Job for (soon to be?) ex cop

[NDA]

xjay1337 said:

NDA said:

I would have thought you'd get into a sales job - mid 20's is still young.

If he finds policing a souless job, how can you suggest sales!

Rarely a stable position, many companies are incredibly clicky when it comes to sales staff.

I started in sales and ended up owning my own media agency..... The youngsters who worked for me as sales people have all gone on to even more successful careers - plus, we had a huge laugh doing the job.

I guess it depends what you sell - working in a carpet shop in some soulless industrial estate would be dull.

[Thats What She Said]

An ex colleagues husband quit the old bill and went to work for Uber in Amsterdam. He works in their security team (getting paid shed loads apparently), to make sure drivers arent rapists and murderers.

[anonymous-user]

Thats What She Said said:

An ex colleagues husband quit the old bill and went to work for Uber in Amsterdam. He works in their security team (getting paid shed loads apparently), to make sure drivers aren't rapists and murderers.

Are you sure you meant aren't?

[Wacky Racer]

One of my sons was a special for a couple of years, joined full time when he was twenty one, sergeant at 27 and is now an inspector at 31.

He could have gone off in various directions, traffic, horses etc.

From what I can see, there seems to be plenty of career advancement, at least in his force.

Hope whatever you decide, you are happy and content, because that's the main thing.

[edc]

I worked with a couple of ex Police who were involved in security related training, security operations management, investigations and corporate security.

[loskie]

I work for a govt agency, middle management is littered with ex cops. Doesn't matter that they have no clue about the rather specialist(agriculture) subject matter we cover.
They do also have a habit of seeing everyone as a criminal.

Can you tell I'm not a fan?

[Trendsetter]

bristolbaron said:

Why did you want to get into your current job?
What do you enjoy about it?
What don’t you enjoy about it?
What transferable skills would you like to take into a different job?
Why haven’t you got the internal jobs you applied for?
What jobs have you been interested in that you’re unqualified for?

It was something id always thought about really, it seemed like an interesting choice.
Pros - I like the freedom of being able to drive about, its fairly social, decent shift pattern, it can be interesting, good pay, pension, conditions, etc.
Cons - stressful, can be extremely busy so can be easy to get behind on paperwork, the public, useless management, lack of development (so far)

Skills wise, im not sure. Ive got good communication skills I suppose, can deal with volatile situations calmly, well written and professional. Nothing hugely tangible though.

I havent gotten the jobs as im a bit rubbish at competence based applications and selling myself. I dont have the investigative experience required for some things.

I guess im mainly sick of where I am and am just frustrated at not being able to get myself anywhere else. It seems like ive reached an impasse and my motivation (which would be helpful) has dissipated rather noticeably

[MC Bodge]

Trendsetter said:

It was something id always thought about really, it seemed like an interesting choice.
Pros - I like the freedom of being able to drive about, its fairly social, decent shift pattern, it can be interesting, good pay, pension, conditions, etc.
Cons - stressful, can be extremely busy so can be easy to get behind on paperwork, the public, useless management, lack of development (so far)

Skills wise, im not sure. Ive got good communication skills I suppose, can deal with volatile situations calmly, well written and professional. Nothing hugely tangible though.

I havent gotten the jobs as im a bit rubbish at competence based applications and selling myself. I dont have the investigative experience required for some things.

I guess im mainly sick of where I am and am just frustrated at not being able to get myself anywhere else. It seems like ive reached an impasse and my motivation (which would be helpful) has dissipated rather noticeably

I suspect that few other workplaces will offer anywhere near the variety of potential opportunities.

Practice completing the applications?

[CharlieH89]

Do you have much belief in yourself?
Are you an introvert?

I see quite a lot of ex forces/ police come into the railway.
Conducting you can earn £29k basic + and driving obviously £50k + depending on where you are in the country.

You will clearly have the skills and experience having been on the front line for so many years. You should definitely have faith in yourself and ability to sell yourself. I can’t imagine a police officer who hasn’t been through 10x what the usual person has been through in their life.

[Swern1]

NDA said:

I would have thought you'd get into a sales job - mid 20's is still young.

Because sales is easy and anyone can do it

[xx99xx]

Local authority planning enforcement officer? You won't need knowledge of town and country planning (necessarily) but will need to know about PACE, dealing with difficult customers, evidence gathering, prosecutions, etc It wouldn't take long to get familiar with the relevant legislation.

[Gromm]

loskie said:

I work for a govt agency, middle management is littered with ex cops. Doesn't matter that they have no clue about the rather specialist(agriculture) subject matter we cover.
They do also have a habit of seeing everyone as a criminal.

Can you tell I'm not a fan?

You say it like it’s a bad thing

[Jakg]

Trendsetter said:

Which sectors (preferably not door staff/ security related) are particularly suitable for ex cops? Any businesses impressed with this type of experience? Or any ex cops who feel the world is a lot brighter after leaving the job behind?

Ignoring the transferable skills for a second, many companies who deal with the police see value in having ex-police staff to gain credibility with customers. Think training providers or similar.

[Gromm]

Jakg said:

Ignoring the transferable skills for a second, many companies who deal with the police see value in having ex-police staff to gain credibility with customers. Think training providers or similar.

Including security equipment manufacturers who employ ex coppers, forces in sales.

[carreauchompeur]

To the OP-

Definitely, definitely don't just jump ship. You'll regret it if you do, IMHO.

A few years back I took a career break- To be honest I was so disillusioned with working in CID that I fully expected not to return, and was intending to start a new life teaching in S America (Honest!)

After a brilliant 18 months skipping around the world, including an epic final 6 months with a semi-paid teaching role in the Galapagos Islands I began to consider that I wasn't quite ready to not do it again and came back in a completely different role on a rural response team. Now, nearly 3 years later I've built another string of experience and I'm in the throes of joining the Roads Policing Unit nearby.

A career break will give you the space to explore other opportunities, and the security of being able to come back.

Never get promoted too early, there's way too much fun stuff to do as a PC/DC.

[Trendsetter]

carreauchompeur said:

To the OP-

Definitely, definitely don't just jump ship. You'll regret it if you do, IMHO.

A few years back I took a career break- To be honest I was so disillusioned with working in CID that I fully expected not to return, and was intending to start a new life teaching in S America (Honest!)

After a brilliant 18 months skipping around the world, including an epic final 6 months with a semi-paid teaching role in the Galapagos Islands I began to consider that I wasn't quite ready to not do it again and came back in a completely different role on a rural response team. Now, nearly 3 years later I've built another string of experience and I'm in the throes of joining the Roads Policing Unit nearby.

A career break will give you the space to explore other opportunities, and the security of being able to come back.

Never get promoted too early, there's way too much fun stuff to do as a PC/DC.

A career break is definitely something I hadn't considered until this thread. I like the idea of getting a breather and being able to come back.

Really appreciate the advice so far. It's hard to look at things objectively at the moment so its good to hear different perspectives.

[fridaypassion]

My Mrs took a career break it's a great option that's available. It might be difficult to appreciate if it's been a first job and no doubt internally all the police will have the usual moans about conditions but the reality is that its a well paid job with very generous benefits. Not something to be given up easily. I cringed when I saw mechanic course forget about that straight away unless you want a life of low pay and poor working conditions.

25 world at your feet. Take your 12 month's career break. Shag your way around the backpacker trail come back chop the dreadlocks off and see hite different things look. A year is a long time in your 20s.

[Tomo1971]

Gromm said:

Depends how old you’re and what you fancy in life. You can always do a quick Open or your local Uni business, marketing or computer course or get a degree. If I were you, I wouldn’t venture far from what you've been doing for the past six years, so you could leverage on the existing skills and knowledge of the system, perhaps something to do with forensics or any other services where you’d work for a private contractor who is supplying/support plod like BT/NMC and where SC may be required. If you like coding/computers, there is a real shortage of skill in IT/cybersec and it pays well, or so I hear. In any case, best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

On a similar vein - Training provider?

I work in telecoms and many of the trainers that I have had for H&S courses / inductions have served in the force - how highly were you first aid trained - just as an example something you could develop.

[lewisf182]

I think the career break is a good suggestion, if it’s financially viable for yourself. It’ll give you clear head space as to what you want, will also be refreshing when you re-join and might provide a new opportunity to start in another role or at least a different manager? It could be the ‘unblocking’ event you seem to need?

Re ex police, we have a few at our company (parcel delivery) who work in loss prevention. Basically internally investigate thefts and fight against us being targeted by organised crime. It seems a pretty well paid job and i’d wager most companies like ours and indeed most companies in general have similar roles

[Defcon5]

With 6 years in you will go to the top of the pay scale next year - can you walk into another 40k+ job?

What force are you in? It will have units you have never even heard of if you have been on response since you joined. I’m going to guess you are lacking in investigative experience, which is why you are being turned down for moves to other depts, but could you try and do a secondment for a while?