Careers at Met Police
The Metropolitan Police is the UK's largest police force, with about 32,000 police officers and almost 46,000 officers and staff in total. It receives around a quarter of the total police budget for England and Wales and polices one of the busiest and most diverse cities in the world.
The Met Police is made up of departments including police officers and staff on the ground as well as support and office staff. It is organised into four business groups: Frontline Policing, Met Operations, Specialist Operations and Professionalism.
As expected with an organisation of this size, there is plenty of scope for career progression in interesting and exciting roles for employees with different backgrounds, skills and experience.
Types of Metropolitan Police roles
There are various roles within the Metropolitan police force. The three types of role that involve active policing are police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and special constables.
Police officers join at the rank of constable and can later go for promotion if they wish. Police community support officers build relationships with local communities, help reduce crime, support vulnerable people and help keep people safe.
Special constables are volunteer police officers. They wear the same uniform and have the same powers as regular officers, and commit at least 200 hours a year, about 16 hours a month.
Metropolitan Police Application Process
The Met says its police constable recruitment process takes around six months. It has six steps: an online application, the national sift, the online assessment process, the Met Assessment, pre-employment and vetting checks, and an offer of employment.
Met Police Online Tests
You start by completing an online registration and application form, which covers the Met's academic and personal eligibility criteria. The Met then runs a basic security check. If you pass, you are invited to the national sift, an online test set by the College of Policing with two exercises: a situational judgement test (SJT) and a behavioural styles questionnaire (BSQ). No policing knowledge is needed. This stage usually takes about two weeks.
Met Police Situational Judgement Tests
The situational judgement test is part of the national sift. Each scenario describes a challenging situation a police constable might face, followed by four possible actions. You rate each action on a five-point scale from counterproductive to very effective, judging each one on its own. The test is untimed but usually takes about 45 minutes. The behavioural styles questionnaire, the second sift exercise, is also untimed and usually takes about 20 minutes. Both are scored against the College of Policing's competency and values framework.
Met Police Online Interview
The online interview is part of the online assessment process. It has five questions about how you have dealt with situations in the past, or how you would deal with them in future, using examples from work or personal life. For each question you get one minute to think and five minutes to record your answer, and the whole exercise takes about 40 minutes.
The interview follows a structured format with a set list of questions, so every candidate is treated the same way. The questions are shown on screen and read out by a pre-recorded assessor video, and you record your answers online. If you pass the online assessment, the Met invites you to a separate, in-person interview focused on its values at its recruitment centre in south London.
Met Police Written and Briefing Exercises
The online assessment also includes a written exercise. You take the role of a police constable and complete an urgent written task for your line manager, using four items of information provided. It should take about 40 minutes, but there is a two-hour time limit. The third exercise is a briefing exercise: you read preparation material about some issues and then give spoken answers to questions about them, with one minute to think and three minutes to answer each one. It takes about an hour.
The Met Assessment
After the online stages, the Met Police application process moves to the Met Assessment in south London. You first have an interview focused on the Met's values. If you pass, you complete a medical with a registered nurse, including eyesight, hearing and blood pressure tests, and at the assessment centre the Met takes your biometrics and you complete the job related fitness test. Pre-employment and vetting checks follow, which usually take around two months, and then a formal offer of employment.
Tips To Get Hired At Met Police
1. Take Practice Tests
As well as practising interview answers, you can take practice situational judgement tests and personality questionnaires. They show you the format of the questions before the real sift, so there are fewer surprises on the day.
Where results are provided, practice tests are also an opportunity to spot any weaknesses and brush up on skills.
2. Do Your Research
Before going into any stage of the recruitment process, we'd advise candidates to do their research about what is expected of them and how they can improve their chances of success. It also helps to research the Met, the areas it covers, its main responsibilities and challenges, and any political or legal factors that affect day to day working life in the force.
3. Know The Competency And Values Framework
The competency and values framework (CVF), published by the College of Policing, sets out the behaviours expected of everyone working in policing. It describes the behaviours needed to be effective in a policing role and to uphold the Code of Ethics.
The national sift and online assessment exercises are scored against the CVF, which has three values (courage, respect and empathy, and public service) and six competencies, such as taking ownership and analysing critically.
4. Review Your Experience
Even if you have no prior experience of policing, you may have past experiences or jobs that have resulted in transferable skills that you can bring to a role in the Met Police. Take the time to review your past experiences so they are fresh in your mind ready for the interview stages.
5. Plan For Success
A commitment to excellent preparation can stand you in good stead for the application process. It is possible to take measures to familiarise yourself with the format and types of tests, the skills and knowledge you are expected to demonstrate, and the questions you might be asked.
Make sure you have a quiet space and a reliable internet connection for the online exercises, and plan your journey to the Met's recruitment centre in south London for the in-person stage. Good preparation is key to success.
