B.D.Dubloon]

It went well. I was only interviewed by one guy, and he was wearing the same shirt (light blue) and tie combo (red with blue dots) I was, which I figure must have made a good impression. Lasted about and hour and twenty minutes I'd say. Thanks for all the tips, although none of your sample questions came up, although I did have to fill out a questionnaire which included whether I had ever committed beasteality, which I guess is a pretty good indication of the way people in West Virginia are

[otteray]

Hey, B.D.!
Best of luck with the job hopes and the 40 acres & a mule!

[B.D.Dubloon]

Hey, B.D.!
Best of luck with the job hopes and the 40 acres & a mule!

Thanks Ray. I better get the job, going back for the interview made me miss my third sportsman's club meeting, so I am still on probation for another month. And I missed Bwiesse's lecture which I thought would be pretty interesting. I don't think he like's me much though, but who does?