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Have a career which matters sussex.police.uk/jobs

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GUIDE TO BECOMING A CONTACT OFFICER

Contact ofcers play a critical role in keeping Sussex safe. Handling a huge variety of emergency 999 calls,

non-emergency 101 calls, online and social media communications; this is a fulflling career where you are

often the frst point of contact for those in our community.

This guide aims to provide you with all you need to know about the role, the application process and to answer the

more commonly asked questions we receive.

1. BEING A CONTACT OFFICER

2. ELIGIBILITY

3. APPLICATION PROCESS

4. TRAINING AND PROGRESSION

5. CONCERNS ABOUT APPLYING

6. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS

1. BEING A CONTACT OFFICER

When the going gets tough, our contact officers are

there to help. Whether it’s taking a report of a missing person, responding to a burglary or supporting someone in crisis; you play a vital role in helping keep our communities safe, identifying and protecting the most vulnerable and preventing harm.

Working in a fast-paced, 24/7 environment, being a contact ofcer is a demanding role where you need to be comfortable working under pressure, patient and problem-solve. You’ll be the sort of person who relishes a challenge. Thinking quickly is imperative. As is multi-tasking. Responding to calls, asking the right questions, listening for vital details and recording information; all while monitoring two screens.

You’ll fnd yourself engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds so you’ll need to be able to build rapport quickly, show empathy and communicate clearly at all times. Enquiries can range greatly, including some of the most difcult situations you can think of. You’ll need to fnd the balance between compassion and not becoming emotionally involved; having the resilience to deal with the rough and the smooth on a daily basis. However, you will always be supported.

Our contact ofcers are an integral part of our frontline, supporting the divisions of Brighton and Hove, East and West Sussex, as well as specialist departments including Public Protection, Firearms and Counter-Terrorism. You’ll work closely with your police ofcer and staf colleagues; making a real diference, together.

03 | GUIDE TO BEING A CONTACT OFFICER sussex.police.uk/jobs


1. BEING A CONTACT OFFICER (CONTINUED)

No two calls are ever the same. You could fnd yourself:

• Obtaining and recording accurate information regarding a live or historic situation

• Handling large volumes of calls, emails or social media enquires – we receive on average 70,000 per month

• Responding to several emergency situations simultaneously

• Acting as the main point of contact between the force and the public.

In return, we will give you:

• A starting salary of at least £23,361 plus an unsocial shift allowance in the region of £7,200 per year

• 25 days per year annual leave, rising to 30 days depending on your length of service (annual leave based on 37 hours working week and 7.4 hour day)

• Great learning experiences that will support future career opportunities

• A competitive benefts package including pension, fexible benefts, employee assistance programme for advice and counselling, access to discounts / savings / cash-back rewards

• Progressive approach to fexible working, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and potential for a career break (after two years’ service)

• Part-time working patterns, fexible working and job shares, are available after completion of the full-time training. Flexible working is available Monday through to Sunday, from 08:00 to 13:00, or as a job share on the full shift pattern.

• Opportunities to join various support networks, staf associations and sports clubs.

Being a contact ofcer is certainly not your typical nine to fve call centre role. So while customer service experience is a bonus, it’s not necessary as, from your frst day with us, you will be supported through great training and by brilliant teammates.



2. ELIGIBILITY To apply for the role, you will need to meet our eligibility criteria:

• Aged 18 years or over (on the day you submit your application)

• Have lived in the UK for three continuous years, immediately prior to application

• Have leave to enter or leave to remain and work in the UK for an indefnite period

• Not be a member of the British National Party or other relevant organisations

• Not have served a prison sentence

• Ability to commit to a 10-week rotating shift pattern which covers a 24/7 period.

Can I still apply if I have a criminal record?

Applications will be unsuccessful in all cases where:

• Ofences were committed as an adult or juvenile which resulted in a prison sentence (including custodial, suspended or deferred sentence and sentences served at a young ofenders’ institution or community home) or

• The applicant is a registered sex ofender or is subject to a registration requirement in respect of any other conviction.

For all other convictions or cautions, there is a rebuttable presumption that they should be rejected. In particular, the following would result in rejection: ofences where vulnerable people were targeted; ofences motivated by hate or discrimination; domestic abuse ofences. Although the rebuttable presumption is that these should lead to rejection, there will be cases where this may disproportionate in the circumstances. For instance, where the ofence was committed as a juvenile, it was not serious and the individual has demonstrated a commitment to help individuals or communities in the subsequent years. In these cases, vetting acceptable may be justifed.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I think I’m too old to apply… There is no upper age limit for our contact ofcers so you are never too old to apply! We encourage applications from everyone – whether you’re a college leaver, career changer or planning your return to work.

I’m 17 but will be 18 in a couple of months’ time. Can I apply? Unfortunately not. To be eligible to apply, you must be 18 years or over when you submit your application. When you’re 18, we will welcome your application!

I’m not a British Citizen, can I still apply? You can as long as you are an EEA National or a Swiss National. Commonwealth Citizens and Foreign Nationals are required to have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK for an indefnite period and unrestricted permission to work in the UK.

If I have a disability, can I still apply? Yes. We welcome applications from people with disabilities and our contact centre has step-free access. If you consider yourself to have a disability, please inform us within your application form of the type of reasonable adjustments you might need to assist you in participating in the recruitment and selection process. We will make these wherever we can.



3. APPLICATION PROCESS

To ensure we recruit the very best, we adopt a five-stage recruitment process for our contact officers which takes, on

average, six months to complete.

Stage one: online application form Stage two: online situational judgment assessment Stage three: in-force multi-skills assessment

Stage four: face-to-face interview Stage fve: pre-employment checks including medical and vetting For more details, visit ‘How do I apply’.

I have not received an email confrming if I’ve passed or failed? At the end of each element of the online selection process, you will receive an email. If this has not been received, please check your spam / junk folders before emailing [email protected]

What should I expect with the multi-skills assessment? Contact ofcers are required to manage multiple enquires and requests at the same time. You will be responding to calls, asking questions, listening and recording information. This test is therefore designed to check your competence with multi-tasking. The assessment involves listening to twenty pieces of audio played over a loud speaker, you are required to document, on a word document, what you can hear being said. In between the audio sentences, you will have 20-30 seconds of silence to complete a set of basic maths and English questions. You will need to move from document to document until all of the audio sentences have been played.

I passed the multi-skilling test the last time I applied, however was unsuccessful at interview stage. Can I apply again?

Yes, absolutely. We’ve also improved our approach for those who have previously taken the multi-skilling test and passed. For these candidates, you no longer need to complete the exercise again and therefore, if successful at application and the online assessment, you will be fast-tracked to the face-to-face interview.


APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT RELATED

What does the application form include? We have reviewed the way we recruit contact ofcers and therefore the application form simply asks for contact details, employment history and education within the application form.

How will I be shortlisted? Following your application, we will invite you to complete an online situational judgement assessment which will be used to shortlist candidates. This test has been specifcally designed for use in the recruitment of 999 and 101 contact ofcers.

The test takes approximately 40 minutes to complete and you will be presented with audio clips of interactions between contact ofcers and callers. You will be asked to rate the efectiveness of four actions which could be taken in response to the scenario. Candidates who meet or exceed the required pass rate will have their applications progressed.

I applied before but didn’t have to do an online assessment at stage two? As part of our review, we have replaced our telephone interviews with the online situational judgement assessment as these allow us to better assess decision making, service delivery, professionalism, serving the public and working with others.

I have an issue using the online assessment… If you experience difculties with the online assessment, please contact recruitment@sussex. pnn.police.uk who will be able to help you.


https://www.sussex.police.uk/police-forces/sussex-police/areas/careers/jobs/contact-officers/

mailto:recruitment%40sussex.pnn.police.uk?subject=




3. APPLICATION PROCESS (CONTINUED)

PRE-EMPLOYMENT CHECKS RELATED

What does the medical involve? You will be asked to complete a standard medical questionnaire where you can provide general information about your health and any medical conditions. Depending on your medical history, our Occupational Health team may have to contact your GP/Specialist for further information.

What does vetting entail? We will carry out security checks on you and your:

• Spouse/partner

• Father/stepfather/mother’s partner

• Mother/stepmother/father’s partner

• Brothers/sisters (full/half/step)

• Children/children of your partner (only those aged 10 years and over)

• Any other adult living at your address

• Financial circumstances

• Social media accounts

I have a relative who has convictions… If your friends or family members have criminal convictions, you must disclose this when asked on your vetting application. Your application will not be automatically rejected and consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis.

Do I have to declare if I was arrested but not charged? Yes. You must declare if you have ever been subject to a criminal investigation whether or not this led to a prosecution. Failure to make such declarations will lead to your application being rejected.

I’ve been bankrupt… You can still apply but only if it is three years after bankruptcy debts have been discharged.

How about County Court Judgements (CCJ)? If the judgement has been discharged then you can be considered however if you have an existing judgement your application will be rejected.

I have an Independent Voluntary Agreement (IVA)… Applicants with current IVA’s will be considered. However, you will be required to show that there is an IVA repayment plan in place and that you’ve maintained regular payments over a signifcant number of months.

Can I continue with my other business? You must declare any other employment for hire or gain or any other business interests that you intend to maintain. A decision on whether it is considered that your business interests are compatible with performing the role of contact ofcer will be made on the basis of the information you provide during application.

Do you ask for references? We may send reference requests to your previous employers in the past three years. If you haven’t been employed for three years, we may ask for a character reference or an educational reference.

“I became a contact ofcer to challenge myself.

I wanted a more fulflling career, like I’m helping

someone there and then. As long as I can get the

details in that I need, and get that over to ofcers, that person’s life could potentially be saved or we could be catching somebody who’s in

a criminal act.”

Ellie, contact ofcer



4. TRAINING AND PROGRESSION

By successfully completing the recruitment process, you will join Sussex Police as a contact officer and will join a

12-week training course; consisting of six weeks training

and six weeks tutoring where we will support and coach you to become competent in the role. The training course is full-time, Monday to Friday, working 8:00 to 16:00 and

12:00 to 20:00 on a rotating pattern.

Upon completing the training you will work across both 101 and 999 within our contact centre based at Sussex Police Headquarters in Lewes.

Starting your career in our contact centre will provide you with a wide range of skills and experiences which will enable you to either apply

to progress within the contact centre – as a controller or supervisor - or apply for a number of diferent roles across the organisation. You could become a police ofcer or a PCSO, start an investigative career or work in one of our support departments such as corporate communications or professional development. The possibilities are endless.

The role of contact ofcer is tenured for 24 months, meaning that while you can apply for other roles within the force, you will not be able to start until the tenure has expired. However, all situations are individual therefore we would encourage you to have regular conversations with your line manager about your career aspirations.



4. TRAINING AND PROGRESSION (CONTINUED)


What does the training entail exactly? The training course consists of four weeks classroom based training learning Sussex Police IT systems, policy and law with inputs on a variety of topics such as domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation (CSE) and fraud. You will be introduced to live calls from members of the public in the fourth or ffth week. Following this, you will commence a period of six to eight weeks tutoring answering calls in both 999 and 101 functions. The training timeframe is not fxed and can be adapted.


Why is the role tenured for 24 months? A number of roles within the force are tenured positions. This recognises the investment we make in terms of training and developing people in these areas.

Can I work part-time or term-time only? We do require you to work full-time to complete your initial training course, however after this we are able to ofer part-time, job shares and fexible working patterns. We recommend you speak to [email protected]. police.uk


mailto:careers%40sussex.pnn.police.uk?subject=

mailto:careers%40sussex.pnn.police.uk?subject=

5. CONCERNED ABOUT APPLYING?

You’d like to apply but something’s holding you back…

• Application process We appreciate that the application process is lengthy. However, it’s this rigorous approach which ensures we select people who will make great contact ofcers.

• Diversity We are committed to promoting equality and respect for diversity in the way we serve Sussex in delivering policing and also as an employer. We welcome applications from everyone in the community; particularly people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and white other backgrounds. We also encourage applications from women, the LGBT community and people with disabilities.

• Lacking experience Our people come from all walks of life and you don’t need any specifc experience to be a contact ofcer as we provide you with the training and tools to succeed. All we’re looking for are the skills, behaviours and desires which will ensure you can serve our communities. If you believe you can make a diference, then we want to hear from you.

We will also be running a number of recruitment tours during the application window where you can come and see what we do before applying for the role. This is the perfect opportunity to fnd out more. To book one of our recruitment tours, see here.

• Perceptions Policing faces both positive and negative perceptions. As a force, we subscribe to the highest ethics and request our people to do the same. The majority of our ofcers and staf demonstrate the highest levels of professionalism, integrity and standards. By joining us, we will expect you to also demonstrate these values and help us improve confdence in policing generally.

• Potential distress With policing, you cannot predict what you will respond to and sometimes this does mean having to dealing with some of the most difcult situations you can think of. However, through our in-depth training and ongoing support you will be well prepared to deal with whatever you are faced with. Emotional resilience is key, though you’re also not alone – we work together.


https://www.sussex.police.uk/police-forces/sussex-police/areas/careers/jobs/contact-officers/


5. CONCERNED ABOUT APPLYING? (CONTINUED)

Working hours or job sharing The normal working week is 37 hours. You will work Monday to Sunday on a 10-week rotating shift pattern:

• Two early shifts – 07:00 to 17:00 or 09:00 to 19:00

• Two late shifts – 13:00 to 23:00 or 15:00 to 01:00

• Two night shifts – 19:00 to 03:00 or 23:00 to 07:00

In recognition of this, our contact ofcers receive an unsocial shift allowance in the region of £7,200 per year on top of their normal salary. Also, all shifts are available in advance meaning you will always know when

you will be working and we always try to accommodate staf requests, as long as they ft in with operational demands.

We also recognise the benefts of fexible working and are committed to equality of opportunity and the promotion of work-life balance. We will support opportunities for fexible working within the organisation where practical and suitable to promote a work/life balance and enable the recruitment and retention of a workforce which is representative of the diverse communities we serve. Upon completion of the full-time training course you will be able to request a fexible working pattern as well as part-time hours.



6. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS

If you have any other questions, or would like to know more about the role and / or Sussex

Police please contact the recruitment team on [email protected] who will be

happy to arrange a conversation with you.

If your application has been successfully submitted, you will receive an email confrming it has been received and providing your candidate ID. If you do not receive a notifcation, please check your

spam/junk folder before emailing the recruitment team, providing them with your full name,

telephone number and the date you submitted your application. submitted your application.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING YOUR APPLICATION




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