PSNI LAUNCH FRESH RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN

PSNI are hiring again – are you our next recruit?

The police say the search for more constables following the from the success of the “2013 campaign”.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the number of applicants in the previous campaign showed the enthusiasm that exists in Northern Ireland for public service.

“As someone who has seen firsthand the experiences and rewards that come with serving the community I am strongly encouraged by the interest we had in last year’s campaign and look forward to seeing more applicants apply in this next phase.

“There is no question that the recruitment process is rigorous however it has been developed to ensure that the very best candidates will go forward to be offered a place on the training programme.

“To ensure that potential candidates have all the information they need there are a number of familiarisation events currently running throughout Northern Ireland addressing all aspects of the process, including the Physical Competence Assessment.

“I would strongly encourage anyone who has thought about joining the Police Service of Northern Ireland to come along and find out how rewarding a career it can be.”

The application process is as follows:

• Candidates must complete an application form (on-line). You need at least 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at A* to C grade, including Maths and English Language. For equivalent qualifications check JoinPSNI.co.uk. An IT qualification is no longer required, but you do need to be computer literate. Your level of computer literacy will be established as part of the assessment process.

• Those applicants who meet the criteria are then invited to sit an Initial Selection Test (IST). This test is designed to accommodate a high volume of candidates over a short period of time, and uses an ability test developed specifically for PSNI to assess how well candidates use their critical, numerical, and verbal reasoning to deal with a series of problems. The test also assesses how well candidates deal with a series of situations that a police officer may be expected to face. Those candidates who score highest against the various elements of the test are invited to the Assessment Centre.

• The Assessment Centre consists of a series of exercises designed to assess how candidates deal with real-life policing scenarios. These are both interactive and written exercises, and are similar to the types of exercises that the successful candidates will encounter in training.

• Those who meet the required standard are placed on a merit list, and this list is then passed to the PSNI. At this stage there are five further stages to be looked at: medical; vetting; physical competency assessment; substance misuse testing; and online learning.

The closing date for applications for phase two is 5pm on June 20th.

Below are details of all the familiarisation events:

Monday, May 19th – Farset Centre, 466 Springfield Road, Belfast