Here is an update on what we have heard re North Wales Police applications and assessments:

2 days ago the force open recruitment for internal staff with a closing date of 30th November. There is currently a countdown marker on NWP website until this coming Monday (21st November), where recruitment will be extended to members of the public with a closing date of December 5th. The assessments for applicants who are successful with the application form will we hear start week commencing 16th January2012 at a centre in Coventry (which will probably be Ryton).

To accommodate this, we have puta course on our site for Mold, near Chester for early January 2012. We have also put extra copies of our book on Amazons shelves, as they got down to one or two copies recently.

It will be an interesting set of assessments for the Met this time around. Normally, in any set of candidates, there is a good mix of age, education and life experience. Many out of this group will manage to deselct themselves at assessment. Interestingly however, with the Met recruiting exclusively from its Specials, PCSO’s and support staff, many of these difefernces in candidates backgrounds will disappear. So, almost everyone will have police experience in one form or another. All will be telling the same kind of stories, have the same backgrounds, and probably be of similar ability. Having a  police background will not make you stand out, or give you an advantage in the way you deal with something, as everyone else will have the same background. In a world where everyone is special, nobody is. The key thing this time around will be to stand out (in a positive way of course). Being good was never good enough before. this time around, being good will probably mean that you are only average. The key as ever is to prepare. Once Boris has spent his money on this campaign, it will be a long time before the Met recruits again.

Taken from an extract from The Guardian Online from 29/11/10.Please visit their website for the full story. This happens in many forces, which is why you need to do a course!

A 

Grahame Maxwell, who heads the North Yorkshire force, will be accused of gross misconduct, while his deputy, Adam Briggs, faces a straight misconduct charge over claims that friends or family of existing staff were favoured to fill a handful of jobs.

Both men are expected to deny the charges, with those against Maxwell the first to be levelled against a chief constable in the UK for 35 years.

Two other members of the force have been dismissed for nepotism, while a constable has been given a final written warning in connection with the affair.

The moves follow an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into allegations following the recruitment drive, which took place last winter.

More than 300,000 people applied for 60 jobs in the force, and the jobs line set up to cope with applications repeatedly crashed.

The IPCC worked with North Yorkshire police authority’s professional standards subcommittee, which made the recommendation for the two misconduct hearings.

The commission said the two senior officers were accused of working with staff under their line management to “circumvent the recruitment process”.

“The IPCC will not be in a position to publish its findings from the investigations until all misconduct matters are concluded,” a spokesman said.

North Yorkshire police said: “The individuals in question have a right of appeal. For that reason, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

The joint report is understood to contain evidence that the chief constable and his deputy misused their influence in the appointment process to give priority to a relative or relatives of Maxwell.

When the inquiry was announced in March, the IPCC commisioner, Nicholas Long, called the allegations a matter of “extreme concern.”

In a statement at the time, the IPCC said: “It is alleged the chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, gave assistance to one of his own relatives and a relative of Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs. It is also alleged DCC Briggs gave assistance to that same relative.

“Additionally, and separately, two police staff members are alleged to have used their positions to circumvent the initial phase to benefit themselves and one other person.”

The inquiry was led by Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, of Staffordshire police. The North Yorkshire assistant chief constable, Sue Cross, said at the time: “Our principal concern is to reassure applicants and the communities we serve that our recruitment process is fair and transparent.

“To that end, North Yorkshire police is currently conducting a very thorough integrity assurance exercise and co-operating fully with the IPCC.”

police chief and his deputy are to face serious misconduct charges following an independent report into alleged nepotism during a botched recruitment exercise. 

A police chief and his deputy are to face serious misconduct charges following an independent report into alleged nepotism during a botched recruitment exercise.

Grahame Maxwell, who heads the North Yorkshire force, will be accused of gross misconduct, while his deputy, Adam Briggs, faces a straight misconduct charge over claims that friends or family of existing staff were favoured to fill a handful of jobs.

Both men are expected to deny the charges, with those against Maxwell the first to be levelled against a chief constable in the UK for 35 years.

Two other members of the force have been dismissed for nepotism, while a constable has been given a final written warning in connection with the affair.

The moves follow an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into allegations following the recruitment drive, which took place last winter.

More than 300,000 people applied for 60 jobs in the force, and the jobs line set up to cope with applications repeatedly crashed.

The IPCC worked with North Yorkshire police authority’s professional standards subcommittee, which made the recommendation for the two misconduct hearings.

The commission said the two senior officers were accused of working with staff under their line management to “circumvent the recruitment process”.

“The IPCC will not be in a position to publish its findings from the investigations until all misconduct matters are concluded,” a spokesman said.

North Yorkshire police said: “The individuals in question have a right of appeal. For that reason, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

The joint report is understood to contain evidence that the chief constable and his deputy misused their influence in the appointment process to give priority to a relative or relatives of Maxwell.

When the inquiry was announced in March, the IPCC commisioner, Nicholas Long, called the allegations a matter of “extreme concern.”

In a statement at the time, the IPCC said: “It is alleged the chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, gave assistance to one of his own relatives and a relative of Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs. It is also alleged DCC Briggs gave assistance to that same relative.

“Additionally, and separately, two police staff members are alleged to have used their positions to circumvent the initial phase to benefit themselves and one other person.”

The inquiry was led by Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, of Staffordshire police. The North Yorkshire assistant chief constable, Sue Cross, said at the time: “Our principal concern is to reassure applicants and the communities we serve that our recruitment process is fair and transparent.

“To that end, North Yorkshire police is currently conducting a very thorough integrity assurance exercise and co-operating fully with the IPCC.”

Just an update. The St.Mellons course is now confirmed to go ahead, and will be great timing for the assessments in September, with a fair bit of inside information that someone has been sharing with us! As of today, we only now have a couple of places left, so book, or if in doubt call us on the out of hours number on 07754673540.

If you are still undecided about attending, have a look at the below comments:

” Afternoon John,

Just thought I would send you an E-mail to thank you and your colleagues so much for the course held at XX on XX. The information gained on the day proved so valuable at my assessment centre three weeks later!

I have just had my results back and passed with 66%, so am very pleased indeed. I am sure that without taking part in the Talking Blues Course, I would not have passed, even after reading the many books available on the recruitment process.

On the day, I felt much more confident and felt I was much more prepared than many of the other candidates there, who appeared to struggle much more with the role plays and interview.

Thank you once again and I will not hesitate to recommend the course to anyone in the future.

Best Regards”

Remember, we do not ask for the course fee balance until the end of the day, and if you do not feel it was worth it, then do not pay us, that is how confident we are that you will be impressed with the course.

How confident are you that you will pass?

If you look back at my blogs from a few months ago, everything that I said about police recruitment is coming true. Most forces have indeed cut back on recruiting, either suspending or cancelling their intakes. Cutting recruitment is the fastest and easiest way to save money, and remember, forces are being asked to cut between 25 and 40 % of their budget. So, recruitment goes out of the window. This means YOUR force as well!

For those lucky few who have an assessment coming up at teh end of July/early August, you need to consider this. Chances are, if you fail, you will not be able to apply for another two years at least, as there will be no applications accepted. You will not be able to apply to other forces, as they will not be recruiting either. That means that you need to pass this assessment, or wait years before trying again. By which time of course, even more people will be trying to get in and the competition will be harder.

What i find curious is that many forces have high numbers of CSO’s and support staff applying, many of whom tell em they would not come on a  course. Those that believe this may wish to have a look at the Talking Blues homepage, under reasons to do/not do a course!

Of the few forces that are recruiting, and it is only a handful, they will probably top slice applicants, and take the ones with the highest scores first. Thyat is not so bad, except that there is a good chance that anyone else will not get taken on, pass or not.

In short, now is the time to come on a course. Otherwise, think how sick you will be if you get a rejection letter.

Good luck!