When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.
There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.
Decision Making Skills
Communications Skills
Use of Power and Authority
Integrity and Professionalism
Sensitivity to the Team
Openness & Flexibility
Service Orientation
These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Communications Skills.
Communicating with the Public
During your law enforcement testing and interviews, you will run into many questions about what good communications look like. Your first inclination will be to think about how and what should be communicated with the public that you are serving … or controlling. Indeed, it is very important that you be able to communicate clearly with the public, but there are other aspects you need to consider.
There are many ways to give an order to a citizen. “Get back!” is the simplest form. “Get back. We need room for the traffic,” is a more helpful form of the same command that adds the element of education. “Get back. We need to clear this area due to a security concern. Protesters may continue their gathering on the next block south.” This command not only includes the element of educating the citizen but offers an alternative. Offering alternatives, in general, is an effective method to ease tension. This is what good communication with the public looks like.
Communicating with Your Team Members
But communications also impact your relationships with your supervisors and teammates. Asking for help is one example. There are circumstances where you really do need help. Examples:
You are seriously sick. Do your teammates know this? Does your supervisor know this? It’s your job to make sure he or she does because dispatching you to a dangerous situation may endanger not only you but other team members as well.
Failing to call for backups because you think you can handle a dangerous situation by yourself would be another example of a communications blunder.
Even when you are willing to volunteer for an urgent task your supervisor needs done, if you are exhausted from days of excessive overtime, have the personal confidence to share that fact with your boss so that he or she can make better decisions.
Situational Judgment Testing will assess your communication skills and instincts in both external and internal scenarios.
Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test
Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests
Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Communications Skill, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions with 5 to 7 choices.
Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.