If you’ve ever sought to get promoted, you probably know the feeling that comes with preparing for it – the sense of not knowing what you’ll be facing come exam or interview, the jitters during the assessment, the dread of waiting for the results, and deciding what to do with your life if you did not quite make it.

Jonni Redick joins the Justice Clearinghouse to provide top tips and guidelines on how to effectively prepare for promotion. Jonni has 29 years of experience in law enforcement starting as a county clerical worker and broke glass ceilings as she rose through the ranks and retired as an Assistant Chief with the California Highway Patrol.

Specifics of this discussion zeroed in on the keys to success when it comes to promotional preparation.

• The importance of assessing your readiness based on…
  • Personal readiness to take on a commitment that can be physically and emotionally stressful and may temporarily compromise your relationships and activities.
  • Tangible work experience that places you competitively for the promotion.
  • Having good mentors, coaches, and sponsors that can provide advice and guidance, help establish goals and discipline, and support you throughout.
• Reflecting on the possibility of succeeding or facing failure, overcoming it, and trying again.
• The value in creating an inventory that itemizes all of your competencies, projects, and strengths to demonstrate the breadth of your experience and willingness for continuous learning.
• The value in forging a career development plan that incorporates your interests, short- and long-term goals, career development acquired and looking to acquire, and discussing this with someone who can be an advocate towards your career goal.
• The basics when preparing for the promotional process
  • Setting up a structure and discipline system for studying and preparation early on.
  • Familiarizing with the agency’s exam cycle, the eligibility to participate and requirements, and the elements of the exam process.
  • Identify the scope of what you must study, seek information from others who’ve taken the exam before, connect with subject matter experts to better understand the concepts, and consider study groups to help you prepare.
  • Understanding thoroughly what is covered in the examination bulletin that typically includes eligibility, timelines, duty statements, required readings, and exam processing fees.
  • Drafting your application early and having it reviewed by someone who can provide constructive feedback preferably one with a higher rank.
• Referring to the duty statements or expectations from HR as the basis on what to focus on when you’re studying and what to highlight during the exams and interviews.
• The components that should be present in your resume based on the rank/role that you are seeking.
• The different dimensions that your assignments, exams, and interviews responses are gauged upon.
• Tips on how to write detailed and effective yet concise answers for written assignments.
• Utilizing the Study Stacking Plan to help with the retention of massive amounts of information that you need to recall come examination time.
• Strategies to overcome shyness or nervousness during your oral interview by recording yourself or practicing with peers and soliciting their feedback.
• How oral interviews tend to be structured, the typical topics that come up, and how verbalizing your thinking process demonstrates your critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.
• The importance of starting early to allow you to have more time to prepare and structure things so things aren’t as compressed.
• Behavioral interview guides available on human resources websites to help you prepare.
• The common types of interview questions in an Assessment Center Approach and how to effectively answer these.
• Studying hacks like mind-mapping, creating acronyms, quiz cards, and constant practice that can help with recall and retention.
• Effective response strategies by including elements of prioritizing, delegating, planning and coordinating, tracking and monitoring, pre-, during and post- considerations, and other scenario-based factors.
• What to do before and after the exam and framing your mindset once results are out.
• Staying productive and growing your experience during the waiting time as a way to prepare for the next time you try again.

Questions from the audience are about:

• ‘Checking all the boxes’ specified as a requirement before testing.
• Using the concepts for criminal justice professions outside of law enforcement.
• Informal leadership initiatives you can take on.
• Formal education requirements for career advancement.
• Efforts to rethink and simplify the promotions process in law enforcement.
• Overcoming past black marks and moving forward to be eligible for promotion.
• Discussing specific experiences and weaving these effectively in your responses to an interview panel.

Other Webinars with this Presenter:

• Sept 14: Five Ways to Survive Promotional Preparation (this webinar)
• Oct 28: Five Things Highly Effective Leaders Can Do During Turbulent Times

Resources and Handouts (Paid Links)

• Handout: Career Development Plan
• Book: Survival Guide to Law Enforcement Promotional Preparation by Jonni Reddick

Audience Comments

• “It offered a great framework for structuring the study process. Thanks.” — Michael
• “I appreciate Jonni supplying us with the Career Development Plan. I will definitely be using this.” — Lauren
• “Having the perspective of someone who has gone through the process and laying out what to expect. For some in a subordinate position, it is difficult to get that kind of insight from a superior. The entire webinar was very informative and I took away a lot of good information, ideas, and strategies to move forward with.” — Robert
• “All of it was good. I really appreciated the breakdown of the development plan and how to proceed from that.” — Shawna
• “Very broad oversight of the testing process and preparation advice for it. The instructor was very articulate and understandable.” — Jesus
• “Great specifically oriented tips on the Oral Interview for promotion.” — Rodrigo
• “Minority Women Can Attain LEADERSHIP Positions!!!” — VICTORIA