If at first you don’t succeed….

Success in your chosen career, much the same as success in life, is gained through hard work, dedication and commitment.  The truth is, if you want something badly enough you will keep at it, you will keep developing and you will look for every opportunity to get the experience and skills needed to be successful.  I also firmly believe that it is also about how you deal with adversity and disappointment.  Are you going to take rejection in your application bitterly, blame everybody else, give up on your dream and walk away, or are you prepared to learn from the experience, to use it as a platform to help you to develop and grow to be better prepared in your next attempt.

I had the huge privilege of being a police officer for 30 years, it is undoubtedly a wonderful career, a chance to make a difference in communities but also in the lives of people at their most vulnerable.  With this privilege comes a great responsibility, a responsibility to be the best that you can be, to develop your skills and experience to best protect and serve the public on behalf of the service.  To do this requires continual learning, continuing growth and also continuing professional development.  Consequently, I think the journey begins right at the start, when you apply to join.

Selection is tough, the service rightly wants the very best people and talent from all of our communities. People who are selected can be proud of their achievement, they are joining what, in my view, is the best policing service in the world.  Many don’t get through, not because they are not good enough, but it may well be that they were not ready, not well enough prepared or did not understand the competences and values for policing that were being assessed.

At many points in my policing career I didn’t get the outcome I was looking for when I was unsuccessful in my application for a particular promotion or role.  A few years ago, when I applied in force for promotion to the rank of superintendent, I was unsuccessful.  In my feedback I was told I had given great evidence of the work I had done as a chief inspector but unfortunately the panel were looking for superintendents.  On reflection, I recognised I had not made the emotional and mental leap that was required.  I had not used my evidence to show competency and readiness for the role that I was applying for and therefore, rightly didn’t get through.

It would have been easy to blame others or indeed the process.  This type of negative mindset would serve no purpose other than to make me frustrated.  I would choose a growth mindset every time, asking myself, how do I use this experience as a platform to ensure success.  I applied again the next year, this time I was absolutely clear what I had done as a chief inspector and how this had prepared me for the rank that I was applying for.  This time I was successful.

I have been delighted to be able to mentor and coach people throughout my service, those seeking to join and those looking to develop themselves on their own career pathway.  In these sessions the conversation will often turn to a forthcoming selection process and they will ask for any suggestions or advice.

My advice, based upon my own experience, is first and foremost to make sure you are ready. Ready for the role that you are applying for but also ready for the selection process itself. You must know and understand, really understand the process and the criteria upon which selection is made. If you are currently applying to join the police service the College of Policing assessments are undertaken online, this will feel very different to a face-to-face process so being ready for that experience is important.  The competencies and values, which thread through the recruitment and selection process, are critical to success.  Candidates need to know and understand these, as well as the behaviours that are expected to be evidenced.  Before the day it is useful to have thought about how you can demonstrate that you have the competencies, values and the behaviours that the service is looking for.

Like me, some of them won’t be successful, and they will want to discuss what they do next.  First thing to remember is you’ve just had a great experience, an experience of the approach, the questions and also some brilliant feedback by which you can help to shape your next attempt.  If you are not successful, listen to the feedback, review your performance, understand how you will do things differently when you do it next time, be better prepared, practise, use the network of people around you to help you in your journey but most of all be positive, learn and grow.

As someone looking for promotion, for selection to a particular role or indeed looking to join the service you have a choice. You can prepare on your own, with whatever network of support you have available to you, or you can choose to invest in yourself.  Practice to Progress offers people and opportunity to boost their preparation and to maximise the chances of success.  This is delivered through candidates experiencing and practising a selection process that emulate, as best as possible, the one that they are about to face.

Development and learning comes from practice and experiencing how the session is conducted and, because it is led by an experienced associate, from the high-quality developmental feedback that is offered. This will give you an opportunity for effective preparation and help you learn, develop and grow ahead of your interview or assessment centre to maximise your opportunity for success. My advice would be to be proactive and to choose a growth mindset, experience the session before the day and give yourself the best opportunity to achieve the success you are looking for.