Dr. Larry F. Jetmore, Career Advancement

Career Advancement with Dr. Larry F. Jetmore

In my column for PoliceOne, I share the expertise I’ve gained over years of researching, creating and administering every type of police examination process used to select and promote the people we entrust to protect us and enforce our laws. My articles are designed to help you advance your career and gain promotion by giving you a competitive edge, preparing you for excellence, teaching you how to achieve high scores in the examination process and motivating you toward success.

Unlike the private sector, which rarely uses civil-service-type testing to promote people, law enforcement uses a competitive testing process designed to predict who among the candidates will be most successful in performing the job. Opportunities for advancement narrow significantly at the higher rungs of the career advancement ladder. In our profession, often only one-tenth of a point separates those who get promoted from those who end up near the top of an expired civil service list.

Regardless of whether you'll be taking a written examination, an oral test, going through an assessment center or being evaluated on your professional training and experience, these articles will sharpen your test-taking skills. Get yourself a three-ring binder and place each article in it. My goal is to systematically provide you with the information you need to succeed.

However, be mindful that I can only show you the door and give you some of the keys to open and walk through it. It’s been my experience that success depends on hard work. Written above the door are the words “persistence,” “motivation” and “consistent studying.”

I didn’t achieve higher scores than my competitors on my promotional examinations because I was a better cop or more intelligent than they were. I beat all of them because I studied longer and harder, learned how police examinations were created, and I interviewed people who achieved extremely high scores and asked hem how they did it.