Police Hiring: Situational Judgment Tests - Service Orientation

When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.

There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.

1. Decision Making Skills

2. Communications Skills

3. Use of Power and Authority

4. Integrity and Professionalism

5. Sensitivity to the Team

6. Openness & Flexibility

7. Service Orientation

These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Integrity and Professionalism.

Examples of Service Orientation

There are many situations in law enforcement where your Service Orientation can be demonstrated. Here are some examples:

Giving Directions

Have you ever noticed when you visit Home Depot or Lowes how the staff have been trained to not only TELL you where something is, but they also offer to WALK you to the correct place.- even when you don’t need the help? This response builds customer loyalty and appreciation. The same if true of law enforcement.

In our example of clearing protestors from a restricted area, we pointed out how giving the protestors an alternative location that they can express themselves is a strong display of Service Orientation. An officer may choose to go out of their way to personally escort the citizens to the approved location. That is the best response!

Above and Beyond

You and your partner are having a cup of coffee on your break. A woman comes up to you and ask you if you know how to get to a building that you are not familiar with. You should ...

1. Tell the lady that you don’t know and are off duty at the present time.

2. Tell the lady to call 411 on her cell phone and ask.

3. Suggest to the lady that she look it up on her smart phone.

4. Tell her that you don’t know but are willing to help figure it out.

Choice 4 is the best response. If you want to pass the SJT exam, you better know this.

Serves Public Interest

A common situation that officers run into each day is when you are busy patrolling your territory and you observe a safety hazard, like a huge pothole. Fixing potholes is not a responsibility of the police department, but clearly, it is a problem of Public Interest. Taking time to call this into your dispatchers and getting them to advise the Street Department is the correct response to this situation.

Taking Pride in the Organization

Imagine that you drive your squad car through a muddy street that leaves the car looking brown rather than black and white. Do you take the time to get the car cleaned? Yes! Because to want to do everything in your power to make your department look good.

Volunteering for an open house at your department would be another example.

Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test

Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests

Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Service Orientation, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions where you need to rank 5 to 7 choices for responses.

Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.

Police Hiring: Situational Judgment Tests - Openness and Flexibility

When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.

There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.

1. Decision Making Skills

2. Communications Skills

3. Use of Power and Authority

4. Integrity and Professionalism

5. Sensitivity to the Team

6. Openness & Flexibility

7. Service Orientation

These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Integrity and Professionalism.

What is Openness and Flexibility?

There are many situations that will reveal your attitudes and abilities related to Openness and Flexibility.

How Open Minded are you?

Being open-minded allows you to explore new frontiers, discover new perspectives, and understand other people’s cultures and beliefs. Of course, it does not mean you will believe what they do—it only means you are willing to listen without arguing.

How adaptable are you?

The soft skill of adaptability is hugely important for employability in law enforcement. People who are adaptable will have the flexibility to change with changing situations, react positively to feedback from their boss, and work well in teams.

Staying calm under pressure is another positive aspect of adaptability. When pressure arises, some people would stand there like a deer in headlights, feeling confused and unsure what to do next.

Others might react by quickly thinking-up ways to tackle the problem they’re faced with and respond. This would be an example of good adaptability.

Do you consider alternatives?

This is a very important skill to develop in your career. How you react to situations involving the public and your partners will demonstrate this ability. When you come upon an accident that appears obvious who is at fault, can you think of alternative explanation that are not so obvious? When you are given conflicting orders by your boss, do you know how to present alterative responses to him or her in order to make sure you do the right thing?

Are you interested in learning new approaches?

People who are open to learning new things are strong in the trait of flexibility and openness. An example occurs when you join a new team. You may have had experience at a different organization that followed different processes or habits. You need to demonstrate a willing to learn to your supervisors and team members.

Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test

Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests

Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Openness and Flexibility, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions where you need to rank 5 to 7 choices for responses.

Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.

Police Hiring: Situational Judgment Tests - Sensitivity to the Team

When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.

There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.

1. Decision Making Skills

2. Communications Skills

3. Use of Power and Authority

4. Integrity and Professionalism

5. Sensitivity to the Team

6. Openness & Flexibility

7. Service Orientation

These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Integrity and Professionalism.

What is Sensitivity to Team?

If you played sports in high school, you have a good foundation for understanding the importance of good teamwork. In police work, there are many situations that demand a strong, positive attitude regarding teamwork. Here are examples:

1. Do you PARTICIPATE in professional activities as often as you can? Example: If your squad is holding a fund raiser, do you support your team by joining in?

2. Do you ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION FROM OTHERS on your team. Are you INCLUSIVE in your attitudes? Not everyone has the same strengths. How do you treat a weaker member of you team? Good teamwork requires that you encourage others to participate. Do you VALUE OTHERS on the team? These are all aspects of good teamwork that you will be tested on.

3. How well do you COOPERATE with others, including your supervisors? Do you seek ways to go above and beyond the call of duty, or are you quick to find excuses for not being able to perform.

4. Are you quick to OFFER ASSISTANCE to your teammates? This is an important attitude you must have in order to do well in police work.

Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test

Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests

Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Teamwork, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions where you need to rank 5 to 7 choices for responses.

Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.

Police Hiring: Situational Judgment Tests - Integrity and Professionalism

When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.

There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.

1. Decision Making Skills

2. Communications Skills

3. Use of Power and Authority

4. Integrity and Professionalism

5. Sensitivity to the Team

6. Openness & Flexibility

7. Service Orientation

These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Integrity and Professionalism.

What is Integrity and Professionalism?

The definition of Integrity is, “Integrity is a person's commitment to honesty, ethics, and doing the right thing, even when faced with challenges or temptations.”

As an applicant to becoming a police officer, you hear the phrase Integrity and Professionalism frequently used to describe desirable traits. But it’s not always easy to put these into action. An easy way for you to think about Integrity and Professionalism, is to ask yourself, “Will my Acton Make the Agency Proud?”

Here are some examples that display high Integrity and Professionalism.

• You are having lunch at a cafe and a citizen comes over and praises the work you do in law enforcement and offers to pay for your lunch. Taking favors from citizens is never a good idea as you don’t want to put yourself into some future compromising situation. High professionalism means turning this offer down.

• You are tasked by your supervisor with clearing an area of protesters. Ordering the folks to leave may be effective but does not give your agency the good look it deserves. Offering some guidance as to alternatives for the citizens in question is a good display of professionalism.

• You are giving a ticket to a driver who violated a recently installed crosswalk light. The driver lives in the neighborhood and does not understand why the new signal was installed. A professional response will offer some background and explanation to the citizen indicating that the city is working hard to make everyone safer.

• Your agency allows officers to keep their patrol cars over the weekend. But the rule is that the car cannot be used for personal trips. Since no one will know, you decide to take the car to the grocery store, perhaps to save fuel in your private auto. This would be an example of “lack of integrity.”

Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test

Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests

Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Communications Skill, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions with 5 to 7 choices.

Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.

Police Hiring: Situational Judgment Tests - Communications Skills

When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.

There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.

1. Decision Making Skills

2. Communications Skills

3. Use of Power and Authority

4. Integrity and Professionalism

5. Sensitivity to the Team

6. Openness & Flexibility

7. Service Orientation

These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Communications Skills.

Communicating with the Public

During your law enforcement testing and interviews, you will run into many questions about what good communications look like. Your first inclination will be to think about how and what should be communicated with the public that you are serving … or controlling. Indeed, it is very important that you be able to communicate clearly with the public, but there are other aspects you need to consider.

There are many ways to give an order to a citizen. “Get back!” is the simplest form. “Get back. We need room for the traffic,” is a more helpful form of the same command that adds the element of education. “Get back. We need to clear this area due to a security concern. Protesters may continue their gathering on the next block south.” This command not only includes the element of educating the citizen but offers an alternative. Offering alternatives, in general, is an effective method to ease tension. This is what good communication with the public looks like.

Communicating with Your Team Members

But communications also impact your relationships with your supervisors and teammates. Asking for help is one example. There are circumstances where you really do need help. Examples:

You are seriously sick. Do your teammates know this? Does your supervisor know this? It’s your job to make sure he or she does because dispatching you to a dangerous situation may endanger not only you but other team members as well.

• Failing to call for backups because you think you can handle a dangerous situation by yourself would be another example of a communications blunder.

• Even when you are willing to volunteer for an urgent task your supervisor needs done, if you are exhausted from days of excessive overtime, have the personal confidence to share that fact with your boss so that he or she can make better decisions.

Situational Judgment Testing will assess your communication skills and instincts in both external and internal scenarios. 

Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test

Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests

Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Communications Skill, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions with 5 to 7 choices.

Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.