Police Officer Resume: Examples, Template & Complete Guide

If you are on the lookout for an admirable career choice, law enforcement just might be your cup of tea.

Is there a better feeling than knowing your job is a purposeful one?

As a police officer, you know people rely on you to keep them safe and to maintain the order.

Your friends and family will respect you for choosing this profession and you will feel proud of yourself because you are serving others.

Any municipality, city or country can’t fully function without good police offers.

So, don’t worry, there will always be jobs for you.

But just because the demand is high, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take the process of finding a job as a police officer seriously. A great resume can help you get a high-ranking job in the police.

As a police officer, you can expect to earn about 63,000$ a year, or about 30.5$ an hour and the jobs for police officers are projected to grow by 7% in the next 7 years.

Today, we will help you get a job you want so bad by guiding you through the process of writing a great resume that recruiters won’t be able to resist!

We will cover all the good and bad practices, the tips and the tricks, and the right and the wrong.

Let’s get to it!

Resume Example of a Police Officer

Additional Police Officer Resume Example

WRITING THE PERSONAL INFO SECTION – TIPS & TRICKS

Let’s start off your resume with the easiest section – the personal info section! You’ll see, here it’s very easy to understand what should and what shouldn’t be written.

Let’s go over the do’s and don’ts when writing this section.

Don’t skip this part!

Even though this is the easiest section, there are still some mistakes to be made!

Full Name

Any nicknames from high school or college shouldn’t find their way here. Also, make sure you put your last name as well as your first name.

We don’t doubt you knowing how to write your full first and last name, so we won’t waste any more of your time by explaining to you how to do it.

Profession

Always make sure to write the name of your current profession. If you want to narrow it down to something more concrete than a police officer, that works great with recruiters because they get a better picture of what your expertise is!

Photo

As someone who is applying for a position in law enforcement, you should be familiar with headshots and how to take them.

All you need for this section is a high-quality headshot and you’ll be good. Pictures of you working can work great too, but always double-check this by asking someone for a second opinion.

Just because you think a certain picture of yours is cool doesn’t mean that it is professional enough to be placed in a resume.

Avoid putting grainy, low-quality pictures or pictures of you with other people, as that will leave a very unprofessional taste.

Phone Number

Writing down your number can’t be that hard, right?

All you have to do is write down your full number. But you also need to keep yourself close to the phone in case the recruiter rings you.

Not answering a phone call regarding a job opportunity can only be saved by calling back the same day.

If you miss the call, you blew your chance, so keep your phone close and in the resume, write down the number you are actually going to use.

Address

This information doesn’t have to be written in your resume.

If the recruiter really wants to know it, he or she will ask for it later.

Still, it doesn’t hurt to put it there since some of them prefer knowing where their candidates live and whether they will need to relocate you or help you with transportation.

E-Mail Address

As with the phone number, the same rule applies here – check your e-mail regularly. If you don’t respond to it, the chances are that the job position is taken by now.

Always write down a professional-looking e-mail address which you are going to check at least once a day.

Social Media Profiles

Here a couple of types of social media profiles which you should consider adding to your resume:

• LinkedIn – a bigger and better look at your professional profile. Even though it might be tempting to put everything you ever did in your entire life in your resume, save something for your LinkedIn profile. On this social media, you have the space to explain everything you did or studied in full detail.
• Facebook – keep in mind that a lot of recruiters look for you on Facebook anyway, so you might as well link your profile in your resume. Keep your profile clear of any really unprofessional posts. This doesn’t mean that you should erase your private things, just the unprofessional and the eyebrow-raising posts.
• Skype – Some people still prefer to talk over it, and you might get an interview over Skype, so you can write down your Skype ID in your resume.

We don’t recommend that you write down your Instagram account, or any other social media which is highly personal and visual.

GUIDE ON WRITING THE SUMMARY SECTION OF A POLICE OFFICER

In this section, you should summarize everything you did in your career.

Try to be as concrete as possible about your motives and skills. It’s always a good idea to imagine how your friends from work might say about you if asked and write the things that come to mind (just the good things, leave out your weaknesses, you will talk about them during the interview if given a chance). Let’s look at the right and wrong example and compare them.

We see that the right example is much more detailed and provides more information to the recruiter. while the wrong one doesn’t really say anything useful.

A summary should be used to explain (or sell) yourself in a couple of sentences that best describe you, your career and your ambitions for the future.

EXPERIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A POLICE OFFICER’S RESUME – LEARN HOW TO WRITE IT THE BEST WAY

This is the most important part of the resume.

This is the part where you highlight where you worked/are working and what you’ve accomplished there. Take your time to write this section.

The things you write here should be as concrete as possible, the recruiters will appreciate that. Again, let’s look at a right and wrong example so you can get a better picture.

When we compare the two, the first thing we notice is that the right example is much more precise about the dates of your work.

Also, we notice how much more concrete your experience is described. Instead of saying “Performed patrols” it says “Successfully executed more than 100 patrols”.

This gives the recruiter a better understanding of what exactly you did.

WRITING AN EDUCATION SECTION OF A POLICE OFFICER’S RESUME IMPROVES CHANCES SIGNIFICANTLY

This is also one of the easier sections. All you have to do is write the name of your latest degree and where you studied to get it.

Just to be safe and to make sure you don’t make a mistake near the end of your resume, let’s dissect the following two examples:

On your first look, you will notice that the right example gives more information than the wrong one.

Not only did you mention your GPA (which should only be mentioned when it’s worth mentioning it), but you also included something extra (being a member of the International Association of Women Police).

PRO TIPS FOR WRITING THE SKILLS SECTION

Your skills section should have skills that directly impact your competence for the job.

Other than that, you might want to mention other skills as well. But not those that are irrelevant. You should definitely cover several sections:

• Police Officer skills
• Other skills
• Languages

By doing this, you make it easier for the recruiter to skim through the resume and check if you have the skills that they are looking for.

Keep in mind that some people have programs which go through your resume looking for skills as keywords, so really do put effort into mentioning each and everyone you have.

But be vary, writing down skills you don’t have just to hedge your bets is always risky and we don’t condone it.

As you can see, when we compare the right and wrong example, it looks more professional if your skills section is organized.

Believe us, your potential employer will thank you for making your resume easy to read.

FINAL TIPS & TRICKS THAT’LL ACT AS A CHERRY ON TOP OF YOUR RESUME

After reading all of this, you are finally ready to create your own amazing resume! But, before we let you get to it, let’s first go over some tips and tricks to cement your knowledge.

These tips and tricks are here to help you avoid making silly mistakes and to make your resume look even better!

Let’s take a look at them one by one:

• Include these main police officer skills – Police patrol operations, Law enforcement, Crime prevention, Responding to emergencies, Defensive tactics, Handling different types of weapons, Writing incident reports, Suspect booking and interrogation, Search regulations, Seize regulations, Traffic stops, Accident investigations, Criminal investigations, Crime scene preservation, Community relations…
• Don’t let your resume be longer than one page – A professional resume is always a one-pager. If you can’t put everything you want to put into one page, you didn’t narrow it down enough. Look at this from the perspective of a recruiter – would you read everything from every candidate? No, you would only look at the most important details, and if your resume is a one-pager, that means that only the most important things are written on there.
• Double-check your grammar – Always read through your resume before sending it. Ideally, ask someone who is good at grammar to take a look at it and correct it for you if needed. Grammar mistakes really leave a bad impression, and honestly, there isn’t an excuse for making one. If you want the job, you have to put effort into your resume looking professional.
• Keep in mind that the interview is the more important part of the process – Good job! You got a call from them asking you to come down so they can do an interview for you! Amazing! But, don’t count your eggs before they hatch. The interview is even more important than your resume, so make sure you prepare for it and be ready to present them the best version of yourself!

CONCLUSION

Like we’ve said, even though there is very high demand for police officers, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get that job.

The selection process should still be taken very seriously, and you should still put effort into writing a great resume.

Think of it like this, you are a great candidate, so you don’t deserve a resume that doesn’t present you in such away.

That is why we created this guide.

To help you present yourself as the best version of you. Hopefully, by reading it, you now know how to do it.

Looking for a job can really be a scary process, but if you know what you are doing and what the recruiters are looking for, that scary feeling won’t last long.

Now that you’ve seen all the right and wrong examples, all the tips and tricks and all the examples, it is time for the part where you will learn the most – writing the resume!

You know everything you need to know, now it’s just a matter of putting in the work.

Good luck and enjoy the process. We believe in you, that opportunity is yours!