Changing careers - Vic Police

[Golden_6]

I'm 22 and after working in a grad role as an accountant for the past 12 months, I'm coming to the realisation that it might not be the career for me. I'm just not enjoying the sedentary nature of the work and struggling to find any meaning or purpose in what I'm doing. I was always quite good academically at school so the expectation from everyone was to always head to uni and get a job that suited my academic strengths. As a naive 17 year coming out of high school, it's always a difficult concept to choose a long term career at that age without really having the experience to make such a decision.

I'm thinking about beginning the application process in an attempt to become an officer. Any tips or advice on the recruitment process would be handy? Or any knowledge about life as a police officer? Just trying to get as much information as I can so I don't make any drastic decisions without the right knowledge.

 

[Outburst]

I'm 22 and after working in a grad role as an accountant for the past 12 months, I'm coming to the realisation that it might not be the career for me. I'm just not enjoying the sedentary nature of the work and struggling to find any meaning or purpose in what I'm doing. I was always quite good academically at school so the expectation from everyone was to always head to uni and get a job that suited my academic strengths. As a naive 17 year coming out of high school, it's always a difficult concept to choose a long term career at that age without really having the experience to make such a decision.

I'm thinking about beginning the application process in an attempt to become an officer. Any tips or advice on the recruitment process would be handy? Or any knowledge about life as a police officer? Just trying to get as much information as I can so I don't make any drastic decisions without the right knowledge.

Stop listening to what other people want you to do or what you feel you should do due to what society pushes on you. Find what you like doing and pursue it. Don't just stay in a job cos you think it will pay well. That is the mistake I made. I'm 4 years into accounting, halfway through my CPA and ready to give it all up for a career/lifestyle change.
Start reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think & Grow Rich, The 4 Hour Work Week to give yourself an idea of where your thinking should be.

 

[palmomagpie]

I'm 22 and after working in a grad role as an accountant for the past 12 months, I'm coming to the realisation that it might not be the career for me. I'm just not enjoying the sedentary nature of the work and struggling to find any meaning or purpose in what I'm doing. I was always quite good academically at school so the expectation from everyone was to always head to uni and get a job that suited my academic strengths. As a naive 17 year coming out of high school, it's always a difficult concept to choose a long term career at that age without really having the experience to make such a decision.

I'm thinking about beginning the application process in an attempt to become an officer. Any tips or advice on the recruitment process would be handy? Or any knowledge about life as a police officer? Just trying to get as much information as I can so I don't make any drastic decisions without the right knowledge.

I'm in the same boat over here in Adelaide. Working in I.T but wanting a change and have started my application process for SAPOL. The main things I keep getting told are to get fit (gonna be a struggle for me), and to get my tattoos removed or find a decent way to cover them up (have some regrettable tattoos from my drunken adventures in Bali). I don't know what the policy over in Vic is for the police, but I'd imagine best thing to do is to hand your application as soon as you're 100% sure, because it takes about 5-6 months normally for processing. And get a first aid certificate if you don't have one

 

[VineyIsLORD]

I'm 22 and after working in a grad role as an accountant for the past 12 months, I'm coming to the realisation that it might not be the career for me. I'm just not enjoying the sedentary nature of the work and struggling to find any meaning or purpose in what I'm doing. I was always quite good academically at school so the expectation from everyone was to always head to uni and get a job that suited my academic strengths. As a naive 17 year coming out of high school, it's always a difficult concept to choose a long term career at that age without really having the experience to make such a decision.

I'm thinking about beginning the application process in an attempt to become an officer. Any tips or advice on the recruitment process would be handy? Or any knowledge about life as a police officer? Just trying to get as much information as I can so I don't make any drastic decisions without the right knowledge.

Big intake coming up in 2017 from what I hear so get on it quickly - last year's was comparatively smaller and more targeting women and minority recruits for quota purposes, 2017 is a much larger intake.

It's a piece of piss to pass the entrance physical and examination from what I hear. As a 22 year old you shouldn't have any issues there. Don't worry about choosing a long term career, though you could certainly do worse than police for a long term career.

Vic Pol is full of s**t blokes. And some good ones. Mostly s**t ones though. If you want a real career I would highly recommend looking into joining the AFP instead. They do way more fun s**t, and are far less corrupt.

 

[CrazyJoeFevola]

Vic Pol is full of s**t blokes. And some good ones. Mostly s**t ones though. If you want a real career I would highly recommend looking into joining the AFP instead. They do way more fun s**t, and are far less corrupt.

This. Make sure you join as a sworn officer, not a PSO or some other role, because you'll get treated like a sack of s**t.

 

[Allikat]

I don't know enough about the police app, but can only encourage you to change from your current career. Accounting never gets any better! It's the same thing every ******* month. I'm so glad I got out of it.

 

[Espe]

I can totally understand changing careers away from accounting. And if you hate it, 22 is still very young to pursue something you like. Just go for it.

However are you sure about policing? I was in a similar situation as you. I needed to change careers and actually applied to be a cop. i was 14 months into the process and failed my medical due to my eyesight. I look back now and im glad I failed as I dont think I really put enough thought into actually becoming a cop, I think I just saw it as an easy 'way out' of my career at the time, and a job that isnt just behind a desk, but failed to realise the realities of the day to day job a cop must do, on average pay - it takes a special kind of person. Thankfully i pursued another career as the chance came up.

Just don't apply because you feel its a way out, or a way out of the office. Being a cop isnt what it looks like on the tv shows. The shift work, the red tape, the paperwork, dealing with the lowest people of our society, putting your life on the line, seeing messed up s**t, the unexpected. You honestly have to do it because you love it, and have the natural skills to deal with these situations, hence why a lot of cops churn and burn. A good friend of mine is a cop, she loves it, but she is that special type of person. I realised I wasn't.

Id have a chat to anyone you know that is a cop, or even go down to your local station as I remember I had to at the start of my process, and just ask them questions. They will give you the 'real' answers.

 

[radiojake]

don't become a cop, they're all scum bags and even if you're not one (yet) you'll be ruined by them

 

[Nostradumbass]

Well this thread was an eye opener.

 

[craigos]

Have you thought about the fire service?
You don't actually say why you'd like to be a Police officer.

 

[IKnowtheDog]

Remember it was an Accountant who brought down Al Capone, not the police!!

 

[DidakDelight]

Being a cop isnt what it looks like on the tv shows. The shift work, the red tape, the paperwork, dealing with the lowest people of our society, putting your life on the line, seeing messed up s**t, the unexpected. You honestly have to do it because you love it, and have the natural skills to deal with these situations, hence why a lot of cops churn and burn. A good friend of mine is a cop, she loves it, but she is that special type of person. I realised I wasn't.

Id have a chat to anyone you know that is a cop, or even go down to your local station as I remember I had to at the start of my process, and just ask them questions. They will give you the 'real' answers.

Listen to this man. I know plenty of cops and when i finally catch up with them i hear a lot aboutit.

Negatives

Shift work
Risk of being transferred to shitsville for first 2 years.
Domestic disputes
Mental health
Paperwork
Delivering death messages to families
Suicides. Dead bodies.
Childrens deaths.
No time to do paperwork.

Positives.

Fun fun fun.
Comraderie.
Drive fast.
Hunt down criminals
Potential to earn decent money.
Around $100k after 5-6 years
9 weeks holiday per year more if you do a lot of nightshift
21% superannuation
Fun job
Lots of places to work i.e. Detective. SOG. K9. Aiwring. Search and Rescue. Water Police

Average recruit age these days is 28 i heard and it makes sense. They deal with so many dynamic situations that only people with real life experience would be able to handle them.





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[Eaglespur]

I love Melbourne (lived there for many years) but if you wanna be a cop move to WA. Paid way more

 

[Hamingja]

Average recruit age these days is 28 i heard and it makes sense. They deal with so many dynamic situations that only people with real life experience would be able to handle them.

In Adelaide recently the SA police were actually advertising hard for school leavers. Saying it is a job where you don't need life experience, earn while you learn rather than live poor and racking up a HELP debt etc. I was pretty shocked. Maybe they just throw the net out and hope to catch a few kids who would otherwise take scholarships for Medicine, Law etc and throw the tiddlers back, you'd hope so

 

[radiojake]

Saying it is a job where you don't need life experience

surely not

 

[Hamingja]

surely not

It was an ad on commerical radio.

There are many benefits to joining SAPOL as a Police Officer. Some of them are tangible, such as being paid throughout your training; others are to do with the rewarding experiences you'll encounter, such as making a significant contribution to your community and South Australia.

Is there any age restriction for police applicants?
The minimum age to apply is 18 years. There is no upper age limit. If you are a school leaver, there’s never been a better time to apply.

Can't find the ad itself anyway but that's from their website following the same sort of themes.

 

[radiojake]

you'd be recruiting absolute dregs straight out of high school

 

[craigos]

If you are contemplating this, hope to hell that you can move to the country for the first few years unless you are keen on walking around CBD areas every weekend night dealing with drunk/drug affected morons who will do everything they can to piss you off (especially if you look young/are female).

But be prepared to have to deal with real world Police issues like (as mentioned above) notifying people that their father/mother/brother/sister/son/daughter is deceased. This isn't a quickly delivered message either, you will be with them for probably half hour and this alone can seriously mess with your head let alone all the other aspects of policing.

Be a Firefighter, harder to get into admittedly but would have to be one of the better careers not requiring a formal qualification before an application is allowed.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

A negative I could see, besides the life/routine destroying nature of shiftwork, is you have to do shitkicker work (deal with drunks, break up domestic disputes, etc) for years before you can apply for any of the interesting specialised roles available.

PTSD rates are apparently through the roof for anybody who does it long enough too. Not a big event like if you're a soldier in a war, but 30-40 years of smaller events piling upon each other.

 

[sprockets]

 

[thejockey]

Correction Victoria. Easy work. Easy to get into. 90k+ straight off squad, if you want to work the hours. if you have balls and determination, good opportunity for promotion.

I was looking at this and got told it was around 55-60k at a start point ? obviously can do OT etc though

How long until you would be earning around 90k?

 

[DidakDelight]

Checking their payscales a senior constable base rate is a bit over $80k plus super.
Add in shift allowances and OT theres your $90k+
Senior constable is 4 years and 12 weeks after starting at the academy.


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[sprockets]

Checking their payscales a senior constable base rate is a bit over $80k plus super.
Add in shift allowances and OT theres your $90k+
Senior constable is 4 years and 12 weeks after starting at the academy.


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+ graft

 

[DidakDelight]

+ graft

Whey aye man!

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[DidakDelight]

depending on which location, you could get 90k straight away with OT. yeah its about 65k working standard hours. double time for any hours over standard fortnightly roster. If you get promotions or go into specialised roles, you can comfortably clear 100k. 5 weeks leave a year.

I think you'll find its significantly a lot more than only 5 weeks leave a year in Vic.

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