Police promotion with ESH Solutions

Police Promotion Interviews - What you Need to Know

 

Contact us at police@eshsolutions.co.uk

or Tel. 07941068872

Okay let's kill some myths about interviews but before I do, lets kill the myth that using external help is expensive - our eBook has helped many officers be successful at the interview for an investment of only £37.50 - less than the cost of a night out. Our coaching likewise has proven to be very successful and the investment will usually be paid for with the rise in salary over a couple months. When promotion opportunities are so rare and so competitive and the investment so cheap, what on earth are you hanging around for! Okay, lets look at those interview myths:

Myth 1 The interviews are objective. No, they are not. Although the interviews are built around a competency framework (ICF, PPF etc), at the end of the day you have people sitting on the Board, and people make decisions based on what they feel is true which is a very personal and subjective matter. There's more on this in the promotion eBook with guidance on how to best work around the psychological aspect of an interview.

Myth 2 If you work hard and are good at your job, then they will promote you. Well, possibly, it certainly helps, but it's absolutely no guarantee of success. That 30 minutes is far more important to the Panel than the last 12 months of heroic work!

Myth 3 You start with a level playing field. Well, possibly, but please remember that if the force needs certain types of officer - say CID - then chances are detectives will have a bigger chance of success. I've seen this happen before and especially at paper sift time.

Myth 4 If you brain storm in the 2 weeks leading up to the Board, that will suffice. No, not at all unless you are very fortunate indeed. There is so much to internalise and know on the big day that the more successful people start many weeks or months before the Board is due. Practice makes perfect is as true for interview preparation as anything else!

Myth 5 You need not prepare for the Board until after your Part 2. Passing to the next rank is a long process and is more a mind set than a point in time. It is a way of working, demonstrating and building examples day by day until working at the level of the next rank becomes second nature. Quite simply, the earlier you start your preparation the better your chances of success.

Many officers see gaining promotion to the next rank as a series of obstacles that have to be overcome, say for example like running a hurdle race. Each is considered as it draws near and there is a sudden rush of activity in the hope that will suffice.

Those who want to be more successful would do well to consider being promoted as a marathon  - preparing well in advance by embedding the mind set of your next rank on a day by day basis and creating or seizing opportunities to act upon it. This way will give you a large basket of examples to draw upon as well as helping you attune to the key differences in the various ranks. Those differences start with how you think and how you turn that thinking into action on a day to day basis.

Hard work alone will not suffice and as evidence of that I bet everybody can name a colleague who has apparently gained promotion without "deserving" it - somebody who "does nothing" or avoids operational work, or similar. I recall having a similar conversation and whilst discussing such an officer I was told "But he's a good politician". It can be soul destroying if you focus on such idiosyncrasies.

That is why you must focus on your preparation, not that of others. When good planning and opportunities come together it creates what many call "luck". Well, you can do both - plan and prepare well and create opportunities with the right mind set at work everyday, but especially on the build up to the big day. That way you avoid the painful dissection of who has passed and who has not, and the anguish of another wasted year, can't you!