I wish you all the best of luck!

This is not the end of the blog but a break! I'm taking the rest of the summer off and will return in the fall. I will however still be checking the forums and my email periodically so don't hesitate to get in touch. These past six months have been exciting for me, I've enjoyed writing the blog very much and I hope you all have enjoyed my insight and that my examples and advice has helped you.

Also, I want you to know you've come to the right place for help, whether you're trying to understand the hiring process, get test preparation material or looking for a mentor to help you through the process, the Test Ready Pro team are really wonderful people who want to help. I really encourage you to get active on the forum www.testreadypro.com/forums. I get a lot of questions from people who have it all together they just need the motivation to continue on through the process, you can meet and share with some really great people who are going through or have experienced the same thing as you.

I want to finish the blog with a passage from my first post as I know many people reading this post are reading my blog for the first time;

Once in your life you may feel a great sense of responsibility. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel called this duty. “the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community.” Marcus Aurelius, last of the “Five Good Emperors” of Rome and, a brilliant philosopher, did not regard this as duty but love. The meek will quote Frederick Buechner “a calling is the place where your deepest gladness meets the world's deepest need.” The truth about a calling is that you don’t do it because you have to, someone asks it of you, you do it because you truly want to. The motivation to become a police constable is of you.

Goodluck to all of you.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Number one has been what happened to the forum I was talking about, where did it go, how do I get on it? Well due to a security issue the forum was down for a while however, it's back up and running! Get on there and introduce yourself, having problems with math formulas, coming to the correct conclusion on syllogisms, demo WCT scenarios, whatever? Post your questions! Don't forget that not only am I on there but so is John Belisle (professor, Police Foundations Program) and so is another Police Foundations professor, Dennis Campbell. You can get advice to any of your questions including fitness routines, Dennis Campbell is the gentleman that set me up with mine! You can check the forum out at www.testreadypro.com/forums

Another big one is about volunteering. It's not so much a question as it is a complaint, if you've been reading the blogs for the past five months, I've been talking about volunteering a lot. Why? First off, we know it's something police services are looking for in applicants, you can find this worded as volunteer experience or community involvement. Furthermore, volunteer experiences are great for rounding out some of your competency examples, always keep in mind that during your interviews you can answer behavioural questions with experiences from work, school and volunteering. Lastly, volunteering really is giving back to your community, even before I had an interest in policing I was taking part in volunteer events/fundraisers. It's a great way to meet new people, gain some experience and of course feel great. So, in an effort to get some of you who voted "No" on the poll before it closed for "Are you currently volunteering?" here's a volunteer experience I've been doing recently and enjoying that I've never posted about before: The easiest and MOST rewarding for me so far has been a volunteer experience as a volunteer driver for the Children's Aid Society. Here's how it works: you've got a car, if not you use mom & dad's/the spouses all the time right? You probably have your full G licence, relatively clean driving record, and some free hours here and there during the week or weekends at random times? Well, all you have to do is contact your local Children's Aid/Family & Youth services and sign-up to become a volunteer driver. Typically what is included with this duty is picking up children who are in care, either foster homes, group homes, hospitals, etc. You drive them to the Children's Aid or to their parents house, drop them off and then pick them up a few hours later and take them back to where they came from. Easy right? Well, you wouldn't believe how desperately drivers are needed. It gets easier, chances are there are kids in your community who need this service, you may not even know there was a foster home or group home right around the corner from you. Also, know that these kids, their parents, their siblings and the workers really appreciate what you're doing because you're making it possible for them to visit with their families. These aren't troubled kids that are going to light fires in the back of your car or try to strangle you while you drive, these are kids that can't get there without you and they want to see their families. If that isn't a big enough reward, you get paid for your gas and a little bit more to make up for the wear and tear on your vehicle. All in all, it's a pretty good deal for someone who says "I just don't have the time to dedicate." Thats fine, this is your ideal volunteer experience!

Staying Motivated.

I hope all of you are doing well with your testing and interviews. This week I want to post about something a little less talked about, something everyone, myself included needs from time to time. Motivation. This process, regardless of whether you're applying to be a Police Constable or a Firefighter, is long. It takes time to prepare for the testing, get your results, apply, to services, hear back, interview, hear back about that, go in for the next round of interviews or hear from your background investigator. Sometimes things happen quickly and your head spins from antisipation of what is right around the corner, that final offer of employment. However, you may find you once more have to wait. It can truly be a rollercoaster ride. You might even feel like this process is draining you, perhaps you really had your hopes up with one service and that doesn't work out for you.

Here is my suggestion, don't sweat it, keep your head up and push on. This is a long process and it isn't going to get any easier worrying about the outcome.

I most often liken these final stages of the application process to the final stages of the shuttle run, you might be a little tired, your feet might even be a little sore but you didn't come this far for nothing and aslong as you keep moving, you'll make it. I think the same rings true for the hiring pool, stick with your post secondary online class or night school class, keep your exercise routine, prepare for that next test thats about to expire, find a new and interesting volunteer experience. Emerse yourself in family and friends who will support you. Support groups are highly underrated.

Ultimately, keep your head above water, when it's your time to be called in or move forward it will happen and I'm sure you will regret stressing the whole time.

Tying volunteer work.

All competency questions can be answered with situations, scenarios and tasks drawn from work, school and volunteer experiences. For the next two developmental competency questions we will deal specifically with volunteering. Quite simply because one of these developmental competencies is specifically labeled: community-service orientation, proven commitment to helping or serving others. I've said it before but I really need to say it again, consistent volunteer experience is a necessity. You can't just have a few volunteer hours here and there helping out at the kids school these last few months because you knew you would be asked during your Police Constable application interviews, no. You must show this dedication over the last few years! I don't suspect you will ever be asked about this competency specifically but I really can't touch on this subject enough, you need to be the whole package when it comes to applying, this is an extremely competitive hiring pool. If you thought volunteering was just a glossy "good to have" on your resume, you're wrong, it's a competency and you should treat it seriously.

Now, to get some fresh ideas I want to jump back to last weeks post, it was short because unfortunately last week was very busy but I wasn't finished talking about initiative. I think some of the BEST competency answers are ones that touch on multiple competency processes in one answer. My best examples seem to bridge initiative with other competencies, like concern for safety, also notice how I use specific leadership skills here with a follow-up/sharing information. Your answer could be something like this "At a volunteer event, I came across something that didn't look right, I took the time to quickly check to make sure that this was in fact safe and secure when I found that it wasn't. Although maintenance is outside of my duties I felt that I needed to do more than fill out a work order, this could turn out to be a bigger problem, I immediately contacted my supervisor and began cautioning people away from the area in a calm manner, not to attract attention but to keep the situation in my control. When my supervisor arrived I related exactly what the problem was quickly and concisely and described what I had been doing so far to keep the situation in control. My supervisor congratulated me on the good work and shut down the area, waiting for a maintenance technician to arrive."

CAUTION! I did not use specific names, dates, descriptions of equipment or the situation because that above answer is a fluff one. You need to name specific people, who was the supervisor, when did they arrive, what day did this occur. Treat these answers with a skillful and sharp break down of the facts but also how you felt and what you were thinking.

Practical Competencies

I wrote last week about how developmental competencies are typically born from on job experience or training however, because of the specific needs of services they now ask some developmental competency questions. These next three should be very easy and I have practical, real-world examples for each.

Assertiveness is the ability to use authority confidently and to set and enforce rules appropriately. Examples people typically think of is someone that is violent or very over the top. This is not necessary, lets break this competency down. First off, don't allow yourself to get carried away with the idea of being assertive, chances are if you've ever worked a returns desk or some sort of customer relations, customer representation or in sales you've delt with a pushy person where you've had to put your foot down. I wouldn't want you to go the opposite way with this competency and not use someone that was at least being difficult but I often see people trying to think of examples where they saved the day here or had to deal with a crazed person, think of that passive agressive employee you had to discipline or the nasty customer who talked to you or a co-worker in a rude way. These are very good situations to draw from with this competency.

Initiative is demonstrating the ability to be self-motivated and self-directed in identifying and addressing important issues. A great initiative example is one that involves something you took upon yourself to do, something that is beyond your normal duties, job description and definetly something you weren't directed to do. For instance, you noticed the fire extinguisher had very low pressure, you contacted the company responsible for maintaining the fire extinguisher and asked them to recharge or replace it. Perhaps instead you simply made your boss aware of it but also checked the other fire extinguishers and fire alarms while it was on your mind. What did you make the extra effort to do?