One of our members, David Imroth, recently asked us to post a job opportunity on our LinkedIn group – David has subsequently offered his thoughts and findings which I think
many will find useful.
And I offer a timely reminder that if you need support in any of these areas then please pick up the phone and speak to us – you will get to your successful outcome a good deal quicker if you do. Hope you find it useful
Angela
Hi Angela,
I’ve just remembered that I promised you an update – sorry for the delay but we are in the midst of a very intensive contract mobilisation. The good news is that I had several very promising applicants as a direct result of the post on PIPS and was able to offer opportunities to two of them. Both accepted positions and have settled into the roles very well. What may be interesting for followers of the PIPS site is what made the better candidates stand out from the rest. There were three things that it may be worth mentioning.
The first is that the better candidates were able to talk about their skills and experience in a way that demonstrated their capability to perform this specific role. We have seen comments on the PIPS site about “transferable skills” before, and the better candidates were able to talk about making decisions, communicating effectively, recognising key stakeholders and meeting their expectations, solving problems, etc. without it being overly policing-specific and always involving them being the sole saviour of the world!
The second is that the better applicants’ CVs were very good, easy to read, and concise. The opposite of this is that I did get a couple of CVs that ran to many pages, were poorly laid out, contained grammatical errors and had several lengthy attachments as well. The initial reaction of any reviewer is of disappointment. Probably not what the applicant was hoping for, I know, but that is the reality, particularly when you have many to review.
The third is that people applying for posts need to recognise that one of the first things that any potential employer does is search the web. We have all probably heard stories of job applicants being rejected because of inappropriate tweets or Facebook entries. However, it goes further than that and some of the comments about current employers, more senior managers and their capabilities, and how it was so much better back in the day paint a picture (rightly or wrongly) of an individual with a negative attitude.
Hope it helps someone in the future and good luck to all currently seeking employment outside of policing. The good news is that I had some excellent applicants and ended up in the envious position of being able to choose the best (to the disappointment of some other worthy people I’m afraid). It just goes to show that skills gained during a policing career are transferable into disparate markets – who would have thought that mobilisation of a facilities management contract would suit PIPS members!
Thanks for posting the advert in the first place – if and when I have more vacancies I’ll happily post more adverts with you if that is OK.
Best wishes,
David
