Police Recruiting Insight: 3 Questions to Ask Applicants!

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You know how when you’re having problems in a certain area of your jurisdiction…you go out in the community and talk to a bunch of people and start asking questions so you can get things under control? 👍

Believe it or not…the same thing works for your police recruiting and finding more applicants. 🤯

Here are the three must ask questions for every candidate who walks through your door...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, I’m going to help you answer the question that is on most of your minds these days and that is “how the heck do I find more applicants?”.  🤔

You’ve tried everything, right?  Billboards, fancy websites, marketing packages, airport and bus bench ads, applicant generation systems, coaching programs and all of the other nonsense these outside companies keep trying to sell you on to help you accomplish this but here you are…in the same exact spot you started with a lot less recruiting budget left to show for it. 💸

How bout you give this a try…talk to your applicants. 🗣️

Novel idea, I know… 🤷‍♂️

Listen, they showed up at your door for a reason and each one of them holds the key to attracting more people just like them.  But the only way you’re going to gather that intel is by asking them! 💡

So…when you’re ready to do that, here are the three must ask questions you need to be asking of every single candidate in your background and hiring process…

1. What do you do now?

This is such a simple and natural question to ask, and you’ll find it really breaks the ice and gets your applicant talking right out of the gate.  Not only does this help with rapport building and getting to know your applicant a little bit…it also gives you incredible insight as to what industries your applicants are coming from. 📈

Trust me, there will be patterns, and they will also consistently change over time.  If you start asking this question, you’ll start noticing those patterns and will then be able to use that information to target individuals in those industries who are clearly looking to make a switch. 🎯

2. What got your interested in our agency?

Again, another great question to ask that will help you get to know your applicant a little better and what types of things they are interested in. 🙌

Aside from that…this question will give you incredible insight into what people are truly looking for…not just what you think they are looking for.  🔎

Whether it’s pay, benefits, specialties, family connections, or even just the fact that they like a certain landmark in your area and always wanted to work there, the information gathered here will allow you to effectively market your agency and attract others who will one-hundred percent feel the exact same way. 🧲

3. How did you hear about our opening?

As a Police Marketer, this is my absolute favorite question to ask applicants because it clears up very quickly and unmistakably, what advertising streams are working and which ones aren’t. 💨

If you ask the next 20 applicants who come in how they heard of your opening and not a single one of them says ‘I saw a billboard’…why on earth would you keep spending money on that means of advertising. 🤪

Just like with asking where someone works, you’ll notice patterns developing here with this question as well.  Use the information from those patterns to hammer your message home on whatever platform it is you are seeing.  That’s how you’re gonna win. 🏆

Need some more police recruiting insight?

My Road to Better Recruiting online recruitment training course is here to help!  It’s loaded with everything you need to understand today’s recruiting landscape and start filling those vacancies of yours with the same proven tactics and philosophy I’ve used at my own agency for the past 11 years! 💪

Get signed up now on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr and start recruiting like it’s 2026! 🚀

Know someone in recruiting who really needs to start asking these questions?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too.  Trust me, they’ll be super happy you did and I’d appreciate it too. 🤝

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

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👋 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.

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