Applied to be an Officer

[PearTree]

Turn around and run while you still can. Find a good friend who'll agree to sock you in the mouth the next time you're tempted to become a cop.

I second this. Stay away, far far away.

[VT1032]

CBP is hiring OFOs and I think there are ports in VT that have openings. Good money and decent retirement.

Can confirm CBP is hiring like crazy for the northern VT ports. I've seen them at a ton of local small job fairs and they had a table at the last medical readiness drill weekend with the VTARNG. I took a look at it. The starting pay is solidly in the meh category, but it sounds like it goes up quick and has good benefits.

[TC215]

Law enforcement will always need good people to apply, no matter what their background is.

That being said, it would be hard for me to recommend this job to anyone at this point.

[TGS]

Can confirm CBP is hiring like crazy for the northern VT ports. I've seen them at a ton of local small job fairs and they had a table at the last medical readiness drill weekend with the VTARNG. I took a look at it. The starting pay is solidly in the meh category, but it sounds like it goes up quick and has good benefits.

The thing with federal pay is that since federal employees work nationwide, the base rate will always look meh. There will be a bunch of modifiers to the pay, such as locality, and specific for many LEO jobs LEAP or AUO, which on their own can equal 25% on top of your base pay and locality.

A CBP officer in Vermont starts out making the state median pay for a Vermont police officer with a few years of service, and is making in 4-6 years what a VSP Trooper maxes out at the end of his/her career. Certainly not meh.

[schüler]

I worked 5yrs for a large university in a metro area. If I was to talk to 28yo me:

While your life may be in danger, you're definitely going to take years off your body's health if you do this right. Don't do it if you don't believe in and live for the community you're doing this for. It should be a calling, not an ideation of a idealistic, Curious George (which I was).

If you're sure this is the field for you, recognize which agency holds the best personal fulfillment in positions, assignments, compensation and retirement. Use the small town as a stepping stone and get to your ideal agency as quickly as you can without burning bridges. Take a look at Fed and State jobs.

Commit to the long term. Keep your nose clean, confide in close friends only and be a patient force in organizational change. Expect to deal with and suffer for the idiots in your chain of command. Be the same brother to others that you need - to vent, stay on keel. Balance work life with personal life. Maintain true physical strength and skill-on-demand. Don't live in the same area you work, esp. if you have a family. If you're not married yet... the job may widen your appeal to others but in reality narrows the field of people that can work with what you'll live.

If you have character, anger, douchebag or power trip issues then don't give the job a second thought. If you do and go ahead I hope you're permanently jammed up the first day. Otherwise you're in my prayers.

I was very active on patrol, in committees and with external affairs to help our officer retention. I was a classic burnout--100% fed up with mediocrity and poor leadership. I gave 7mo. notice before I left so my replacement could be hired and complete the academy. I swore I'd never work for the public sector again.

I met some of the best people I've ever known and the best supervisor I've ever worked for. I learned a lot about me, people in general, teamwork and how organizations/government work and don't work. Great experiences - everything from guns out to literally watching your back for agency people you were helping weed out.

Wouldn't trade that experience for anything but I would do things differently. First thing would be to find a good, realistic mentor. And have that long term plan in place ASAP.

[DpdG]

Thanks for the feedback. So if I was to continue to apply at different PDs, should there be a certain direction in my cover letter/resume?

I edited one of my existing resumes and whipped up a quick cover letter this afternoon, I feel like the only points I made were: "I have no experience in any of this but I want work with more meaning and I'm a student of self defense with the pistol, also I'm not out of shape yet."

I'm a cop in NH.

At the moment pretty much everywhere in the state is hurting for qualified applicants. The lateral poaching has gotten so bad that guest instructors at the state run academy are actively trying to get recruits to jump ship, and many midsize to larger agencies are willing to buy out rookie contracts that are common at smaller PDs. With that said, I would be very hesitant to emphasize the self-defense/firearms interest in a cover letter, for fear of coming of as a Tackleberry. Later on, I see no harm in mentioning it in oral boards as an answer to "how have you prepared yourself for entering the career field?" At the cover letter phase, it would probably be safer to emphasize civic engagement and your desire to better the specific community you want to serve.

On the plus side, the anti-LE sentiment has been much less prevalent than the national trend. The down side- the state-run pension system has undergone some significant changes. Last I knew, new hires are looking at 25 years of service to get 50% of the average of the their top 5 earning years. There's a lot more to it, but that's the cliff notes. The state truly embraces the thrifty Yankee spirit, so the money is not as good as states to the south, although it varies greatly from department to department. I highly suggest researching not only the starting base pay, but the structure for potential raises. Some use annual steps, some use pure merit based raises, and some (smaller) agencies only get COLAs when the town feels like it. For this reason, I would be very hesitant to work at a non-CBA agency.

One thing to keep in mind, most agencies are under 15 cops, including command staff, so the opportunities for high speed assignments and training are often few and far between. On one hand, cops get a wide variety of experiences and get to follow cases to completion. On the other, jack of all trades, master of none....

[MI Law]

So I stumbled upon a craigslist listing for a police officer position

Craigslist? That's new to me. Is that common for other places?

[ReverendMeat]

Craigslist? That's new to me. Is that common for other places?

It's pretty common.

[60167]

I'm a cop in NH.

At the moment pretty much everywhere in the state is hurting for qualified applicants. The lateral poaching has gotten so bad that guest instructors at the state run academy are actively trying to get recruits to jump ship, and many midsize to larger agencies are willing to buy out rookie contracts that are common at smaller PDs. With that said, I would be very hesitant to emphasize the self-defense/firearms interest in a cover letter, for fear of coming of as a Tackleberry. Later on, I see no harm in mentioning it in oral boards as an answer to "how have you prepared yourself for entering the career field?" At the cover letter phase, it would probably be safer to emphasize civic engagement and your desire to better the specific community you want to serve.

On the plus side, the anti-LE sentiment has been much less prevalent than the national trend. The down side- the state-run pension system has undergone some significant changes. Last I knew, new hires are looking at 25 years of service to get 50% of the average of the their top 5 earning years. There's a lot more to it, but that's the cliff notes. The state truly embraces the thrifty Yankee spirit, so the money is not as good as states to the south, although it varies greatly from department to department. I highly suggest researching not only the starting base pay, but the structure for potential raises. Some use annual steps, some use pure merit based raises, and some (smaller) agencies only get COLAs when the town feels like it. For this reason, I would be very hesitant to work at a non-CBA agency.

One thing to keep in mind, most agencies are under 15 cops, including command staff, so the opportunities for high speed assignments and training are often few and far between. On one hand, cops get a wide variety of experiences and get to follow cases to completion. On the other, jack of all trades, master of none....

I'm an ultra Tackleberry. I'll be the first to tell you that it's important to hide those traits.

[60167]

I worked 5yrs for a large university in a metro area. If I was to talk to 28yo me:

While your life may be in danger, you're definitely going to take years off your body's health if you do this right. Don't do it if you don't believe in and live for the community you're doing this for. It should be a calling, not an ideation of a idealistic, Curious George (which I was).

If you're sure this is the field for you, recognize which agency holds the best personal fulfillment in positions, assignments, compensation and retirement. Use the small town as a stepping stone and get to your ideal agency as quickly as you can without burning bridges. Take a look at Fed and State jobs.

Commit to the long term. Keep your nose clean, confide in close friends only and be a patient force in organizational change. Expect to deal with and suffer for the idiots in your chain of command. Be the same brother to others that you need - to vent, stay on keel. Balance work life with personal life. Maintain true physical strength and skill-on-demand. Don't live in the same area you work, esp. if you have a family. If you're not married yet... the job may widen your appeal to others but in reality narrows the field of people that can work with what you'll live.

If you have character, anger, douchebag or power trip issues then don't give the job a second thought. If you do and go ahead I hope you're permanently jammed up the first day. Otherwise you're in my prayers.

I was very active on patrol, in committees and with external affairs to help our officer retention. I was a classic burnout--100% fed up with mediocrity and poor leadership. I gave 7mo. notice before I left so my replacement could be hired and complete the academy. I swore I'd never work for the public sector again.

I met some of the best people I've ever known and the best supervisor I've ever worked for. I learned a lot about me, people in general, teamwork and how organizations/government work and don't work. Great experiences - everything from guns out to literally watching your back for agency people you were helping weed out.

Wouldn't trade that experience for anything but I would do things differently. First thing would be to find a good, realistic mentor. And have that long term plan in place ASAP.

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