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I know some of you out there are going to hate this and that’s ok…you’re just not ready yet.🤷♂️
But when it comes to applicant behaviors such as no shows, delays in the process or even not having all of their paperwork in order…you may want to start considering if that truly is a bad thing. I’ll explain this crazy notion in just a minute...keep reading! 👀
Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, we’re talking about applicant behaviors in your police hiring process and why you should start reconsidering your hard stance on certain actions that may not be exactly what you believe them to be. 😕
Now, as I said in the beginning…some of you are going to hate this. And you’re gonna hate it a lot. That’s ok…a couple of years ago, I was right there with you! You wanna no-show my interview? You’re out! Can’t get everything to me or I have to ask you a million times for something…clearly you aren’t ready for this type of career was my thought. So, I know exactly where you’re coming from when you say this is nuts, that can’t be right…
Then this happened to me…
I was working a guy for a civilian position…and we had plenty of applicants so there was no pressure to move forward or hire this one…but I reached out to him to schedule a background interview and after several attempts…I finally got ahold of him and got it all lined up for a few days later. 👍
The day of the interview…our scheduled appointment time of eight o’clock came and went and there he wasn’t. Eight thirty…still not there. Nine o’clock…nope…this guy is nowhere in sight. 👻
Now…following my normal custom I let it go and moved on with my day knowing I’d call him tomorrow to see what happened and if his excuse was good enough, we’d maybe move forward. The next morning, I gave him a call and no answer…had to leave a voice mail. 😠
Another day goes by and then he finally calls me…
This should be good, I thought.
I answered the phone as if I didn’t know who was calling and after confirming it was me…he confidently said ‘hey, sorry about the other day…I can come tomorrow if you’d like’. 😵💫
No sob story…no excuse…no offering of shame…just very direct as if nothing had happened. 🤯
Taken aback by the sheer nonchalant-ness of the whole situation I couldn’t even muster a, ‘what happened’ and to this day I still have no idea why I did it, but I simply agreed and set it up for the next day. 😲
The next morning came…
And he showed up. 😥
As we sat down for our interview, I was raring to ask him about the no-show…but set it aside and conducted the interview in a way that didn’t address the elephant in the room. It didn’t take long for me to soften up and actually start liking him. Very personable…super energetic…respectful, was finishing up his degree in another month and had bright prospects for the future. 🚀
Towards the end of the interview and once I was certain he was comfortable with me too…I finally asked him about it. His answer…changed everything that I though I knew about applicant behaviors. 👇
He told me that he was held over late the night before from his job and at the end of his shift they demanded he come to work the next morning for a special event they needed extra help for. 😳
He knew he had an interview with me, but he didn’t want to make his employer mad either because he really needed the job to pay his bills and for schooling. Long story short…he was caught between a rock and a hard place and didn’t know how to tell me…so he panicked and did nothing. 🙈🙉🙊
The moral of the story
Now…I don’t tell you this story to justify his actions, he still should have called…nor do I mean to tell you to overlook obvious and glaring problems with an applicant. Don’t ignore people who are lying to you about their past indiscretions or actions towards others or who are a complete mess where you’re bending standards to get them in. That’s not what I’m saying here. 🙅♂️
What I’m talking about is expanding your mind and realizing that the way things used to be done or evaluated for that matter aren’t set in stone and aren’t relevant forever. 💯
In this case...
I was dealing with a twenty-two-year-old kid with no life experience, know-how, or role models to follow after to say to him…hey, dummy…just call and tell him. It’s gonna be ok. 👌
The same thing goes with people who don’t call you back right away. Even if it’s days later, it doesn’t mean they’re not interested or flaky in anyway. You have to remember…especially with your younger applicants...that phone calls don’t rank very high on their priority scale. They’re generation text and it’s completely normal in their circles for them to call you when they get around to it. 📲
Similarly, when a younger applicant is struggling to get their paperwork turned into you…show some mercy and give them a break. Again, they’re from a generation where paperwork is not really a thing in this new digital age. Many of them have never even seen their birth certificate or social security card before let alone trying to get them all together. 😩
These are the kinds of things that you should start looking at differently. It’s one hundred percent ok to address it with them mind you…but don’t expect your applicants to know what is customary during a police hiring process. They have no-idea…and even the most what we would consider basic things are lost on them until someone fills them in. Be the person to do just that and you’ll start hiring the hardest working, dependable, friendly, go-getters your agency has ever seen…just like the guy I was telling you about. 😎
If you’re looking for some more philosophical changes that will make your police recruiting better…my aptly titled Road to Better Recruiting course has got you covered. We’ll address things just like I talked about in this newsletter that will open up a whole new world of police applicants you never knew were there. 👓
Check it out now on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr and let’s get you on the road to better recruiting. 💪
Know someone at another agency who could really benefit from reading this newsletter? Share the link with them so they can learn too! We’re all in this together…and they’ll be damn glad that you did. Trust me. 🤝
Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing, or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. 🙏
Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃
Tom
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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.
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