Vent About DH

KenziK

My DH has been attempting to become a police officer the past seven months, the whole process is very intense and exhausting. We currently live in CT which is where he has been applying, but the past month he start looking at departments down South, including Savannah Georgia. I would say Savannah is at the top of our list when it comes to potentially moving, so I really want everything to go perfectly.

 DH recently finished filling out the 56 page application for their department and is getting ready to send it out today. I had helped him with the majority of the application and remembered seeing in the instructions that it says if he answers "yes" to any questions, he needs to explain his answer further on the back of that specific page. I ask him this morning if he had done that and he tells me no, he decided to type all the answers up on a separate sheet of paper because "it looks better" I could have strangled him right then and there. The police department's web site says right on it that if he does not follow all of the instructions carefully and completely, his application will not be processed, but he goes and does his own thing anyways. That's going to be an awfully big waste of time, filling out that huge application/typing up all the answers only to have it thrown out because he didn't follow the simple instructions. Ugh! Men

EricaOO

*Also a lurker*

 After YEARS of applying to various police departments, my husband finally got accepted and is currently in the academy.  I know how it feels to be frusturated, especially thinking, "my husband is so qualified and would make an amazing police officer!"  Be patient, encourage him to keep applying, and follow all instructions as written

KenziK

MelRC117:

*Lurker*

I work at a Police Dept and I know how competative things are for officer positions.  Any little thing that makes an applicant slightly less desirable, they can put them aside because they do have SO MANY PEOPLE applying.  You would think he'd follow the instructions to a "T".  I think we had like 400 applicants for the test (not everyone gets to test) for one process (this is done about twice a year) and we have sworn in MAYBE 6 from that process. 

 Thanks for the response MelRC117! I don't understand why he wouldn't follow the instructions perfectly, especially when he has already been through several stages of the hiring process for multiple police departments and knows how hard it is to move forward in it. He says this is the only thing he can see himself doing for the rest of his life, you'd think he'd realize he will get there a lot quicker if he actually follows the rules.

KenziK

EricaOO:

*Also a lurker*

 After YEARS of applying to various police departments, my husband finally got accepted and is currently in the academy.  I know how it feels to be frusturated, especially thinking, "my husband is so qualified and would make an amazing police officer!"  Be patient, encourage him to keep applying, and follow all instructions as written

 Thank you for the advice EricaOO! I really appreciate it, especially since we don't know anyone else who has gone through this whole process so no one really understands what we are going through  What area of the US do you live in? How many police departments did your DH apply to before finally getting accepted? Mine has taken written tests and had oral interviews for at least five different police departments and never got further than that. I'm  trying to push him and be as positive as I can, especially since the sooner he gets hired, the sooner we can talk about growing our family! 

CJS2011

If you think the application is bad, just wait until he gets a background packet.

bugandbibs

It's too bad your husband isn't mature enough to follow the rules. When I used to sort applications I never called anyone in who didn't fill everything out exactly. If they can't bother to follow the rules on the application, what other rules will they think don't apply to them as an employee? It's a serious red flag.

KenziK

This specific application is both an application for the job as well as background packet. They have an expedited process where everything is done in a couple weekends.

KenziK

bugandbibs:

It's too bad your husband isn't mature enough to follow the rules. When I used to sort applications I never called anyone in who didn't fill everything out exactly. If they can't bother to follow the rules on the application, what other rules will they think don't apply to them as an employee? It's a serious red flag.

 It's not that he is not mature, he's just been going through the whole process since April with several different departments, and he thought that it would make him stand out if he put in the extra effort to type everything out and make it look really nice instead of handwriting it. Fortunately he has a wife who works in HR and let him know right away it's not about making it look all fancy, they would rather him just follow the instructions. I'm sure you can understand getting a little desperate after having several doors shut in your face over and over again due to such a competitive position.

bugandbibs

KenziK:

bugandbibs:

It's too bad your husband isn't mature enough to follow the rules. When I used to sort applications I never called anyone in who didn't fill everything out exactly. If they can't bother to follow the rules on the application, what other rules will they think don't apply to them as an employee? It's a serious red flag.

 It's not that he is not mature, he's just been going through the whole process since April with several different departments, and he thought that it would make him stand out if he put in the extra effort to type everything out and make it look really nice instead of handwriting it. Fortunately he has a wife who works in HR and let him know right away it's not about making it look all fancy, they would rather him just follow the instructions. I'm sure you can understand getting a little desperate after having several doors shut in your face over and over again due to such a competitive position.

I understand the frustration, but it has the opposite effect on me. I would want to follow the directions to the letter, especially since they stated they wouldn't process the application if he didn't. Why should he be the special snowflake that creates more work for the application screener. Honestly, I do see it as a sign of maturity. I get that April seems like a long time to you, but it's like on here when people complain about not getting pregnant when they have been trying for 3 months. It's not reasonable with the applicant to job opening ratio. To me, there is a certain level of self involvedness that *he* doesn't have to follow the rules.

EricaOO

We live outside DC and my DH applied to about 6 or 7 departments in the area before he got accepted.  He would get very far in the process and then either be denied or simply stop hearing back from them to go for the next step   My DH would be the first to say not to give up, keep applying no matter how discouraged you get!