Things Everyone in Your Police Recruiting Unit Should Know!

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When you work in police recruiting, and I don’t care what area of it you’re working in, there’s a lot of information coming at you on a daily basis.  It can be tough differentiating what you need to know versus ehh…maybe not so important! 🙃

Here are three things though that every single person working in your police recruiting unit must know at all times if you want to be successful in tackling your vacancies...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, I’m going to introduce you to the three most important pieces of information that every single person in your recruiting and background unit needs to know if you are anywhere near serious about filling those vacancies of yours. 💯

I know, everyone out there wants to talk to you about their proprietary applicant nurturing systems, how important billboards, websites, or recruiting videos are, or how your strategy is missing the mark and their system is the key to turning it all around.  I get all of those sales pitches at my agency too. 🙄

But you know what I’ve found out about recruiting over the past eleven years working in it now… the backbone of your success comes down to everyone involved being in the know in these three areas…

1. How many vacancies you have

Whether it’s ten, twenty, a hundred, or even zero…everyone in your background and recruiting unit must know how many vacancies, both sworn and civilian, that your agency has at all times. 🔢

This is what I like to call, ‘knowing your problem’.  Your problem is vacancies, right?  So, how on earth do you ever expect to solve that problem if most of the people working for you don’t even know what the problem is. 🤷‍♂️

Post that number, large and in charge, for everyone in your office to see.  😎

Talk about it…all the time.  🗣️

When you get everyone aware of the problem, they can then begin to take steps or make suggestions towards fixing it. 🛠️

And when everyone starts seeing that number decrease…watch out…motivation level through the roof! 🚀

2. Police recruiting testing/hiring dates

Do you want to know what the two most frequently asked questions are in all of police recruiting?  🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

It’s not “what’s the salary”, “when can I become a K9 officer” or some other specialty or even “where do I go to apply”, although you’ll get that one a lot. 👍

The two most asked questions are, “when’s your next testing date” and “when does the application period close”. ❓❔

Everyone in your unit better know the answer to those two questions…because applicants don’t want to hear “I don’t know, let me find out”.  🙅‍♀️🙅‍♂️

Remember, when you work in recruiting, whether you’re out there in the trenches as a Police Recruiter or not, people expect you to have all the answers.  When you don’t, it’s a direct reflection, in their eyes, of how your agency operates.  It’s a souring, “If they don’t even care enough to know when they’re hiring, how are they going to respond to my problems when I work there” type of thing. 🤔

This is incredibly powerful psychologically.  🧠       

3. Steps/Timelines for your process

Similarly, knowing all of the steps in your testing/hiring process and the timelines for each not only lets applicants know that you care about the questions they may have, it gives you an opportunity to do something even better…build a relationship with them. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

How’s that possible?  By being able to mentor and advise people on how to successfully navigate each step in the process…a real ‘we’re on the same team here’ approach.  Don’t sleep on how powerful this is with your potential applicants. 🤜🤛

When you invest a little time and knowledge into an applicant, you are building a very strong yet subconscious bond with them.  It’s why Run with a Recruiter programs do so well at making sure its participants go on to work for you and not someone else.  When you’re helping somebody, they feel connected to you and will reciprocate with loyalty. 🫡

Now that we’ve got the building blocks for your recruiting success established…how bout we take it up a notch and start laying the foundation? 👇

My Road to Better Recruiting online super course will teach you everything you need to supercharge your recruiting outlook, properly evaluate all of your marketing options (so you stop wasting money), and give you the knowledge you need to turn your police recruiting social media page into an applicant attracting machine all without having to rely on outside companies to do things for you. 🙌  

Check it out now by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr and start recruiting like it’s 2025! 💪

Know someone in recruiting who really needs to see this?  Share this newsletter with them so they can get everyone on the same page too.  They’ll be really stoked that 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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Have a marketing or recruiting topic you would like more info on? Drop me a message 📩 and let me know what you would like to learn! It might just make its way into next week's newsletter! 🤞

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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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