Just got this email today.

Hi John just thought i would let you know i have passed got 60%.I had been waiting ages for my results so i finally rang them today. The guy said that 60% is quite good……. not sure about that but its a pass so i am over the moon. Not got the break down of my score but obviously the role plays must have gone my way to a degree. Still not sure what, if anything i did wrong in the role play, your thoughts are always welcome. (i sent you a mail regarding this a few weeks ago)

My response is that what you did write or wrong does not matter, what DOES matter is the fact that you passed. The police assessment centre pass mark varies from either 50 or 60%, but provided you pass it who cares? One point worth making though is the value of doing a course. If the course gets you just a bare pass, what would you have go without it?

The key message whether it be the police interviews, police assessment centre or the police application form, is that you have got to work at it and prepare.

For those of you who have doen the police recruit assessment already, have a read of an earlier blog entry talkin about not having an autopsy on your performance before you get your result!

Had to write this quickly. Had three example forms this week where people had used examples of challenging behaviour that was bullying or discrimnatory (Q1 in the competency application section of the application form) without thinking about what they are saying. All involved situations where the applicant saw a series of actions, e.g. leting a colleague be sexist to a member of staff over several days/weeks, then they went to speak to their colleague, checked they were unhappy, then finally did something about it! THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG! Think about what they are really saying. 1. They saw a series of events they knew were wrong, but did nothing initially. Therefore they are allowing this to carry on. Not good. 2. They are saying that if their mate had not anted them to do anything, they would not have, otherwise why ask them? We want to hear examples where as soon as you notice the behaviour, you challenge it there and then, to set an example to others. Anything else is ducking your responsibiity!

I have had  a few issues this week with the types of example that people are using for both police interviews and indeed the police assessment interview. Two questions that always crop up in one format or another are challenging innappropiate behaviour (on the form) and working as part of a team (on the interview). Candidates pick some really weak examples for these. In terms of challenging  behaviour, we are constantly getting forms where someone has been at a bus stop, some yob has made a racist/sexist/homophobiccomment, and the candidate has told them off, so the offender walks away. This is a very weak example. What you need to do is find some example where there has been a chain of behaviour, you have challenged it immediately it comes to your attention,  you have a long explanation to the offender about why what they are doing is wrong, they eventually see this, and apologise to all concerned. (Make sure you challenge it as soon as you know about it though. Otherwise, if you let it go for a bit, it can be argued you are allowing it to get worse!) If this takes place somewhere like work, all the better, as it is morally harder to challenge your mates, than someone you do not know. Against this background, you may be able to see where the bus stop example falls down.

Second bugbear this week was on the interview question on teamwork. People always want to tell us about when they were in the street/at work etc and someone else got hurt. They then try to say that a group of passersby/staff/friends worked a s a team on the casualty. This is just too superficial, and in reality probably you handed over to the ambulance crew as soon as they got there. We want to see evidence that you ideally volunteered fo a big event, maybe like a charity fair, or a stock take at work. You realised that the task was too big for you alone, so you got  a team involved, who had different skills to you that were also needed. You planned how the task was going to be done, allocating resources by experience and priority. You completed the task on time/budget, and got a thank you letter. Hurrah! Again, against this context, the drunk in the swimming pool will not score highly.

You need to apply this logic to every exercise. Being average when thousands of people are applying for every place just does not do it!