APPLYING FOR A ROLE
The recruitment process for police officers
Our work is of national importance. So it’s vital that our recruitment process is as thorough as possible. Learn more about the stages you’ll go through to become a CNC officer.
Search Jobs- Application form
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Firstly, you’ll have to fill out an online application form. This gives us all of the details we need to identify whether you’re eligible to go through to the next stage.
Please note, our application form does ask you to provide details about a wide range of topics. This includes information about your family, tattoos, business interests, financial position, and any previous convictions or involvement with the police (visit our Entry Requirements section to find out more).
- Shortlisting
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After submitting your application, we’ll shortlist it against our national recruitment criteria.
We’ll let you know the outcome within six weeks from submitting your application.
If you’re successfully shortlisted, you'll be contacted by our recruitment team, who will progress you to the online assessment stage. You will also be contacted by our Occupational Health team to begin your pre-employment checks.
- Teams interview
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The recruitment team will contact you before or after your online assessments to arrange a Teams interview. We'll ask you questions related to your application.
Your responses will then be scored against the role profile for an Authorised Firearms Officer (AFO).
If you successfully pass, we'll let you know within three working days.
- Assessment centre
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The CNC follow the College Of Policing online assessment process to assess your suitability to be a police officer.
This is split into two stages.
Stage 1 - The National Sift – this comprises 2 exercises:- Situational judgement test
- Behavioural questionnaire
You need to achieve a pass to progress to the next stage.
Stage 2 - The Online Assessment Centre - this comprises 3 exercises:
- Competency based interview
- Written exercise
- Briefing exercise
Applicants who successfully pass the online assessment will be invited to undergo a firearms assessment to test your dexterity and ability to take instruction when handling firearms.
- Pre-employment assessments
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As part of your pre-employment assessments, you'll be required to obtain a signed medical declaration from your GP and a signed opticians form. You'll also be asked to undergo a medical examination which includes a fitness assessment, which may be held at any point during your recruitment process.
- Conditional offer
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If you successfully pass our assessments, we’ll be in touch to make you a conditional offer. Once you’ve accepted, we’ll contact your current employer for references and begin the security vetting (more information on this can be found in our hints and tips section below).
As we carry out reference checks for the last three years of your employment, it can be a lengthy process. To help speed things up, we’ll ask you to provide all of the necessary information we need. If appropriate, we’ll also carry out military and police service checks, which can take up to three months to complete. If all of your references pass our checks, you’ll then need to have your fingerprints taken during your first week at the Corporate Learning and Development Department. These are used purely for crime scene elimination purposes.
- Initial training
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Now it’s time to start your initial 19-week training. This will be a residential course delivered by our Corporate Learning and Development (CLD) and Firearms Training Teams. You will spend the first week at our Headquarters, and then your training will be held at one of our delivery centres in Oxfordshire, Surrey or Cumbria. We'll cover all of your accommodation and meal costs, as well as some travel expenses.
The recruitment process for police staff
Our work is of national importance. So it’s vital that our recruitment processes are thorough. The application process will vary depending on which police staff role you are applying for.
Search Jobs- Application Form
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Firstly, you’ll have to fill out an online application form. This gives us all of the details we need to identify whether you’re eligible and have the required skills/experience to go through to the next stage.
Please note, our application form does ask you to provide quite a bit of your personal details about a wide range of topics. This includes information about you, your business interests, financial position, and any convictions or involvement with the police.
- Shortlisting
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After submitting your application we’ll begin shortlisting applications. Part of this process will include a telephone conversation with a colleague from our HR Resourcing team, to find out more about your application and experience and to talk you through the rest of the process. Your application and notes will then be sent to the hiring team for shortlisting against the role requirements. Once this process has been completed, we’ll let you know the outcome.
- Interview
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If you’re successful following the shortlisting exercise, we’ll invite you to a competency based panel interview. In relation to managerial level positions the interview stage will also include a presentation and in some circumstances a 2nd Interview.
- Conditional Offer
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If you’re identified as the successful candidate following the interview, we’ll be in touch to make you a conditional offer – this will be conditional based on passing our security vetting procedures. Once you’ve accepted we’ll ask you to provide all of the necessary information we need to start the vetting process. It can take a number of weeks for us to receive your Police Vetting and Security Clearance, but we’ll be sure to keep in touch with you throughout the process to keep you updated. Once we receive your clearance, we’ll then confirm your start date and send your employment contract to you.