I received the following email that really upset me. Here is student who claims he studied my Mastering the Interview prep course, but really fell on his face when his opportunity to shine came up. Everyone interested in joining law enforcement should READ THIS STORY - even though it is frustrating.
"After studying your Mastering the Interview course, I took my interview today and did poorly. There were 3 questions that caught me off guard and I couldn't come up with a good answer in time. What would you recommend?
1. Why should police have a positive attitude and have good community relations?
2.What should the police be doing to improve community relations that they aren't already doing?.
3. What preparations did you take to get ready for a career law enforcement?"
This applicant’s failure highlights several valuable lessons:
Lesson 1: Get Prepared for your Interview
The oral interview is probably the most important step in the hiring process. This is true for any job in any field. You are almost to the end of the long journey, so don’t screw this up! Good preparation will be apparent to your reviewers not only in your answers but your overall self-confidence.
Lesson 2: Don’t Waste your Money
The main point presented in my prep course is that you need to understand what issues are facing the organization you are applying to. What are they proud of and what challenges do they face? This is especially true in law enforcement. How this student missed this point is UNBELIEVABLE to me, but a good lesson for all of us. Sometimes we read things without actually learning anything! Ask yourself a day after you study some subject, “What did you learn?”
Don’t waste your money on my prep courses if you’re not going to take it seriously!
Lesson 3: Do Your Own Research
Normally, I am very sensitive to any question submitted by students, but in this case, my answer was terse and placed the monkey back in the place it belongs - the applicant. Take ownership of your career and your job search. Look what happened when I cut and pasted the exact question from the email into a Google search!
