So law enforcement has always been really interesting to me. When I was younger I had the opportunity to persue that career but I found a very niche job in construction that paid very well so I went that way instead. Now I’m 33 and found out my local town is in desperate need to hire. Would I even be competitive as a candidate? I’m not a veteran and have no degree. What I do have is 12 years of experience in following procedure and building fire protection systems to state building code standards. I’ve led whole crews of guys on projects and have experience in not only getting my hands dirty but filing paperwork and attending meetings focusing on hitting goals and working with large teams of multiple trades. My buddy is a cop in another town and told me if I don’t have first responder experience as an EMT and if I don’t have a degree or disabled veteran status than don’t even try. What are your thoughts?
Would I even have a shot at getting the job?
r/AskLE
Comments
My barber has no experience, no degree, and is not a vet. He’s in the process for multiple agencies, similar age. Just apply and let them tell you no, don’t be discouraged from someone else
Does the job announcement say it is required to have a degree be a vet or have first responder experience? If not then apply.
If you pass all the required tests, yes. The test is different for each state.
Your friend is dumb. Plenty of places would take you as long as you can pass all the tests and background. Especially past 5 years with lowered requirements. As you said they are desperate. 10 yeara ago wouldve been harder without a degree or military, many agencies dropped those requirments.
Youve shown you have a stable job, experienced with people, mature, and being older is fine, probably better for you and the dept. Thats more than most these days.
It’s all about how you sell your skills in the interview. In my experience, someone with your background and experience would be an excellent candidate.
Some departments require a degree. Some don’t. If the one you are interested in does not, you’d be a perfectly acceptable candidate. If they do, you may need to look at other nearby agencies with different requirements.
Good friend of mine had a degree that he did not use, was a manager at supplement company for many many years, at 35 he went to a police academy, came out got hired at a local department. Don’t let a mfr discourage you, go put in work keep your head up
A majority of police departments require no degree and no prior experience. They likely require a person to pass things such as a written reading comprehension test, a background investigation, some kind of physical agility test, a polygraph, a psychological evaluation, physical, interview and so on.
One of the detectives at my department with 34 years of experience was the girl at McDonald’s window handling out breakfasts at the drive through. She was about 21 years old and a few cops would go by in the morning to get coffee, an Egg McMuffin, etc. A couple suggested that she get a career as a police officer instead of handing out food and drinks.
A 33 year old person with a job history has a great chance of meeting any requirement at any state, county or local level other than required college hours. I think about 1% of state level jobs require a bachelor degree and maybe 15% require “some college” hours.
The rest want to know if you are a good person as far as background, aptitude and are honest enough to admit prior history on a polygraph.
I’m 19, have 3 years store manager experience, applied to a big department; currently in the academy I don’t see why not my class has a lot of 25-39year olds.
That is a weird comment from your buddy. The majority of new cops don’t have prior first responder experience nor are they a disabled veteran. The need of a degree will vary by agency.
If your background and drug history (if any) are good, I would encourage you to apply. You have stable long term employment and life experience.
We need good folks, good luck!
Go online and find out the minimum requirements for the job.
If it is what you want, go for it!
Largely depends on your area/state. In general most everywhere is hiring. Your prior experience working as a professional in teams and meeting deadlines will be good. And also I’m sure you have dealt with plenty of conflict. You are probably more qualified with your experience and life experience than most candidates today.
Bro, just apply and I know you’ll get the job sooner or later. Almost same thing happened to me (read my post). I passed my pallet B with 53 (got results today) and I’m applying to multiple agencies. Don’t give up, follow your dream.
I got hired at 35 with zero experience in emergency services. What was attractive about me was my various work and life experience. You dont need to know how to do this job to get hired. That’s what a 6-7mo academy, 400hrs of FTO and the rest of your career is for.
Dont let anyone stop you from applying. If you get hired, great! If not, at least you can say you tried. Good luck!
Non LEO
So opinions will differ from LEOs. I’m 25 with prior FD / EMS experience along with some dispatch experience. I’ve gotten four DQs from agencies due to “lack of experience / education”. I’m still in the application process with my city. It’ll probably vary by the location.
Hiring of people in their 30s is not abnormal. Put up good PT numbers, written exam scores, pass the interview, and not have any background issues and I don’t see why they wouldn’t hire you.
Your friend is wrong lol apply and see how it pans out, the worst that will happen is you get told no. I won’t say never but to date I have not heard of an agency who has EMS/QRS experience or Veteran as a requirement.
EDIT: try now before you screw yourself. Some places have an age cut off of 35/36.
Dude when I got hired all I had was sales experience and no degree I think you sound like a great candidate