They Don't Accept You Based on Your Good Looks

May 11, 2009

No really, you don’t get accepted into a police foundation course in Ontario based on your good looks. You have to meet a whole bunch of criteria to get that far and, be aware, that if you do good on your courses and sit a spectacular entrance exam you have one more hurdle yet to come – the dreaded background check.

The check that is so thorough – background investigators probably know what size your skivvies are and they definitely know all about your neighbours and any past indiscretions in your life. This is without a doubt one of the most highly invasive things that will ever happen to you in your life. No stone is left unturned in order to find out about your character and acceptability as a cop. If that doesn’t scare you, then it should.

Do you hide things from the people doing the background check and maybe gloss over that stupid drunk driving charge you got when you were 18? Do you mention that you just about went bankrupt when you were 27 because you were trying to pay off your student loans? Do you let them know that you had a juvenile record, but it’s sealed and it was for swiping a pack of gum?

Well, all things being equal, tell them the whole shebang, warts and all. If you don’t mention these things and they are discovered later, this will not look good. Look at it this way, the background investigators are not all that wound up about some minor offense in your past, but they would be rather concerned about the fact you didn’t tell them.

If you are about to go through a background check, tell everyone you know about it. Friends, family, former neighbors, co-workers etc. and tell them you applied to become a cop and to be honest with the investigators when they call them. If someone didn’t like you, better they be honest about it and the reasons why.

There’s a lot more stuff you need to know before you can continue on with your chosen career and the best place to find out the kind of information that you need is Police Ready (www.policeready.com), your one stop police portal. From getting ready to being actually ready for your police PATI entrance exam, Police Ready follows your progress every step of the way.