Police Now Interview Questions & Answers

Asked about my main motivations for wanting to join the metropolitan police. This was also evident in a telephone interview I had had prior to being invited to the assessment centre. During the phone interview they also questioned my understanding of the scheme, what I thought it entailed and what qualities and strengths I thought I could bring to the role.

Following basic competency questions they then asked my opinion of the salary that was being offered for the job and my suitability to the obvious flexibility that would be required to work as police constable, mainly involving shift work. The phone interview lasted about 25 minutes with a member of an external agency who was taking notes throughout.

Describe a time where you have dealt with members of different ethnicities, genders and different age groups where you had to collate to work on a group project. What was the project and how did you cope working with others?

Really research the service in great detail, it's not about knowing who's who but more of what they do and how they operate. It really is about commitment and this is not like any other organisation and you have to demonstrate that will and desire to join. Ultimately it is about making a difference to society and that is what is required.

Know the ins and outs of the job, the specification and what you can add to it. Also research the police mission statement and know what you are saying can be related back to this important statement. All of these will be valued and show that you are dedicated, committed and have a burning desire to join.

During the assessment centre we were all assessed on an individual basis. The first part was an in-tray exercise whereby we were positioned in a room with a laptop for 75 minutes. During these 75 minutes we had to prioritise a number of different issues and write a report regarding the prioritisation.

The next exercise was a role play, we were given 10 minutes to prepare for the role play it was centered around the previous exercise and was based on issues within a fictional town but did represent real life situations. The role play was in front of two officers who were acting as assessors.

From the role play, the next exercise was to present my findings from my in-tray exercise to a fictional Councillor who was having issues that were mentioned. I had to prove to this individual that i had chosen to prioritise the right issues and achieve co-operation from them moving forward.

The penultimate exercise was testing that involved a laptop 2 x 10 minute tests. One numerical and one verbal reasoning, both were relatively straightforward and similar to those that had been completed before reaching this stage.

Finally there was an interview that followed suit to the telephone interview, reiterating my motivations for wanting to join, why I valued this unique programme and what I thought I could bring to the role. Again it was about my fit to the job and how they felt I would be able to handle different situations.