Tips When Applying for Law Enforcement and Security Jobs

If you ever considered working in the many fields of criminal justice, the most basic employment can consist of applying to your local, Federal, or State law enforcement agencies or private security firms.  This can be a very time consuming process as some are longer than others depending upon the needs of specific departments.

In this article, I will be giving you some time saving tips that will give you a valuable tool when you go about submitting your applications. 

Most law enforcement agencies are going to ask you for the following information:

• Background
• Work History
• References
• Places you have lived
• Education
• Skills
• Criminal background

It is pretty self explanatory, however, in most cases they will want either 5 years or more of employment history, at least 10 years of what places you may have lived to the time your applying, at least 5 good references, and detailed events of your back ground to include dates, names, and phone numbers/.addresses of the past and present.

What I like to suggest, is creating your employment information cheat sheet.  This will be basically an outline that shows you in succinct order the information you’ll need on hand when you fill out an application.   You will want to start off with something that is formatted like this:

Name 

Date of Birth

SSN

 License and Address Information.

1.   Home Address:

1. Drivers License Number:  ( To include its expiration date)
2. Motor Vehicle License plate Number:
3. Model-Make-and Color:
4. Any licenses you may have and their serial numbers here. This will also include the dates they are marked to expire.

Example:

GA State Unarmed Security Guard License

License number:  901928521

Expiration Date:    09-2-2012

II. Work Experience  

A.  Five Plus Years Places of Employment 

1.      You would list the number of places you worked from the present job you already have down to your previous employment addresses, the final address being the oldest job you were employed too.  You will also put down the supervisor’s name of which you were under, the dates you worked from (if it is present leave it as such), and the contact phone numbers of your prior supervisor.

Example: 

The Omega Corporation

1289 Appletree Rd

Dune, CA 92130

Supervisor:  Alan Stone 

Phone number:  906-231-2903 

You will want to include any military service you have in this list, although as many departments and companies are different, most simply want you to put down what branch of service you were in and the dates of that service. 

Example:

Military-  USMC

Dates in service:  99 – 2003  ( Honorable)

III:  Education.

A.     Grade School and High School 

 In this section you will want to put in your grade and high school, their addresses, and the dates you first entered and left those institutions. It is also a good idea to put down the name of your principle and at least the office number to the school, even though that person may not work their any longer, there is a number a background checker can use to call the institution and verify your information.

B.     Your College 

If you attended a College or Trade school you will want to put down that institution’s address and contact numbers as well. 

IV:   Prior Court Dates, Tickets.

A.     In this section you will want to list to your best memory, any traffic citations you may have had, court dates if you have any, and their docket numbers. Most of the time, individuals applying should have nothing on their record except for traffic fines but if there is something more to your back ground, a list of dates and case/Docket numbers should be placed here for you will be asked to provide those.

V:   References 

A.     Persons That Know You

In this section you will want to list at least ten names of friends or co-workers who you may choose to represent you when an investigator goes through various persons that claim to know you.   In the same outline form, you’ll want to put down their name, address, good contact phone numbers, how long they knew you and their professions.

Example:

John Doe 

66785 Cardinal Court

Arlington, VA 22870 

Phone number:  901- 889 – 2121

Occupation:  Computer Technician

Years Known:  6 

This will be your information sheet that has consolidated names, places, addresses, phone numbers, and identification references that may be asked for you to continuously fill out, depending upon what department or company you are applying for.  Instead of shuffling for information, pulling out cards from your wallet and looking disorganized to the employment you’re seeking, you will have a concise sheet to examine and copy to their forms without the hassle of remembering odd dates or having to call someone for information.   

Most of the time, especially for law enforcement, there will be dual forms that will ask for this list of information numerous times and having it consolidated to one outline will save you a lot of time and head aches.

Please remember you should also do the following along with your outline:

.Make at least 10 copies of

1. Drivers license

2. Social Security Card

3. Birth Certificate (You will need your original for examination)

4. High School Diploma

5. Any License you have that may help you with your employment attempt.

6. College Transcripts (if any)

7. Your DD214 if you are prior Military

8. Prior Law Enforcement/Security credentials if you have those.

You will want to purchase a good folder to put these copies in along with a basic resume. I suggest putting your information outline on the left and your copies on the right, with a manila folder to provide your resume and cover letter as well.   You will also need to carry your original birth certificate as many departments and security companies will wish to examine it for authentication. You should keep in mind that some institutions will ask you to notarize this information, but as every department and company is different, you must be prepared to do so.

If you follow this organizational plan it will streamline your experience and decrease stress levels through this sometimes lengthy process.