Traits Employers Look For In Potential Officers

By Randy Jetterson

Law enforcement is a tough niche to go into as agencies want only the finest and brightest individuals to join them. Before we go over the attributes recruiters seek out, lets start by how these people evaluate if a person rates well in these attributes.

They're able to accomplish that in numerous ways which can be a component of the application process in becoming a police man.

In the job interview, candidates will be provided with numerous stress filled situation questions that is made to test out their problem resolving and decision making abilities.

Detectives will perform an extensive background investigation on the applicant, all the information and facts are examined and looked at to find out in case they have any misdemeanor or felony convictions or if they have any type of financial debt.

Listed here are the important qualities in which agencies consider in potential officers, spend some time and give yourself an appropriate score in each of these qualities (from 1 to 10).

Are they responsible? - Can they tell the facts no matter what the situation?

Responsible - A cop has a great deal of power and with that comes a great deal of responsibility. Could that individual be sincere enough in spite of the predicament? Should a fellow police officer have a violation, can that person notify their superiors concerning this or will they cover it up?

Leadership traits - Being a cop demands exceptional leadership skills. Is the person capable of handling the stress of challenging assignments? Or possibly fail because of it? Could they take on much more work than what is required?

Can be trusted with sensitive information - Can the individual be trusted with confidential info that they can't reveal even to their family members? Are they going to openly converse about sensitive topics for instance an important investigation outside of work?

Ready to take responsibility - Quite simply, will they acknowledge the results of their decisions? Or perhaps will they place the blame on others? Whenever asked concerning all their previous errors, do these people take the consequence of their actions?

Accepts criticism and judgment - Just how will the person deal with critique? Are they going to be courteous or reject it? Did they give you a lot of reasons? or just admit the error and get better?

Prepared to do a lot more without getting anything in return - Will the individual be comfortable to accomplish much more than what is required? Will they be ready to do volunteer work with the local community? Or perhaps they believe that they deserve to get compensated if required to do work that is outside of their responsibility?

Won't drive to judgment without getting the facts - During the job interview a person is given circumstances that necessitate them to make choices. Will the individual come to a conclusion without having all the bits of info? Will they assess the information from each and every viewpoint before making a decision? Are they going to be affected by circumstances?

Willingness to help other individuals - Will they be ready to help citizens or another officer without any hesitation?

Viewpoint in daily life - Can the individual let personal issues to impact their job? Would they throw an outburst if very little goes their way? Would they stay level headed and even settled in spite of the many potential distractions in their lives?

Prepared to sacrifice for the greater good - Cops will be in circumstances were they'll have to dismiss a minor offense to ensure that something better is achieved. Is the person willing to do this?

Prepared to challenge illegal orders - Will the individual make use of common sense and not adhere to orders which will clearly undermine their responsibility as an officer?

Complying with legitimate instructions - Is the person ready to abide by all legitimate instructions regardless of circumstance? Will they have the ability to make a distinction between a legitimate and an illegitimate order?

Despises corruption - How does an individual respond should a another official does something unlawful? Would they ignore what actually transpired or question them about it?

Working with other people - Can the person collaborate with other people? Specifically with individuals of greater authority. For novice and young law enforcement officers, they'll need to earn the confidence from more senior officers, how would they earn that confidence?

Preparedness to decline unearned reward - Will an individual be ready to share compliments with other people? Will they acknowledge something they didn't accomplish?

About the Author:

To get additional information about what do police officers do, go take a look at Randy Jetterson's site for a number of articles about the steps to becoming an officer.