join the police?

[matty-hodgson]

right.. i'm 16 next month, leaving school in may/june.. probably gonna go to sixth for and study Maths, physics and 2 other subjects, then hopefully go to uni and train to become a police officer.

is anybody here actually a police officer themselves?

is the job good? would you recommend it? what do you like about the job?
does anybody know anything about this new university points system, where certain grades at A level are worth a certain amount of points..

A: 2000
B: 1000

and you need a certain amount to get into certain universities.

something like that..

and does anybody know what course you take at uni for a police officer..
and do the police pay your tuition fees, similar to what the army do?

does anybody have any alternative job ideas?

my mock exam results:
Maths: A*
Science: A*
English: B
Geography: C
Systems & Control (electronics and mechanics): B
French: D
GCSE PE: A

[kidzer]

Do the Police send their new staff to Uni?

I thought they took you in and trained you 'in-house', but I can't say with any authority - I'm sure someone will come along and fill you in more soon

[Cozwin]

Well my sisters boyfriends a copper and hes studying for detective exam and tbh he seems really busy all time, only gets to see my sis twice a week and rest hes revising his ass off, i guess on good/bad youd have to see yourself but i do think your asking abit early. Go to uni and then choose what to do

[Mithrandir]

No experience myself, but just in case you missed THIS page, it might help.

[matty-hodgson]

Do the Police send their new staff to Uni?

I thought they took you in and trained you 'in-house', but I can't say with any authority - I'm sure someone will come along and fill you in more soon

i don't really know, all i know is you get a good pension, good wages, and it's a job in authority..
that's what i like about it.

[matty-hodgson]

Well my sisters boyfriends a copper and hes studying for detective exam and tbh he seems really busy all time, only gets to see my sis twice a week and rest hes revising his ass off, i guess on good/bad youd have to see yourself but i do think your asking abit early. Go to uni and then choose what to do

i don't really mind all the revising and stuff.. i do a lot of revision and coursework atm anyway, so if anything it'll be less, but more specialized.

i'd like to know what i want to do when i leave sixth form, which is only 2 years away..
'cause then i can study useful stuff, that'll help me when i'm older to get the job i want

[matty-hodgson]

No experience myself, but just in case you missed THIS page, it might help.

hmmm.. thanks pal
doesn't really have any specialized stuff on it though, which i guess is normal for a recruitement page.

[Guy]

i don't really know, all i know is you get a good pension, good wages, and it's a job in authority..
that's what i like about it.

The reasons you listed don't sound like you've fully thought it through as to what the job actually entails and are you committed enough to see it through. Please dont take this as personal criticism but 2 close people I know are well one of them was Police officers. My driving instructor was a Police Traffic Officer for 26 years, and I good friend I know has recently moved to being a plain-clothed detective. From talking to them, and doing some research into this a while ago, (Ive always wanted to be a Traffic cop) I found that for the work that is involved the pay is quite low, with both physical and mental drains to deal with day to day. They both have said that on good days its one of the most rewarding jobs, but on the bad, theres very few jobs that can equal it.

So maybe do some more research into it, if your school has a careers library start there.

On to the whole UCAS points from AS/A Levels etc.

Heres a table which shows how many points you get for what.

UCAS Tariff: Tariff tables

And after going through the whole Sixth form thing myself not that long ago, the advice I can give is pick subjects you enjoy/are good at then see what degree courses there are to do with those topics/areas.

[matty-hodgson]

The reasons you listed don't sound like you've fully thought it through as to what the job actually entails and are you committed enough to see it through. Please dont take this as personal criticism but 2 close people I know are well one of them was Police officers. My driving instructor was a Police Traffic Officer for 26 years, and I good friend I know has recently moved to being a plain-clothed detective. From talking to them, and doing some research into this a while ago, (Ive always wanted to be a Traffic cop) I found that for the work that is involved the pay is quite low, with both physical and mental drains to deal with day to day. They both have said that on good days its one of the most rewarding jobs, but on the bad, theres very few jobs that can equal it.

So maybe do some more research into it, if your school has a careers library start there.

On to the whole UCAS points from AS/A Levels etc.

Heres a table which shows how many points you get for what.

UCAS Tariff: Tariff tables

And after going through the whole Sixth form thing myself not that long ago, the advice I can give is pick subjects you enjoy/are good at then see what degree courses there are to do with those topics/areas.

i get what you mean there.. and i know a lot of people don't follow it through as a career for their whole life, but i want a job in some kind of service, possibly a fire-fighter, i know that'd be a very stressful job and probably quite difficult on a day to day basis, but you get good wages from it, i'm quite sure i'd be able to put my life on the line for other people, and at the end of the day, someone's gotta do it. soo.. if anyone has been or is in the brigade is that a good job?
any suggestions on what i could do when i leave as an alternative?

[Gerrard]

Armed Forces are a possibility. You can join as an officer if you want a career and authority. Personally would stay away from the Army unless you like sand. So depending on your view of water, that leaves the Navy or RAF.

[Salazaar]

My cousin, uncle and an old uni friend are all in the police, I don't think any of them did it for the pay or benefits. The pay's not bad at the lower end but IIRC it doesn't scale all that well if you were thinking of trying for lots of promotions. On that point, the main reason for getting a degree before joining is that you'll be elligible for fast tracking into more senior roles.

[IBM]

A friend of mine was in the voluntary constabulary while he was studying at university. IIRC they paid for his degree and most of his costs, plus a small salary, for which he actually had to be on the beat a couple of days a week. But as all police have to spend two or three years on the beat, regardless of entry position or qualifications, this all counted towards his career. Plus, once he entered the force full time he was part of the accelerated 'fast track' promotion scheme meaning he'd be on around £27,000 for the first year, then £32,000 the next year, £36,000 the year after that, £40,000 after that, and then if you wanted to earn any more you had to pass the tests to go up to the next rank. This was all about eight years ago though, so it might have changed....plus, it was uni and I was off my face most of the time so I might be wrong on the details

He loved it, I will say that, but you have to be very capable, very sociable, and very hardworking, and as has been said before, a bad day as a policeman has got to be pretty bloody awful.

If you're looking for interesting jobs with quick money, how about offshore rig worker? Lots of money to be had....

[Brucelles]

I have a friend who is a fire officer. In fact he is local head of the Fire brigade. He originally joined as it was a relatively low-paying job to start, and he was trying to ditch the parasitic bitch he got pregnant at uni. It worked eventually.

The thing is it is a physically demanding, buckets of testosterone, gallons of adrenalin job, at the front end. My friend absolutely loved it. He said he had never felt so alive. It is not all crawling up ladders, diving into burning buildings to rescue scantily clad young ladies and then heroically racing back to the cafe through the streets with the siren blaring; but close enough.

I happened to meet a fireman here in Brussels while out bar-crawling with my daughter and he also loves the job. He is well-paid and respected and only really feared for his life once in 12 years. (With me it's three times in 30 years, and I drive a desk).

So, while I know nothing much about it, I know that a fit young man will get all the excitement, respect and totty that he would want as a fireman. The only question that comes to mind is, what do you do at 50? Not all 50-ish firemen can become office wallahs, surely?

[SiM]

Do A-Levels in all three sciences and maths... Then do forensic science at uni... then make tv programme CSI:London

[schmunk]

If you're looking for interesting jobs with quick money, how about offshore rig worker? Lots of money to be had....

They're just glorified plumbers, aren't they?


/awaits entrance of Funkstar...

[JK Ferret]

I wanted to join the police when I was left sixth form, but I was told to wait longer, as they wanted people with more 'life experience'. The reason they gave was

There are going to be a lot of situations that you won't know how to handle yet, and won't until you experienced them.

(or something like that )


As for the armed forces, Navy vs Air Force: how far would you rather fall?

As an ex-cadet, I know something about the forces. (not much, but some )

Officers get less respect than sergeants, because officers can become so withoout working for it, while sergeants have to work their arses off to get there.


Finally, damn you schmunk, beat me to it!

But in response to IBM's post, has it actually been said/verified by Mario@Hexus?