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Hi People_Rep,
Great note!
I know the blog has to do with the MMPI-2, but I want to take a little time to describe some of the people who I immediately put on the "no" list when they came through the prison looking for employment.
- The S-L-O-W talker. I don't mean, the guy who was thoughtful about his answers; I'm talking about the fella who took about 90 seconds to tell me his name and where he was from. Why did I not like this? Because if slow guy needed to tell me that an inmate escaped, was planning violence, or is otherwise involved in evil deeds... I need to know NOW. And face it; if you need 90 seconds to tell me your name and where you live, then what will happen if I ask you something that you'll really need to think about? A prison is a bad place for a slow guy.
- The people who told me they wanted a job with the State because of the benefits. Although it's a perk, don't make it sound like it's the primary reason why you want to work in a prison. Show some interest in the job, will ya?
-I swear to god, this happened. The guy who was in a wheelchair who applied to be a CO. Don't get me wrong, I am all for hiring folks with handicaps if they can do the job; but sending someone in a wheelchair into a building surrounded by violent sadistic offenders is not in anyone's best interest. Trust me, trust me, trust me. This fella would have won the Darwin award for certain. What does it say about his judgement? And if he can't keep himself safe, how can he be counted on to keep YOU (or other inmates) safe? A non-hands on job with inmates would have been a much better fit.
- The people who lied about misdemeanors on their legal records. Yes I have hired people with misdemeanors as long as they TOLD ME ABOUT THEM. I don't care if you were arrested in a bar-room brawl 15 years ago during college; in fact, I'm moderately impressed if you fess up and tell me you were young and stupid, but learned a lesson from it and never did it again (as long as you didn't). Don't think your criminal past will go overlooked no matter how long ago it has happened, and for the love of God, be prepared to tell me you were a weenie about it and have better problem solving skills NOW. Don't linger, just be honest and move on. BTW, your background report has all this info on it; the info doesn't "disappear" after x number of years. It's there, and I see it.
- The people who live an hour or more away, the people who are frequent job hoppers, the people who have such pre-identified potential problems that they are brought up in the job interview (ex: "I don't have a car and rely on my neightbor to drive me"; "I have to be out by 5:00 sharp everyday to pick up my kids at daycare"; "I have a medical condition and sometimes need to be off for a week or two at a time", etc.) Working a prison is not a normal 9-5 job; there are swing shifts, you are required to be there to watch the inmates (who's going to cover for you??), and if you are susceptible to stress/physical illness, this job won't be for you for the long run. You will get sick, and then you will quit.
See, I've done this for a long time. I know the red flags and how much paperwork is involved with removing an employee versus just not hiring them in the first place. Am I wrong about some folks? I'm sure I am, but as an employer I'd rather take the gamble on hiring someone who fits the profile as a whole as opposed to someone who has a huge gap in their profile. I'm not Superman, and I am not about "giving someone a chance". I am about hiring the best person for the job given the limited amount of knowledge I have about them. Working in a prison/law enforcement is an extremely serious matter; A mistake "to give someone a chance" could result in serious injury or death, and I'm not willing to risk myself. Or yourself.
On the upside? Once you're on "my team", I will protect you to the very end with every physical, legal, and emotional fiber of my being. Working in a prison isn't a job; it's a dedication. It's something that will be with you the rest of your life, and one wrong move can be a disaster. One right move can be a miracle.
My suggestion, sincerely, is to contact the agency that you had applied to and speak to one of the interviewers you had. Doesn't matter which one, and let them know you weren't offered the job this time around and that you'd really like to reapply. Ask the interviewer if there were any obvious weaknesses that you could work on improving in order to be a better candidate.
This impresses the pants off of people for a few reasons: (1) It shows that you have tenacity and REALLY want the job. You're not just some flake who applied for the job, didn't get it, and are moving on to work somewhere else. Employers LIKE someone who is dedicated to the cause. (2) It shows you have introspective qualities and are willing to accept constructive criticism to do better the next time around. DO NOT argue with the person no matter what they say about you, no matter how silly, misguided, or completely wrong the feedback is. Why? Because they can't hire you on the spot ("Jeepers, sorry, come on in you're hired") and they may need "proof" that they were wrong about you.
For example, many years ago I applied for a job with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in NY. I did everything they wanted, and received a generic rejection notice. I called the HR department and was told that the Discover Credit Card people had me as delinquent debtor for $57.00 that went back about 4 years. No kidding! I called Discover, had the matter cleared up, and reapplied for the same exact job in the same exact prison. Who would have thought? That's an example of something that I never would have known if I didn't ask - and also a situation where "evidence" was needed to clear up a weird mistake. Too bad I didn't know about this Discover Card issue a few months prior, because I just bought a new car and I'm sure my credit score (and resultant interest rate) was affected by Discover Card's "oopsie". Ah, those kookie credit card people.
But I digress. When you talk to your intrviewer, ask him/her what skills a great candidate can offer to the police department and how you can make yourself a more attractive candidate. Don't say, "what are YOU looking for" because now it's becoming a little too personal. Always look at the facility as if you're joining a team, beacuse that's what it is.
Honestly, People_Rep, it sounds like you may be a little hard on yourself. There are SO many reasons why a qualified candidate isn't offered a position that you are probably barking up the wrong tree. And don't forget, sometimes the interviewers aren't as invested in the process as they should be, either. It's a pain to interview people, a bigger pain to train them. If another candidate has prior job experience, a relative in the business, specialized college classes or training, has "veteran's credits" (comes from armed forces background), is asking for less money, or frankly their resume landed at the top of the stack due to a random toss of the mail sorter (versus a "priority one" situation)... well, those are all factors that can bump you. Don't be dicouraged!
I know this was way of the MMPI-2 track. Sorry!
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