Police officers are required to do a lot apart from enforcing the law, they are responsible for assisting the civilians, providing protection to vulnerable, ensuring public safety, keeping the criminal activity in check and many more police officer duties.
To get the job of a police officer, one needs to be physically fit and strong, knowledgeable when it comes to laws and constitution and skilled at enforcing law.
Most importantly, to get a police officer job, one needs a really good police officer resume! As a police officer you know all about public safety protocols and criminal offenders, but do you know everything about writing a job winning police officer resume?
Perhaps not, and that is why we are here! How to write a police officer resume and all you need to know to stand out. We will guide you about the format of the police officer resume, what to write in each sections, how to write it and some tips to make sure your resume is extraordinary.
Police officers and police departments shown in the movies are far from how the reality is, there is paper work and hierarchy for order and various other aspects that are important part of police officer duties.
But how do you write a resume for a police officer? Like any other professional, you need to include your skills section with the soft skills and policing skills, you need to describe your law enforcement experience and education along with the details of your training.
💡Some of the surprising numbers for the field of law enforcement in the USA are:
- 👉 798k Police Officers in 2020
- 💰 $72,179 average salary for Male Police Officers
- 💶 $63,777 average salary for Female Police Officer
(Source: https://datausa.io/profile/soc/police-officers)
These numbers are an indication that you need to be able to offer something more through your resume to land a well-paying job.
Before applying for jobs, you can refer to a number of job description to get an idea of the current scenario of job market for law enforcement officers.
Without further ado, let's talk about writing the police officer resume now!👇
Research the role
Before writing your resume, you need to do some research for your role. Explore your role, responsibilities, the law enforcement institutions, job description in the various job ads and everything in between.
When you research these things, you will get an idea of latest trends and how the job market is like. You can learn what are the usual expectations from a potential police officer or a job seeker with a law enforcement resume.
You should also note down the relevant keywords that you come across during the research as it will come handy when you get down to writing your police officer resume or public safety officer resume.
Law enforcement resumes should reflect discipline and dedication in addition to experience, skills and training. Without the discipline and dedication, being a successful police officer can be very difficult.
The research is not just for writing your police officer resume; it will also help you be prepared and have the confidence you need for when you sit and give the interview for the job.
Once you have done the research you can sit down to write the police officer resume.
Choose the right format
Writing a resume without an outline is confusing and for an outline you need to choose a format. There are various formats that you can choose from however every format has a purpose.
The functional resume format is for the freshers who would prefer to focus on the skills because of the lack of extensive experience or work history.
The reverse chronological order resume examples may show you that those profiles usually have notable work history and perhaps extensive professional experience.
The combination resume format helps focus on both the experience and skills, especially the transferable skills thus it is suitable for the candidates looking for career change.
For you, the reverse chronological order resume format may be the most suitable police officer resume format.
Once you have decided your resume format, you need to choose a theme. There are various themes such as minimalist, modern, traditional, visual etc. The theme provides the visual appeal for your professional police officer resume.
Include accurate contact information
Now that you have decided upon the theme and the format of your resume, get down to writing your police officer resume!
On the top of your resume, in the header, you will add your name in a slightly bigger fonts than the rest of the content.
Followed by your name will be written your contact number in the formal manner with the area code and spaces and parenthesis () and plus sign +.
After the contact number you need to include your email address. Mention the one that is formal and professional, one that you use for professional correspondence only.
At last you may mention your home address briefly however it is not mandatory unless you are applying for a job in another state or country.
Make sure the details provided in this contact information section is accurate otherwise the hiring managers will not be able to contact you successfully.
Write a compelling professional summary
After the contact information section, comes your resume summary. The professional resume summary should be written in bullet points. You should keep it crisp, concise and short.
Try to quantify the details wherever you can, in the resume summary as well as throughout your resume.
While describing the professional summary, mention your job title first. The professional summary is essentially the highlights and notable aspects of your profile as a police officer.
You should mention the total years of experience and a little background in the first bullet point. i.e. 5+ years of experience as a Sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department.
In the next 1 to 2 bullet points, note your most important accomplishments and key skills. Make sure you quantify the details with numbers wherever you can.
At last mention what kind of opportunity you are seeking and how you will contribute to the law enforcement department.
Try to complete the summary in 3 to 5 bullet points. Make sure the sentences are not too long.
You can also include any notable awards and recognitions in the profile summary.
Describe the professional experience
Your police officer resume has multiple sections such as hobbies and interests, additional skills and so on. However, the experience section is most important because it displays your skills, knowledge and competency which is very important while pitching your candidacy for the job to the hiring managers.
In the experience section, before describing each experience, note the job title and the employer police departments along with the period of time you were employed at each place.
Write the details in bullet points and try to keep the sentences short. Avoid any unnecessary jargon and wordy sentences with no essential information.
Now in your experience section you need to talk about the exceptional cases you dealt with or the challenges you faced and overcame. It could be cases of bomb threats, traffic incidents, criminal acts, emergency situations or emergency calls or even particular criminal investigations that were perhaps unusual.
Your usual and regular responsibilities as a police officer should also be included to reflect your work ethic and adherence to protocols. It also shows your dedication regardless of the nature of the tasks.
Such responsibilities may include canvassing near the crime scenes, attending calls of domestic violence, providing services for public safety such as protection during public events, being part of the foot and vehicle patrols in the assigned areas, upholding city laws, writing incident reports, preserving public safety and so on.
Some of these responsibilities may seem tiring or boring, some police officers prefer to be part of the action on the streets rather than writing reports and doing the desk work. However, mentioning all of it will reflect how dedicated you are and how well you contribute to the team regardless of your tasks.
You can also include any experience as court personnel or emergency personnel which is part of the law enforcement experience.
If you have ever been assigned to college campus where you helped the college students with their safety and security, you can include that as well. It shows you are compassionate, patient and good with children.
Chasing criminal offenders and conducting the criminal investigations are not the only important experiences in your police officer resume.
Include Your Training
Before joining the force, you must have had a training. You may have held the title police cadet. During the training you learn the basics of law enforcement. It could be anything from traffic laws and crime rates to on the ground training where you get to prove your competence.
All these details of your training is very important in your resume because without proper training you cannot get hired as a police officer meaning the training is one of the required qualification on your police officer resume.
Your training in police academy teaches you soft skills as well such as interpersonal skills which is important in the field. Especially when you have to interview the suspected criminals or interrogate the arrested suspects.
Note of the police officer training in your resume is a proof of your proven ability. Make sure to properly mention the details of your training in the police academy. This is extremely important in case you are an entry level police officer.
Include education
Not many police officers may have studied particular course or acquired a degree directly related to law enforcement. However, your high school diploma or any other highest level of education is important.
You should mention the name of your education institution and the name of your highest level of education degree or diploma or such in your education section.
Write the skills section
The skills section in your police resume should mention all your police officer skills as well as soft skills because both are important. For example, soft skills help you deal with the local residents, while the hard skills help you perform your job duties as a police officer.
Here are some of the police officer resume skills you may include in your resume:
- Following the crime scenes protocol
- First aid
- Following seizure procedures safety protocols
- Recording the preliminary investigation information
- Patrolling assigned areas
In addition you can also add some soft skills from this list:
- Communication skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Conflict management skills
Certifications
Any certifications and licenses you hold should be mentioned in your police officer resume under the certifications/awards section.
You can also include any recognitions and acknowledgements you received in your department.
These help you stand out from the department average. A police resume helps you with the job opening however a really good police resume impresses your superiors.
Extra
As an observant police officer you may have ideas to decrease the criminal activity, improve the first aid after the incidents in the field and make many such improvements in the field.
You can do all of this if you are able to stand out and get hired. For which, you may want to include some extra sections such as hobbies, interests, language proficiency and so on. These will earn you extra points.
Keywords
If you have referred to some of the police officer resume examples, you my notice they have many keywords.
The keywords need to be in your police officer resume because you need to beat the applicant tracking system or the ATS. The ATS filters the resumes according to the relevant keywords to the role.
Make sure you include the keywords sensibly without compromising the readability of your police officer resume.
When you are writing your skills, make sure to include all the key skills especially the ones from the job description.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your police officer resume should be informative and present your profile as a more than competent police officer. Here are some of the key takeaways:
- Choose the right format
- Include your training
- Include keywords
- Carefully choose the skills to include
The job market may be tough but with the help of this guide you will surely land a job easily! Good luck with the job hunting!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need a high school diploma?
You may need a high school diploma as the least required education level however you may want to confirm with the hiring managers for accurate requirements of the role you are applying for.
How many police officers are employed in the USA?
According to the labor statistics source (cited in the article), about 798k people are employed as police officers in the USA.
Do I need a driving license?
Most probably yes! You may need to drive your patrol vehicle for which you will need a driving license. You should confirm with the hiring managers as well.
