Local Focus Interviews.

Local focus interview answers will be unique to each service you apply to. Every service you apply to will require that you complete their own Local Focus Interview. If you check, the majority of Ontario Police Service's all say the same thing in their description of the interview. Pre-background questionnaire, suitability, require a knowledge of the region.

The pre-background questionnaire is very standard and covers a surprisingly long length of time into your past, going into this interview prepared with specific dates is essential, think long and hard before you give a date, you need to be accurate and represent yourself effectively, the last thing you want is to pass everything and fail the background investigation because you didn't articulate your past correctly. I think it goes without saying but I'll just say in plain english, don't lie. You'll get yourself kicked out of selection.

Suitability is a little bit of a difficult subject for me to write about. Here it is all up to you and how well you can articulate your skills, experiences, ties to the community, etc. I wouldn't expect to be grilled about why you want the job here so much, save that for your psych!! This portion of the LFI is really to see if professionally you have the skills it will take to become a Police Constable. One section that is well represented here is actually a competency, "Commitment To Learning" although it is more of an attribute this is a good time to articulate how you feel about your commitment to learning.

Finally, requiring a knowledge of the region. If you're applying to the Toronto Police, you should know all there is to know about Toronto. When was Toronto founded, by whom, its geography, population, the diversity of the population, economics, large firms, big employers, attractions, communities, and the official information on the Toronto Police like their history, current Chief, Super Intendents, Inspectors, how the divisions are divided, their borders, crime statistics, specialized units that are in Toronto.

The Local Focus Interview isn't at all complicated if you're prepared for it. Most of the information you need about the service you're applying to can either be found on their own official website, by visiting a local museum, reading the local newspaper/watching local news and using www.wikipedia.com Just type in your city and you may find a plethora of information.