Police Force - am I too old?

Experience is a good thing! You are by no means too old at all, and will not be rejected on those grounds
 
philstanbridge said:
That's the official line, but realistically, what do you think? You know what it's like.
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I think they have recruitment targets to meet and your age likely wont be the deciding factor as to whether you get in or not.

But as I think - a coward is not he who fails, it is he who fails to try...
 
philstanbridge said:
That's the official line, but realistically, what do you think? You know what it's like.
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All depends on you area, but your age wont be the problem, it'll be your sking colour :rolleyes:, police have to fullfill there quotas.

Nah as long as you have what they want you shouldn't have a problem.
 
hmm interesting replies thank you kindly.

I would likely apply to join the Strathclyde force up here. Although there are doubts in my mind obviously. It's a radical change.
 
No idea what it's like up there avon are being sued at the moment for racial discrimination :) and guess what it's action from white guys as there applications where rejected so they could fill there minority quota.

they also like people around the 30 mark as they have more life experience, but still young enough.

Best bet would be to go to a open day or something and have a chat.
 
philstanbridge said:
How so mate? Physical fitness wise or generally? I would expect nothing less really.
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No - I have a friend who became a Police Constable, and the application (writing part) was lengthy and really quite tough. He's a damned intelligent chap, its just a case of what you have to fill in, and what you have to say to get through even the first selection process.
 
Its generally based around core competencies, eg respect for race and diversity, customer focus, resiliance etc.

You will need to give examples of how you have excelled in each of these competencies.

It may vary for your force (sorry, service) though
 
Apologise to the OP (and I exclude you from this on the grounds I that I dont know you) but....

Dont you find people only join the police force becasue they cant find anything else to do?

I know the 4 cops I know all did

Should our police force be full of people who joined because it "has a good pension"?
 
philstanbridge said:
How old is too old to join the police force? (I'm 32 by the way and semi seriously considering a career change).
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Nope, not at all, my brother was 32 when he joined and I know of a few other people who were slightly older that have also joined without problems. The police tend to favour older people with more life experience, I hear a lot of stories of younger applicants being turned away due to a lack of ‘life experience’. As long as you can past the entrance exam and learn your stuff for the interviews and show you have your head screwed on then you shouldn’t have too much bother. I also have an application in with Strathclyde force at the moment, got my exam in 3 weeks time.

If you’re looking for some more info a good place is http://www.policeuk.com/forum

They have a section for all the forces in the UK, its quite handy.

*edit*

It is a very tough process, first of all starting with initial application, if you pass that then you are invited to sit the standard entrance test, if you pass that you will do an initial fitness screening which consist of a 1.5mile run to be completed in 15min or less ( you would be surprised how many people fail this)

After passing the fitness test you have an initial interview, on passing that you then get a home visit which is another interview albeit more casual. After that you have a panel interview which can be pretty tough going. The final two stages consist of a more thorough fitness test and also a full medical. If you pass everything you will be given a date on which you will commence your training at Tulliallan.

You can fail at each of these individual stages, a fail means another long wait before you can try again, usually 3 months minimum.

Expect the whole process from application to appointment to take well over a year, that’s if you pass everything first time.
 
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Do you really want to work with ****? Because you are going to dealing with them on a day to day basis. The paperwork is a nightmare and it's a thankless job.
 
my uncle went into the police force at 32. :) he was in the army for over 12 years before that.

he loves the job, hates the paperwork though.
 
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