It’s that time of year, and in case you missed it, I thought I’d share with you the gift of my 12 Days of Christmas YouTube playlist. In it, I cover 12 essential tips for police promotion success. They’re each only a couple of minutes, but will be time well spent, helping you avoid the common mistakes many aspiring cops make in preparing for promotion to Sergeant, Inspector, or beyond.
While I recorded these a couple of Christmases ago, they’re just as relevant today. Read on as I summarise each, including the related video itself, and share a host of goodies to unwrap along the way…
1. Preparation
Failing to prepare is the number one reason most cops lose out in achieving promotions. With structured and specific support however, your preparation can be effective, smart and aligned to the rank aspired to.
You’ll have prepared extensively for the exam; so why wait when it comes to the tougher step of your force promotion process?! Effective preparation will reduce your knowledge gaps and increases your confidence going into your board, putting you in a successful mindset.
Via Rank Success, I offer a wide array of the best, free police leadership and promotion materials in the UK, to help you on your way. Candidates have even used the free stuff to come top in their boards, defying the odds against significant competition. This could easily be you!
“I went into my board last week feeling confident & prepared & received news today that I passed.” – Richard, Passed Sergeant Board
2. Making Time
It’s tempting for cops with busy lives and working shifts to put off the work needed ahead of a promotion opportunity arising. Unfortunately, most officers simply don’t allow enough time to do the preparation, which reveals itself in a promotion selection process.
With tailored support, it is possible to do some targeted intensive work in the days and weeks leading up to a board. But that’s a harder way of getting over the line than making the time to do that work well before any in-force promotion process is announced. Shortly after passing the exam is ideally the time to start working towards the next step. After all, having qualified for the opportunity to do so, you know you will be taking it.
Consider for example the following quote from Henry David Thoreau, a 19th century philosopher, which still rings true today:
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
Making sure you work smarter, on the right areas that actually work, will ease ‘the burden’. One of these is your general time management skills to focus your attention and structure your days (as you did with exam study) so that you can get more done. For example, consider scheduling periods for preparation early in the morning, or when is best for you to maintain some focus and structure.
“I found the range of what you offer to be excellent, I couldn’t see anything else out there that was on the same level in terms of quality, range and depth of support. Yes I had to put the time and effort in but thanks to you I could enter the process with confidence.” – Lee, Passed Inspector Board
3. Evidence
Now you’re willing to prepare and have allocated some time, the first thing to do is start building your evidence, to support the case for you being considered for promotion.
You’ll already have a ton of experience under your belt demonstrating the competencies and values of the CVF which you’ll be assessed against. Now’s the time to start shaping that into meaningful evidence and examples at the rank and level you aspire to. And yes, I do mean write it down, even if you’re not required to submit an application form! Making it tangible, helps massively, otherwise it only exists in your head, along with a lot of other stuff and ‘noise’. Short, structured examples are a great starting point.
While compiling these, think to yourself:
What have I got? So what? Now what?
If you want some specific detailed examples of what good application and interview evidence looks like, why not download your personal copy of my rank-specific toolkits? My detailed Sergeant’s eGuide has over 60 examples of great promotion evidence, while my Inspector and Chief Inspector one has over 70 across the two ranks.
It’s helpful to see ‘what good looks like’ before working on your own evidence and examples. No need to beg or borrow a successful colleague’s application form and guess which examples scored well!
“Hi Steve, I bought your Inspector Masterclass bundle… I just wanted to say it really helped me move my thinking and evidence up a notch from the last time I tried. Money well spent. Thank you so much for putting it all together… I’m so happy to say I was successful! Kind Regards.” – Lucy, Passed Inspector Board
4. Know the Role
Tell me about the role you’re going for?
If you’re drawing a blank on this, that’s a gap right there. Knowing the role you’re applying for is imperative to promotion success.
The CVF places Sergeant, Inspector, and Chief Inspector at Level 2, so that’s usually where you’re assessed. However, aspects of the role at each rank are different, as I detail in my rank-specific structured toolkits.
In this video I summarise the role of each in a nutshell, but expand more in my premium toolkits (including handy mnemonics).
“…just remembering personal statement, role of Sergeant & PEEL stood me in good stead for my Sergeant board, I passed!” – Zaf, Passed Sergeant Board
5. Frame Yourself (CVF)
The CVF remains the current show in town when it comes to police promotion frameworks around the UK. So this video is all about familiarising yourself with it. In essence, learning to love the CVF.
The College of Policing have (quietly) announced they’re making slight tweaks to the CVF nationally. But the thrust will generally remain the same, the changes have been declared as marginal.
Some forces, such as Police Scotland and the Met Police, have a locally-tailored version of the CVF (also covered in my CVF explainer). Whichever your force operates, I recommend familiarising yourself with the essence.
I have also created a dedicated playlist of free CVF explainer videos on my YouTube channel to get you started. I’ve even started translating them into Polish, French, Urdu, and other languages! Like a deeper dive? You can check out my 3 hour CVF explainer video going through all elements of the UK-wide CVF, while also covering the Met and Police Scotland’s tailored versions.
“I started to watch the free videos on the CVF competencies, and it completely changed how I had been looking at it, finally making sense!” – Gemma, Passed Fast Track Process
6. Structure
So, you have the will to prepare, made time to pull your evidence together and understand the role, and you have familiarised yourself with the CVF. Next is to apply some structure to your evidence, to convey it in the form of a compelling story.
The College of Policing and others recommend using ‘STAR’ to convey an example of how you have demonstrated the behaviour in question. That is:
- Situation – Succinctly summarise the situation you faced.
- Task – Outline what you aimed to achieve. (The MET as for your ‘Objective’ here, which makes the structure SOAR slightly different to STAR)
- Actions – Describe in detail exactly what you did, your rationale, and how you did it.
- Result – Summarise what was the impact of your action and how it helped the situation in achieving your task or objective.
I instead advise candidates it’s easier to remember just three things (I cover the ‘rule of threes’ in my Interview Guide). This is especially under the mental pressure of a promotion interview, so PAR is an alternative. That is, Problem, Action, Result. That’s because the ‘Problem’ can articulate the situation and task at hand in one.
CARLI is an alternative version…You’ll find tons of detailed examples in my rank-specific digital toolkits, which offer a variety of structures to support your thinking and approach. Consider also my bespoke © ENAMEL mnemonic for interviews. This has been tried and tested by many successful officers and comes in handy particularly for more challenging or forward-facing questions!
“If I had to only mention one thing, it would be ENAMEL. This gave me the structure and confidence to face each and every question head on, knowing I had something in place to respond.” – Ian, Passed Sergeant Board
7. CPD
Your ongoing professional and personal development is essential to any police leadership position. CPD is a killer question for under-prepared promotion candidates. Consider for example the following practice promotion board questions:
- How are you improving?
- What have you done to develop yourself or anyone else in the last 18 months?
Taking ownership of your CPD, and for that of the people you will lead (e.g. through effective PDRs), is a clear indicator of the competency ‘We Take Ownership’. Reading is a helpful first step for anyone, so take a look at some of my recommended reading.
Want the ultimate police promotion and leadership CPD in a single, intensive day? Then why not join me early in the new year for my dedicated promotion masterclass! This includes a raft of leadership and process insights, a template to developing your own CPD plan, and why that’s important to have.
“…worth their weight in gold. It made my promotion journey that bit easier and helped me get the top score on my BCU. Steve and all the Rank Success materials were extremely helpful, even now starting out as a newly promoted Sergeant I feel it’s set me up with the right mindset in terms of CPD.” – @PoliceSkipper, Passed Sergeant Board
8. Seek Help
Having compiled your evidence into a decent structure, it is wise to seek help in getting some meaningful feedback before ‘landing’ it with assessors, be that in applications or interviews.
Be aware however, too many cooks spoil the broth. This means you may be confused by conflicting advice having asked too many people or worse, lose the essence of YOU in your conveyed evidence. Therefore I encourage you to ask just one or two people you trust to help guide you in the right direction and ensure that your structured evidence makes sense. Of course, Rank Success is here to help with tried and tested methods that work, whatever your in-force selection process.
When successful, ‘pass the ladder down’ to support aspiring cops especially those you’ll have the privilege of leading. Mentoring is a great way to develop your own leadership skills, while signposting other officers to a suite of the best free promotion materials in the UK is a quick win!
“I don’t believe I would have been so prepared without it. You highlight so much “food for thought”. The fact you provide so much for free is astonishing, and proves you truly care about helping others.” – Rachel, Passed Sergeant Board
9. Distil and Refine
An old saying when it comes to decorating a room is that 90% of the effort is in the preparation; sanding down walls and skirting boards, filling holes in the plaster, sugar soap, undercoats, and so on. However, it’s the final 10% (painting in your chosen colour) that has the biggest impact.
This is similarly true of your promotion evidence. You’ll have gathered your experiences, chosen the best examples, checked how they meet the CVF behaviours, structured them into stories, and even got a friend or loved one to check them over. However, the real impact comes when you distil and refine them.
For application forms, this means conveying the same amount of information within reduced and often brutal word limits. In readiness for interviews, it means verbalising your evidence to practice promotion board question prompts. Some forces even give bad advice and tell you not to do this. Imagine actors reading off script for the first time without any rehearsal or ‘takes’ at all!
Doing this with your personal statements is a also great preparatory exercise ahead of any promotion opportunity.
“I failed my Sgt to Insp board last year but this year got through with some strong evidence & structure.” – Iain, Passed Inspector Board
10. Emotional Intelligence
‘We are emotionally aware’ is one of the six competencies of the CVF, the behavioural framework you will be assessed against. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is considered a critical quality for any aspiring leader. What does it mean to you? How do you demonstrate emotional awareness in the workplace?
Rather than simply look through the descriptors of the emotionally-aware CVF competency, I encourage candidates to take a deeper dive on EQ and its importance. A good place to start is my two-part emotional intelligence blog. This outlines four component parts, as described by the EQ guru, Daniel Goleman:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Empathy and social awareness
- Relationship management
The four parts demonstrate clearly these are skills which can be learned. This breakdown may provide especially helpful insight for neurodiverse colleagues, for whom such competencies can otherwise seem somewhat nebulous and unspecific.
This CVF competency also tends to incorporate promotion questions relating to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). No doubt you’re aware by now of the importance of demonstrating your knowledge and practical commitment to such concepts, as a leader, manager, and supervisor!
“Being more self-aware, with an understanding of my values, has then made me a stronger candidate with no need to rely on buzzwords to try and demonstrate certain behaviours – I have no need because I can talk about my leadership with authenticity, because I am living it every working day.” – Dai, Passed Chief Inspector Board
11. Finding Inspiration
Finding inspiration is not just relevant to the CVF competency, We Deliver, Support and Inspire. When it comes to police leadership and promotion, if you are not inspired, you may as well stay in bed. Don’t bother going for promotion!
Inspiration can be found in many places, music, films, books, and in the stories of successful officers. I find each success story of individuals I’ve helped incredibly inspiring; as a part of my personal legacy to policing. You may also find inspiration in podcast interviews I’ve hosted with senior officers, who provide their own insights on policing and leadership.
Thinking about what inspires you is also valuable preparation for strengths-based interviews. So start getting in tune with what inspires you personally, motivates you, and what it is that you get out of bed for. Promotion boards will pick up on your levels of enthusiasm, high or low, which may ultimately boost or inhibit your scores.
“I downloaded your Sergeants Toolkit (at a discounted price thanks to your offer). You provide great inspiration and knowledge without which, I would not have passed my board first time. Thank you.” – Zed, Passed Sergeant Board
12. Managing Yourself
OK, you’ve committed to meaningful, effective preparation in advance as suggested in my other videos to this point. However, it can all go to pot if you don’t manage yourself effectively in the days leading up to the board.
This is about getting the basics right: Exercise to dispel nervous energy, eat some food and hydrate yourself. ‘Wind down’ with a film or something you really enjoy doing the day before. This helps the information you have accumulated in your headspace sink well into your brain. Last-minute cramming on the day before is actually counter-productive and is unlikely to be stored properly for recollection at your board.
I’d also include some more obvious aspects to get organised with ‘on the day’ right here. For example, allowing for traffic so you’re not late, even going to the toilet beforehand so you’re not distracted in the board. These are avoidable issues that can (and do) let candidates down at the last minute.
In my promotion Interview Success eGuide, managing yourself on the day is something I dedicate some time to, given its importance to your success or otherwise.
“I was up super early on the day, went for a run and focused on being confident in my studies and perpetration. Thank you so much. I will be recommending your services far and wide!!!” – Dave, Passed Inspector Board
Wishing You a Merry Christmas…
I hope you’ve found this set of short videos helpful food for thought to point you in the right direction. Of course, if you’d like to put yourself well ahead of the curve and the rising competition, take a look at my suite of premium, structured promotion materials to help you come out on top. As other officers have stated at various levels: “There’s nothing else like it.” As an added gift, use code RSGUIDES20 for 20% off all toolkits at checkout!
“Dear Steve, I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for your invaluable support, outstanding masterclass and interview package you provided. I am thrilled to inform you that, thanks to your guidance, I not only successfully navigated the board but secured a position within the top 5 candidates. Your masterclass and interview package were instrumental in boosting my confidence.” – Daniel, Passed Sergeant Board
Kind Regards, Steve