Thanks for reading the Marketing 'For Cops' Newsletter. Want this newsletter delivered straight to your email every week so you don't have to remember to check for it? Join my Police Marketing Squad and I'll send it to you every Thursday morning! Always free, always delivering knowledge, and never spam!
When it comes to police recruiting, everyone is looking for the best of the best. But what if the best of the best, didn’t do the best of their best the first time around at testing? Wanna know how to get the best out of your previously thought of not so best? Keep reading! 👀
Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, we’re talking police testing and more specifically how to salvage really good police officer applicants in an area most agencies don’t even bother giving a second look to and that is those applicants who have failed your police testing. 😔
About a month ago, I had the privilege of attending my final all in one day initial testing event as a Background Investigator and Recruiter for the Glendale Police Department, if you haven’t heard, after twenty years of service, I have retired from life on the job to focus full-time on teaching you how to recruit like it’s 2024, but during this last testing event, I learned another big lesson that I just have to share with you. 🤯
Here's what happened.
After a fun morning of cheering on all of our applicants and as I was talking to one of my co-workers about how great everyone did...a young man came up to me with a gigantic smile on his face and hand extended out to greet me. 😁
Somehow earlier, amongst the group of participants I didn’t recognize him, but as soon as I saw him standing in front of me, I remembered him from testing a few months back when it was my turn in the rotation to address the small group of people who didn’t do so well. 🤗
I shook his hand, and he pulled me in for a hug...he was thrilled that he had passed. This young man told me that he took everything I told him a few months ago to heart...had been training and running every single day...and even went into detail about how far he was running and the exact paths he would run...he was so excited. 🏃
At the end of our conversation, he thanked me for believing in him and again shook my hand and hugged me as I encouraged him to show the oral board his stuff later that afternoon. 🗣️
It was in that moment right there, surrounded by the raw human emotions of somebody who just needed a little encouragement that I remembered why, years ago, I implemented a plan to address those who failed testing instead of just letting them walk away. 🤔
And that’s my lesson to you today...if you want to see good quality applicants, who will be committed to your agency long term and want to work for you and only you...invest in your failures. 💯
Here’s three ways to do that...
1. Encourage them
Much like I just told you about, don’t just let the people who failed your police testing walk off into the sunset. For PT testing, where we lose the most applicants to failures, we let our applicants complete the entire PT test, even if they failed the first event so they can get a good measure of where they’re at physically. 📏
So, at the end of the whole thing, we gather all of the people who didn’t pass testing and take them around the corner so we can speak privately with them. 😎
During this conversation, we encourage them to get working hard, offer some tips for training, let them know our testing schedule, and remind them of how awesome it is to be a Police Officer and all the great benefits both monetarily and spiritually they will gain from doing it. 🙌
I would then offer a chance for anyone to ask questions and then another opportunity to ask private questions in a one on one setting if they didn’t want to ask a question in front of the group. 👍
That one-on-one session is where I spoke to the young man from my story a couple of months ago and told him how to train for the mile and a half run to which he followed to a tee. 👌
Don’t just let your failures walk away...give them a reason to come back! 💡
2. Guide them
If you have a run with a recruiter program, oral board testing preparation, or even written test practice, make sure that the people who showed up and failed your tests know about it. Have fliers, QR codes or pamphlets ready at testing to hand out and don’t hesitate to give them whether they seem receptive to it or not. Remember...they just failed a test...they’re disappointed, they’re embarrassed, and the demeanor you are seeing is not really how they are normally. 😠
In addition, this is where those testing tip social media posts I’ve been teaching you about really come into play. Make sure that everyone who failed your testing is aware of your social media channels and encourage them to check out your testing tips and materials so they can do better next time. 💻
3. Check in with them
If you really want to make a lasting impression...reach out to those who failed a week or two later. You can either call or email them and just simply let them know you’re excited for them and want to see them back out at your testing when they’re ready. 📲
While you’ve got them on the line, make sure and answer any questions they may have, offer any tips or advice that will help, and reassure them that it’s ok for them to reach out to you if they need anything. 💪
This simple five minute or less interaction is worth its weight in gold in getting an applicant to ‘buy in’ to your agency. This easy contact can often times, as well, be the difference between an applicant following through on getting better or just giving up never to be heard from again. 💨
Ok...I’ve got one last bonus tip on this subject.
Don’t even think about trying to determine who is worth your time or not. Trust me...as a recruiter, they’re all worth your time. Even if you are never able to hire someone...the impression you make when someone is down is the difference between them recommending your agency to a friend who can make it though your process or telling that friend what an awful experience they had with you. 👎
Remember, we can all think that we know who’s gonna make a good Police Officer or not...but at the end of the day...no one knows. It’s all guesswork. Give yourself another chance at hiring good people by also investing in the one’s who didn’t do so well. 🤩
Need some more advice on how to fill those vacancies of yours but have no idea how to get started? My Road to Better Recruiting course is launching October 9th. 🚀
It’s loaded with everything you need to build a solid recruiting unit, analyze all of those recruiting options being pitched to you every day and will introduce you to attraction marketing and how to find those quality applicants who want to work for you and only you! Check it out on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr.
Know someone at another agency who’s been letting their testing failures walk away? Share this video with them, so they can learn too. Remember, we’re all in this together and it’s going to take all of us to change the future of police recruiting. 🤝
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
Did you find this newsletter valuable? Make sure to like & comment below. 👇
I'd love to hear from you! 🤩
Also, if you know someone who needs to see this content, please share my newsletter with them! I would appreciate the help in spreading the knowledge that will benefit us all and make our profession stronger! 💪
Have a marketing or recruiting topic you would like more info on? Drop me a message 📩 and let me know what you would like to learn! It might just make its way into next week's newsletter! 🤞
👋 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.
Want to learn more about police marketing and recruiting? 👇
🔔 Follow my profile
✅ Connect with me
🗞️ Subscribe to the Marketing ‘For Cops’ Newsletter
You can also connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, X, or visit my website at www.forcopstraining.com to learn more about my Police Marketing and Recruiting courses which will be enrolling soon!
Comments