Pain in the @$$

Hey everyone. I'm back with some more questions. Sorry if I'm becoming a pain in the @$$, but I do appreciate all the help everyone has given me. I've picked up two applications so far and am calling a personnel department back later today to find out about their opening.

So, on with the questions...

What's the oral interview/exam like? What questions do they typically ask? What are they looking for? I know some of this varies from department to department, but there has to be some continuity.

What's the written exam like? What are they quizzing you on? Can anyone recommend a study guide (since I know there's quite a few out there... which one helped you, if any?)?

O.K. in my experience, five interviews and currently an Officer;
The orals are to see who you are and where you have been, plans(further education, and so on).Why do you want to work for us? Scenario questions relating to wherever you might relocate, such as for me, the question pertained to sending me into on of South Central L.A. neighborhoods, and how would I feel about being called something bad. The bottom line is the questions do vary from one jurisdiction to another, I have been in orals for twenty minutes and then there was one that lasted one and half hours(very detail oriented). As far as the written goes, I have seen them come with total language recognition skills to some with 50-50 language skills and math. Mostly Language skills. As far as a study guide I have always prefered "Barrons Basic Law enforcement study guide".
Hope this helps.

As Rocky said... the oral boards ask a lot of personal questions...and some scenario questions. Just be honest, that is the number one thing. They know you are not an experienced officer, so they expect you to answer some of the questions differently than that of an experienced officer, but usually there is no wrong answer to a scenario.. For example, on 2 of the boards I have went to I was asked the following question: "You are on patrol one night around 3 am the neighboring jurisdiction gets a call of a wreck and the individual driving is intoxicated and also a fellow officer to you. You are close by to the call. What do you do?" Another question: "You are running radar after recieving several complaints about speeders in that area. One of your speeders turns out to be the Chief's son. Do you write him a citation or give him special treatment?"

The written tests that I have taken have varied. One was basically mc and t/f....then another was a lot of memory work...like reading BOLO's, warrants, reports, etc and being able to retain as much info about them as you can...There also were some suspect info and pictures and you had to match the info to the suspect... Along with some general patrol questions and language questions. I have never used one of the study guides...so I have no input on that.. sorry

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Originally Posted by PapaJohn

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What's the oral interview/exam like? What questions do they typically ask? What are they looking for? I know some of this varies from department to department, but there has to be some continuity.

What's the written exam like? What are they quizzing you on? Can anyone recommend a study guide (since I know there's quite a few out there... which one helped you, if any?)?

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The oral review board is going to put you on the spot. They want to know how you are going to react and the things that you will say and do (body language). Also as the others have stated your going to get asked "personal" type questions wanting to know more about your character. Then there are the Scenario questions that you will get. Again these are asked to find out your thought process, or do you even have a thought process and just spout of at the mouth with whatever you thinks sounds good.
Also be truthful with your answer if you do not know what you would do, tell them that. I will give you an example of a question I was asked where I flat out told them what I thought I would do. "You are on routine patrol one night and about 2am you are dispatched to the local bar. When you arrive to the bar you notice the man in question is a 300lb 6'5" man that is out of control what do you do?" I simply told them I was going to wait in the car until my back-up arrived. Why? I am not getting out of my car alone in a bar area to go toe to toe with a man that large. Oddly enough I figured I was going to get screwed over because of my answer, but I felt strongly with that answer. After the Oral board was over every single person on that panel told me that my answer was awesome and they agreed, hell no you don't get out of the car. The moral of it all is they want to know how you think, how you act, and how you talk.

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Originally Posted by PapaJohn

Hey everyone. I'm back with some more questions. Sorry if I'm becoming a pain in the @$$, but I do appreciate all the help everyone has given me.

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Don't worry about being a pain in the ass. The point of the forum is to talk shop about LE, and that includes helping people like you who want to get into the field. Don't sweat it.

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Originally Posted by PapaJohn

What's the oral interview/exam like? What questions do they typically ask? What are they looking for? I know some of this varies from department to department, but there has to be some continuity.

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Go on Google.com and search for "situational interview" and "behavioral situational interview". Also, do a search for the S.T.A.R. (situation/task, action, results) Technique for these types of interviews. Lots of good info out there.

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Originally Posted by PapaJohn

What's the written exam like? What are they quizzing you on? Can anyone recommend a study guide (since I know there's quite a few out there... which one helped you, if any?)?

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This one I can't help you out with... yet. I'm a reserve LEO, so we didn't have to take the civil service test (we're sworn LEOs, but were unpaid volunteers too). I'll be taking my test for a full-time LEO position next month, so I'll share with you what I learn once I've taken it.

nothing else can be said that I would have not said myself......and like was just pointed out....this ain't RP "ass" and several other words are acceptable here....we be big kids....

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Originally Posted by PACMAN

nothing else can be said that I would have not said myself......and like was just pointed out....this ain't RP "ass" and several other words are acceptable here....we be big kids....

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Yeah, cause "bottomhole" just doesn't have the desired impact :p

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