Scenes of Crime Officer Vacancy

[mnadeem1984]

I need some help/advise. As you know from my other post, I was interested in joining the force (hi-tech department). However, I have had no luck in finding a vacancy. I recently came across a vacancy in my local paper as a scenes of crime officer. The job description was kind of vague:

If you relish a challenge, will work as an effective team member and have good verbal and written communication skills you may be just the person to join our small locally based team of professionals, providing a comprehensive technical and scientific support service to a varied, diverse and interesting Operational Command Unit.

The working environment is highly pressurised and can be emotionally demanding.

The post holder will be required to take photographs of incidents, scenes of crime, fatal accidents and attend post mortems. Recovery of fingerprints and all types of forensic evidence including DNA are an integral part of this role.

The post holder will be required to work on their own initiative, and is expected to attend court to give work-related evidence.

As a Scenes of Crime Officer you will be required to work shifts between 06.00-22.00 Monday to Friday and 08.00-16.00 Saturday and Sunday.

A Recognised Approved Qualification – Volume Crime Scene Investigator would be an advantage.

Applicants should possess a valid UK driving licence.

From what i can see, there is no relevant qualifications really needed, apart from the fact have the VCSI would be an advantage. Now I have a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering and also have good GCSE's, A-Levels.

I need help filling out the app. form. The part I am stuck on ask's me:

6. Experience, skills and capabilities
We are looking for evidence of skills and qualities that you have, or may develop, that are required for the post. You should provide examples from your past experience, which mirror the skills you would need to display in the role you have applied for. You should choose your examples carefully’ and feel free to use ‘everyday’ examples.
Please note that as well as examples from any work experience you may have, experiences from family, leisure and voluntary activities and from your time in education, will also be relevant.


Give examples of things you actually did. Avoid being vague.
Keep your response to this page only, do not go into unnecessary details.
Write clearly and concisely. Your skills of written communication will also be assessed on the basis of the answers you provide.
Please give details of your experience, skills and abilities demonstrating your suitability for appointmentCan you give me any tips please. Thank You

[Meridian]

You really don't like that question do you?


M

[Meridian]

OK, slightly less flippantly...


Both the jobs you mention here involve long periods of pain-staking work. Now the force(s) in question understand that it's pretty unlikely you've spent an hour combing a house for fibres, but they want you to tell them of some job where you have spent a long time methodically doing something. It could be anything: re-organising a library, building a car, but the emphasis is on the qualities they have set down. If both jobs are with the same force, you might want to try to think of different ones for each application.


M

[mnadeem1984]

Would something along these lines be alright:

I think I would suit this post because I have successfully worked in teams as well as on my own. An example of this would be whilst I was at university and as part of a team project, we had to design a robot. Most of the design work, both hardware and software was carried out by me.
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In terms of education I have a strong degree and excellent computer skills including the use of the Windows Operating systems, as well as many other Microsoft Products. I also have a good understanding of programs such as Google Earth and other Satellite navigation products.

I'm stuck as to what I should write and what I shouldn't. I mean what examples can i really give? At university I have had loads of thinking to do especially when I would research on any project??

Any help appreciated....

[MartinHP71]

Would something along these lines be alright:

I think I would suit this post because I have successfully worked in teams as well as on my own. An example of this would be whilst I was at university and as part of a team project, we had to design a robot. Most of the design work, both hardware and software was carried out by me.
.......................
.........................
.........................

In terms of education I have a strong degree and excellent computer skills including the use of the Windows Operating systems, as well as many other Microsoft Products. I also have a good understanding of programs such as Google Earth and other Satellite navigation products.

I'm stuck as to what I should write and what I shouldn't. I mean what examples can i really give? At university I have had loads of thinking to do especially when I would research on any project??

Any help appreciated....

I personally wouldn't use the term ME as it reads singular not as a team (Most of the design work, both hardware and software was carried out by me. ) Perhaps something along the lines, "As a leading member of a project team designing an electronic robot for undersea exploration I was responsible for delivering both the hardware and software elements for the team (what did the rest of the team do ? :D ). The software was written in machine code/pascal/C/fortran which required attention to detail to reduce development time and reduce bug corrections. All of this maticulas work was undertaken in a limited timscale to meet the need to timing dictated by the project.

Think about your time at University, were you part of a debating team ? Where did you show your own initiative, for example did you do work parttime and helped them restock a shop etc. ? Do you have a hobby which means you write the bible on top of a pin head (shows you are maticulas and dedicated)

Look for examples whereby you have stood back and looked at the overall picture and then taken active steps to solve the problem, which I presume is the sort of abilities they are looking for.

Hope this helps and be careful of the english as this is part of what they appear to be looking for because at the end of the day your REPORT in the future becomes vital evidence and writing something like "the blood stains might have been caused by X" is totally different to "the blood stains were caused by X"

Good luck

[mnadeem1984]

good advice mate. clearly helped me with my answer. I will write my answer, post it up and if you could, check it out for me.

Thanks again