Behind the scenes assessments for Victoria Police applicants

Applicants undergo a range of tests during the application process, however, there are assessments occurring in the background, that you may not be aware of, that will also impact on your final applicant score. Let’s discuss!

In This Episode

00:40 – Start with the end in mind
01:40 – The Order of Merit Ladder
02:41 – The Yo-Yo effect
03:58 – What can influence your final score
05:08 – The main stages of the application
06:27 – What type of character do you have
06:50 – What life experiences have you had
07:00 – What is your work experience
07:39 – The type of people you associate with
07:50 – Your online social profiles
08:31 – Are you community-minded
09:14 – How do you weigh up
10:11 – Only the top applicants will get in

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Transcription

G’day, Russell here from Prime Motion Training. As you go through the Victoria Police application process, there are a number of tests that you need to contend with and I’m sure you’re well aware there are things like entrance exams, fitness testing, medical assessments that need to be done, a number of different interviews and so on. All of these things will contribute to your final applicant score.

But what you might not be aware of is in the background there are quite a few other assessments that are occurring to determine whether you or not you are a suitable applicant to join Victoria Police. So in this quick video, I wanted to discuss that issue in a little bit more depth with you.

00:40 – Start with the end in mind

Okay. So I think it’s important that we start with the end in mind and that is when you come to the end of the application process, if you have successfully completed that process you will then be placed onto what’s called the Order of Merit. Probably the best way to think of the Order of Merit is a bit like a ladder where there is a top of the ladder and a bottom of the ladder.

Now given that the process is a scored application, it would make sense that it’s referred to as an Order of Merit. Of course, merit being the best score or the highest score.

Applicants are placed on this waiting list hoping that they get a position but if they don’t score very well, they’ll be down at the bottom of this waiting list. If they score at an average rate compared to other applicants, they might end up in the centre here which is where most applicants will finish up.

Of course, if they’ve scored very well, they’ll be placed at the top of the waiting list.

01:40 – The Order of Merit Ladder

So importantly we have this threshold where if we can score well enough compared to other applicants and end up in this top section here, then we’ve got a very, very good chance of being selected and really it just comes down to how long do you have to wait before you are selected.

That will depend on how many squads are starting at the Academy at that particular time. Once the people who are at the top of the list are selected and go off to the Academy to start their training, that means that everybody else on the list can move up a couple of places.

Now, the catch is that if someone else comes along and finishes their application process before the next recruit intake and they have scored higher than you, they will go to the top of the list.

If they’ve scored a similar score to what you’ve achieved, then they’ll go somewhere here in the middle. If they’ve scored lower than you, then, of course, they’ll go below you on the list somewhere near the bottom.

You need to ensure you get the best possible score to have a realistic chance of being offered a position.

Will you climb the ladder or stay in the pool of candidates?

02:41 – The Yo-Yo effect

Going up and down the ladder as other applicants behind you join the Order of Merit is sometimes referred to as the Yo-Yo List because if we zoom in a little bit closer to where this threshold exists what happens is an applicant might end up in this position here where they’ve been placed on the Order of Merit and they’re a little bit of an average. They’re quite high on the list here compared to other applicants below them and around them, but maybe not quite high enough to get into that top percentage of applicants that will get the positions.

Now given that when people leave the list, everyone else moves up. The catch is that whilst you’re waiting, if applicants jump ahead of you then of course what happens is you get pushed back down that number of positions down the list. Again as people go off into the Academy, you move back up again. So you can end up going up and down, up and down, up and down and never actually quite be breaking that threshold here to get into the top percentage of applicants so that you will get offered a position.

So really, really important as you go through the process that you understand that there is an Order of Merit that we’re trying to get on to. It’s a waiting list based on score and we need to be in this top section to have any realistic chance of being offered a position.

03:58 – What can influence your final score

So let’s continue on now and take a look at what things will influence that final score that you end up with which ultimately determines where you’re going to be on the list, which of course, in turn, determines whether you’ve really got any realistic chance of getting in or not.

Okay so if this timeline was to represent the application process, here naturally we can assume that this is before actually starting the application. So before submitting an online form, expressing any interest to Victoria Police that you want to join the organisation. So this is before and this, of course, is at the end of the process. We’ll call that the OOM or the Order of Merit. Okay and that was that ladder that we were just talking about over here.

So back at the start, there are some things that you’re probably well aware that you’re going to need to do in order to get the application underway and complete it. The first of course is that you need to do an online application. So once you’ve submitted that online application, Victoria Police will conduct some fairly basic checks and when they’re happy with those checks they’ll then invite you to do the entrance exam.

05:08 – The main stages of the application

Now the entrance exam is obviously something that you go off and do a test. You got to turn up in person, sit in front of a computer and do the entrance exam. If you can pass that, you progress through the process. There are other stages that I’m sure you’re aware of:

  • There’s a video interview.
  • There’s fitness testing.
  • There are medical assessments.
  • Psychological assessments.
  • Psychological interview.
  • There’s also a panel interview.

There’s all of these tests or assessments that you need to participate in, in order to complete the application.

But what you might not be aware of is that there’s also, in the background, a whole series of assessments that are also occurring. Assessments that Victoria Police will make of you to determine whether you’re suitable and competitive enough to proceed through the application process and it’s these other things that you got to put the extra work into.

Ultimately, of course, we want to pass these tests and we want to get the best scores we can for each of those but we also need to show Victoria Police that we have all the skills and qualities and experiences and values to be suited to this role that you are applying for.

06:27 – What type of character do you have

So some of the things that will happen, in the background that you need to be aware of, is that they’ll be conducting some character assessments. Again probably not surprising, but it’s not as though you turn up for a character assessment test. “I’m here to have my character tested. Where do you want me to go?” It doesn’t work like that. They’re conducting that in the background.

06:50 – What life experiences have you had

It’s things like your life experience. What have you been doing in your adult life? What sort of experiences can you bring to the table?

07:00 – What is your work experience

Also very important is your current work experience and current work situation.

So if you haven’t been working for some years, it might be more difficult for Victoria Police to see you in a professional working environment, being able to tolerate what happens in a professional work environment, if you haven’t been in that kind of environment for some time. Sometimes people might go off and have a family and then decide to rejoin the workforce and want to become police officers.

If there’s been a big gap between when they were last in a professional working environment and the time that they apply, that can actually cause some problems.

07:39 – The type of people you associate with

Other aspects will be things like associations. Who is it that you associate with and what are those people like? What are their characters? What’s all their character and their reputation?

07:50 – Your online social profiles

Another really big one is your online profile. This is something that people overlook and it’s really important that your online profile is a good representation of who you actually are, your values and your character. Things like social media will give organisations like Victoria Police access to who it is that you really are because your real online profile is probably a better representation of who you really are than what it is that you present in a job application.

Your online profile is absolutely being assessed and it’s something that you should be very mindful of.

08:31 – Are you community minded

Another aspect that could be assessed in the background relates to your community. What is your community involvement? How community minded are you and is there any evidence in your background there, any evidence in your activities that could show that you are someone that is community minded. Which, is obviously a trait that you want to try and have if you’re applying to an organisation like Victoria Police that is very community focused and their whole purpose is there to serve the community.

If you can demonstrate that you’re someone who is very community minded and you’re actively engaged in community activities at various levels and it could be a number of things, but that will certainly help enhance your application as well

09:14 – How do you weigh up

All of these things are going on during your assessment. They’re weighing you up against a lot of other applicants and they’re ticking off all of these aspects in the background as well as asking you to go through those main assessments where it’s very obvious that you’re being tested, you’re being assessed. It’s all of these things that are happening in the background that will have a significant impact on your score.

Now if you’re doing well both above the line with the scores and assessments and tests and all those things that you do and you’re presenting well below the line, then you’re going to find yourself in a position at the end where you’re sitting up here at the top of that Order of Merit. That is absolutely where we need to be. If we’re not in that position, then the chances of us being selected reduce significantly.

Here are the behind the scenes assessments VicPol are doing

  • character assessments
  • life experiences
  • current work experience and situation
  • associations
  • online profile
  • community

10:11 – Only the top applicants will get in

I won’t get into percentages, but you need to be at the top of the list. You need to be competitive against the other applicants who may be applying at the time. Also when you’re preparing yourself to go through the journey, cover all of those aspects as thoroughly as you can to give yourself the very best chance of presenting well as you move through your Victoria Police application process. Of course, if I can help you with any of these stages, I’m right here. Just reach out and contact me.

Good luck with your Victoria Police application and wish you all the best.

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