Career Change?

[G]

Police staff is possibly more depressing than being a police officer.

I want a change in career, I fancy just trying a new employer to see if the grass is greener, but if I'm true to myself I want something completely different.

I want something physical, demanding, active and something that includes excitment and risk.

I have been trying for ages to figure out how to get a job offshore doing anything, rescue boat to rig work, but it appears to be impossible to speak to anybody in the know.

Theres plenty of company offering to sort it for you for a fee though

[quote=G;1587536]Police staff is possibly more depressing than being a police officer.


nah mate-your forgetting the court pi$h that we have to do

h

you may get a couple (Sic. lots) of cases turned away. it seems about 99% of the work i do falls on deaf ears. eg you have a problem in this area if you dont deal with it it will get worse couple of months later have senior officers beating down the door panicing cos the thing i told them was going to happen has happened.
and then the work that i do do, i get no credit for! at all.

Gents I know that i am not the only one feeling bloody miserable about the whole situation and if the Scots have got it in hand for a big change then thats good news. If it wasnt for a mortgage and the usual bills that come with it, I think that the decision would be much easier. I feel that I have the entrepreneurial ability in me however on the other hand I dont know if I have the ability to risk it.

[Viney]

Get yourself a Ferrarai a moustasche and become Magmum Pi

[anna]

I dont have a police background and I know that you currently have a lot of over heads so I would seriously consider staying as long as you can to obtain the maximum amount of pension etc that you can be entitled to whilst setting yourself up in something else.

Use the time sat behind a desk to set your ideas into motion you say that you have entrepreneurial ability well start putting something together as a side line that say for any reason you find yourself out of the force (either willingly or not) you have a plan b. There is nothing wrong with exploring all avenues and perhaps doing all the ground work now whilst we are in the difficult "credit crunch" climate, when it changes you will be on the road to be able to make a move.

Rob,

Sorry to hear the whole accident/injury thing is getting you down. I can understand the frustrations of the job getting you down too, we all get it, I mean I could type for hours listing actual examples....................

I'm currently acting Sergeant on a pro-active team tackling volume crime etc, I've got 2 PCSO's attached to the team to do burglary re-visits etc, one is off with a long(ish) term wrist injury, and what I'm having to do with this person and your quotes (cut n pasted below) got me thinking...........

I have been advised by my supervision that I need to consider my future and what lies ahead.


Problem is I only transferred to the new force in Feb, have no active experience with them (Crazy) and now with my poor sickness record, I wont be able to speciailise until the 2 year slate is wiped clean.


Having read your posts I can't help but think it's convenient and expedient for your new force to "suggest" that you leave ("consider future.........."), especially as you rightly put it you havn't got any active/operational experience with them.

Remember it wasn't that long ago that they were £7MILLION pounds in debt and had to be bailed out by the chancellor. Supervisors in the Police service almost bully those who are off sick to return, partly because we have such a bad record/press of sickness. I mean I have to conduct regular visits to the PCSO off sick, and I am "TASKED" to ask him how we can prevent him being off sick again, (FFS, this guy broke his wrist at his personal safety training so it's a job on duty injury but he is under pressure to return ASAP and never ever be off sick again).

I was also in with the duty supervision who were talking about a cop who while chasing after a burglar caught on premises, fell over and dislocated a shoulder or elbow or wrist or something like that. It was obvious that the duty Inspector was under pressure from above to challenge this cop over his POOR attendance.

The gist of what I'm saying is that they don't know how good you are/or could be for them, so if they suggest to you that the grass over there is considerably greener than here then they are seen (in the eyes of the HMIC & home office) to be robustly tackling long term sick etc.

If I was in your shoes I would try and ride it out, take all the medical help you can to get your wrist back in action (even if I had to pay for physio myself), and hopefully you will be back on front line operational policing.

If you leave and in a year or two down the line you feel that the wrist has recovered sufficiently then it might be too late and you regret having left, but on the other hand if you stay and it gets better then fine. If you stay and it doesn't get better and you do decide to leave, then you've had so long being paid, contributing to pension etc, and you can use this time as others have said to prepare for the big bad wide world out there!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you considered using your Policing skills to good effect. Even though you are off sick you can still apply for Sgt's exams, and lets face it you've got the time to study!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

A prospective employer might like a !qualified for promotion" ex-copper. I was watching a thingy on the telly this morning called "heir hunters?????", a lot of ex-cops doing that, and it's sooooooooooo not office bound.

Solicitor, (using your law knowledge and a new degree), there are some ex-cops who although not fully trained/qualified are the legal reps who turn in custody.

"Hello I'm Mr. Robchester your brief. Look mate you're f*&ked I strongly advise you cough this one and plead guilty!!!!!!!"

Forget everything I just said, Viney's advice is better...................

Originally Posted by Viney

Get yourself a Ferrarai a moustasche and become Magmum Pi

Graeme, I do hear what your saying and yes I have been having exactly that from my supervision. To be honest, being so new in this force (only had 3 months in before I went sick) nobody knows who I am outside of the office where to be fair only one of the Sergeants gives a ****. I just feel that since the transfer, what I thought would be a good fresh start has been nothing but a protracted nightmare where it seems that everything conspires against me to actually do the job I came to do.

I did think of doing the Sgts exams but although I could probably pass part 1 with a lot of revision, I probably wouldnt pass part 2 as I genuinely feel that im getting very rusty at doing active duty. I had a very stop/start year last year with my previous force and by shoving me in the office it hasnt helped one bit.

Im gonna try and get to Harrogate next month for some physio to see if I can improve it. Oh and just lastly, the fed have been absolutely no use in all of this. I did lobby them quite a lot when I was put into the initial posting but they just seem to be toothless throughout. A good mind to chuck in my Fed subs too.

Originally Posted by robchester

I did think of doing the Sgts exams but although I could probably pass part 1 with a lot of revision, I probably wouldnt pass part 2 as I genuinely feel that im getting very rusty at doing active duty. I had a very stop/start year last year with my previous force and by shoving me in the office it hasnt helped one bit.

Rob,
As you're aware when you pass Pt1, you are automatically entered in the next PtII, usually in the Oct/Nov of the year you pass Pt1. This could work to your advantage.

I know of quite a few "desk drivers" who having successfully passed Pt1, go on to fail PtII at the first attempt, quite simply for the reasons you put - going rusty etc.

Those wannabe Sgt's knock down the Chf Insp's door with a request to be given the opportunityto gain said experience and the job HAS to help/support. For example I know of experienced DC's going back into uniform to act on a response shift for 3 months to cover the summer annual leave merry-go-round. Our licensing Sgt is off long term sick, they recently advertised for part qualified PC's to fill for 4 months. I'm acting semi-long term as my Sgt has broken his arm, damaged his back and going for CAT scans, but I'm also aware that if a fully or part qualified PC was to ask for some acting experience I'd be busted back down to that over worked, unloved, underpaid, member of the mushroom society. (keep me in the dark and cover me in sh*t).

If you passed Pt1 and then (ahem, cough) failed (cough) PtII at the first attempt, then it would be excellent ammunition to say to Chf Insp, I only failed because I'm stuck behind a desk and not getting the experience to lead a team etc.

The NPIA & OSPRE audit forces, and each force has a duty to help, develop, and support staff who seek advancement.

This could offer you a way to drive/force the issue of you getting back to frontline, and as you know how hard the Pt1 is and how much study you have to put in, it might offer you focus while you watch yet more re-runs of Friends interspersed with the Jeremy Kyle show.