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[Notorious]

I remember when I was going through the process for "Public Safety Officer"...

Is that a peace officer position? Local private colleges have public safety because they can't have a police department. Or is it the combined LE/Fire position in Santa Clara?

[bubbagump]

Is that a peace officer position? Local private colleges have public safety because they can't have a police department. Or is it the combined LE/Fire position in Santa Clara?

We fell under 831.4

Basically part-time CSO's

[DavidRSA]

I have a BS in Chemistry, a law degree, and a masters degree. I am also a CA licensed attorney and a federally licenced Patent Attorney. I have had my fair share of rejections too. The competition is outrageous. But I am plowing ahead. The key is to just keep trying and not be too discouraged. (Sometimes that is easier said than done...)

Another question from an earlier post... what does "Pre-service" mean? I see job posts for Police Officer - Recruit/Entry-Level, Pre-Service Only. What exactly does that mean?

[Notorious]

I have a BS in Chemistry, a law degree, and a masters degree. I am also a CA licensed attorney and a federally licenced Patent Attorney. I have had my fair share of rejections too. The competition is outrageous. But I am plowing ahead. The key is to just keep trying and not be too discouraged. (Sometimes that is easier said than done...)

Another question from an earlier post... what does "Pre-service" mean? I see job posts for Police Officer - Recruit/Entry-Level, Pre-Service Only. What exactly does that mean?

With your quals, you might want to consider federal service like FBI or NSA. Or you can go local and not get to use your law degree like me. I am a lawyer as well but I stayed local because I didn't want to move around the country at the whim of the agency.

Pre-service means you have graduated from the academy but you have not served as a LEO. They are between raw recruits who have no academy and laterals who have LEO experience.

[its mcgavin son]

Keep up the good work. I'm on the grind too but I'm getting a little frustrated with agencies/departments that claim they're hiring LEO academy candidates when they're not -- some even laying off people ie Riverside.

I'm a military veteran and just graduated with a BS from a SoCal CSU..

[fmxmyway]

I am in the same boat. I must admit, after reading some of these stories I was taken back a little. One of my friends is a DEA agent and I remember him telling me that they hired a guy awhile back with a 4 year degree and his current job was in lost prevention at Lowes, no foreign language or LE/military experience. So he went on to say it really all depends upon the needs of the agency at that specific time. I am undergoing a BI with local LE and will be taking some tests for federal positions as they arise.
The thing that I have a hard time grasping lies in the notion that in the private sector--as long as we are dedicated and never give up, the achievement is only a matter of time whereas with the government or local government--this isn't the case. Below is a quote from another board in regards to an agent giving out advice. I think such advice may help some people on here regardless of what LE career you are in the process of acquiring. If anyone else on here has advice pertaining to local and especially federal LE positions, please do share as your knowledge and advice is priceless to both myself and people in similair conditions. Good luck to you all.

"GPA stuff: 4.0 is nice but DEA is maybe the only agency still out there that cares more about actual experience, life experience, SKILLS, etc than GPA. We will (and I have sat on hiring panels) take the 2.5 GPA spanish speaking big city street cop any day before the 4.0 masters degree in criminal justice who sat thru his entire college career looking at school books and working part-time at Game Stop. Do your best in college but you need to be well rounded. We are hiring people to do UC work, interact with criminals, talk to judges, etc. Not nerds who have the quadratic equation memorized. The MOST IMPORTANT thing college-wise would be computer courses, financial/business classes, and writing classes." -DEA agent

[Notorious]

Sound advice. I have say on enough panels as well as done package reviews of candidates before making a final hiring recommendation. Sad thing is, it's all a numbers game and a matter of attrition. A huge pool will come to the written test, half will make it to orals, some go on to backgrounds, few get to the conditional offer then to medical and psyche. I don't know of anyone who failed a med but I know a few who failed the psyche.

You gotta be on your game the whole time and keep on being the best candidate through the whole process. Anything, and I mean anything, can be cause to fail you during the process.

It's not unheard of for the golden boy shoo-in to blow it by getting into a bar fight or arrested for DUI and basically be banned for a long time from all departments until he puts time between him and the incident. Same thing happens to academy cadets who get in trouble during the academy.

Stay clean, stay sharp, and stay on top of your game.

[Tacit Blue]

+1 Also don't hesitate to apply for a LE in another state as a start, your search shouldn't just be limited to CA. At this point you go anywhere you can get your foot in the door.

I wish i was an explorer when i was younger, that would have helped me alot. I remember all the Military recruiters in High School, but the explorer program was always kinda hush...hush... Oh well...