CBP officer

[Sick of being a Army Grunt]

Hey, Quick question.... What is the CBPO policy on Facial Hair? Are we allowed to have beards? Im asking because I have been in the Army for 7 yrs and I would like nothing better then to have a beard. Lol I know it says that they have strict standards but it doesnt go into detail.

[merlin436]

There's a great deal to be said for reading the whole thread here, although much of the early stuff is somewhat dated. It's not just about finding the answer to the current question, it's also about find answers to questions not asked but highly relevant.

Researching information is a skill needed on the job. Learn it now, or risk being 'that guy' at the PoE.

Don't count on somebody being around to 'spoonfeed' anything to you. Lots of ports have minimal staffing or other issues. If you can't find it on your own, you'll likely miss it.

[merlin436]

Hey, Quick question.... What is the CBPO policy on Facial Hair? Are we allowed to have beards? Im asking because I have been in the Army for 7 yrs and I would like nothing better then to have a beard. Lol I know it says that they have strict standards but it doesnt go into detail.

The current policy on facial hair is up in the air. Who knows how it'll play out.

If I were you, I'd put off growing anything until post-academy and after you complete probation. Once you're cut lose and more or less on your own, grow whatever makes you happy.

[Moeie586]

There's a great deal to be said for reading the whole thread here, although much of the early stuff is somewhat dated. It's not just about finding the answer to the current question, it's also about find answers to questions not asked but highly relevant.

Researching information is a skill needed on the job. Learn it now, or risk being 'that guy' at the PoE.

Don't count on somebody being around to 'spoonfeed' anything to you. Lots of ports have minimal staffing or other issues. If you can't find it on your own, you'll likely miss it.

like you said a lot of the info is outdated, even things posted 8 months ago are outdated. it's not fair that guy comes to this forum to ask a question just for some loser to tell him to tell him he is lazy, he is looking for current, relevant information. And im sure that other person was once in his shoes posting here asking questions too. just answer the damn questions people have, and if others feel like they don't want to respond then don't!

it has nothing to do with someone's research skills, some of the most popular questions that you think would be easy to find either are not that easy to find, or is outdated.

[merlin436]

If current, relevant information is the standard, then many who post here should simply not bother. Much of what gets put up here is inaccurate, one way or another. If a person puts in the effort to research and then comes up with the wrong answer, he's no worse off then the guy who's handed a bogus answer on here. Then again, he's put in more effort and likely honed more skills...so arguably he's better off.

And yes, it has much to do with research skills and the abilities which lead to self-reliance. KASOs follow people everywhere, the internet only reaches so far.

[Moeie586]

LOLLL forget it. if you have an issue with him asking questions or anyone else for that matter then leave the forum, because when people come here 98% of the time its because they have a handful of questions they want answered without looking through 1000's of pages.

part of the job is servicing, assisting, helping, providing...this would be a good place to practice it

[Moeie586]

Hey, Quick question.... What is the CBPO policy on Facial Hair? Are we allowed to have beards? Im asking because I have been in the Army for 7 yrs and I would like nothing better then to have a beard. Lol I know it says that they have strict standards but it doesnt go into detail.

just play it safe. a lot of people just go in cleanly shaved/trimmed so do that until you find out otherwise from where you specifically will be... the judge is "to each its own"...while there is no rule against it, you might have some whom may be judgmental against it.
im a female, but a few of my guy friends who are in BP and CBP, keep it nicely trimmed up without a problem

[Javier_Zalez]

what is the trend for the interview day.
I did the Video part today and then they have me waiting around to see if I would do the interview.
but then they told me they would contact me by mail for the interview.

they send the video tape to another office in the same building then they wait for that office to give them the ok.
The guy also mention they were running behind schedule.

Do that mean I fail the Video part?
How many have this happen?

I know this is now what you want to hear but, I had my VBT, waited around for 45 minutes or so and then the gentleman who handled my VBT called me and took me to where the 2 officers handling the SI were and I had them both on the same day. I kind of hope that means I passed the VBT but I don't want to be a jerk, so let's hope it varies. I think that's what I've read on the CBP site, that the dates of VBT and SI may be different.

Good luck

Would anyone on this forum who's ectualy been through the process and got hired tell me how it works when you come to your duty station from an other state,I'm from IL and have to go ( in case I get hired) to SWB,where do new recruits live ,does CBP provide accommodation or you have to find it on your own,how do they get to work,please share your experience I'm trying to get an idea how it works at the very beginning

Haven't been through the process yet, but I am pretty sure that CBP does NOT provide accomodations, while you're at FLETC get someone from your family or take a weekend and fly to where you will be stationed and look at some places because you will need to find housing by yourself as well as transportation

The current policy on facial hair is up in the air. Who knows how it'll play out.

If I were you, I'd put off growing anything until post-academy and after you complete probation. Once you're cut lose and more or less on your own, grow whatever makes you happy.

I did the VBT and SI with a goatee and I think it says that as long as it's trimmed it's fine, but if/when I get the call, I will show up at EOD clean shaven just in case. It's gonna suck too, I love my facial hair

[cloudbuster]

thank guys!
I will report back about when I get the letter in the mail about if I pass the Video test or not or if they schedule me the Interview.

Yep I left kinda disappointed that I have fail the Video part. I hope not!

[MPK9]

Moeie586,

I like your style. As far as ?'s I agree, somtimes you should look...as I have told people for basic stuff. As far as other stuff ask...!!! looking through a million pages is crazy..unless it's a normal thing you see. I have been to MP School, K-9, the US Army Civ Police Academy,,FLETC etc...worked for a few places and waiting on CBP, ICE and bout to get back in the the FED with the Airforce. Point I guess is keep it up....I'll answer what I can. Take care and keep stiking it...;-)

[Firebug]

The current policy on facial hair is up in the air. Who knows how it'll play out.

If I were you, I'd put off growing anything until post-academy and after you complete probation. Once you're cut lose and more or less on your own, grow whatever makes you happy.

While in the academy, the policy on facial hair may be up in the air. However, after the academy the policy is quite clear for bargaining unit members. Facial hair is permitted, it has to be neat and trimmed not beyond a certain length.

FB

[merlin436]

LOLLL forget it. if you have an issue with him asking questions or anyone else for that matter then leave the forum, because when people come here 98% of the time its because they have a handful of questions they want answered without looking through 1000's of pages.

part of the job is servicing, assisting, helping, providing...this would be a good place to practice it

If you look around here you'll find many current CBPOs have indeed left this forum. Dfacedc, the guy you called a 'loser', is one of only a few left.

[Firebug]

There's a great deal to be said for reading the whole thread here, although much of the early stuff is somewhat dated. It's not just about finding the answer to the current question, it's also about find answers to questions not asked but highly relevant.

Researching information is a skill needed on the job. Learn it now, or risk being 'that guy' at the PoE.

Don't count on somebody being around to 'spoonfeed' anything to you. Lots of ports have minimal staffing or other issues. If you can't find it on your own, you'll likely miss it.

You are somewhat correct that being able to research information is a good thing. I believe that someone coming here and asking the question is doing exactly that. You sure don't want to be "that guy" at the POE. You also don't want to be that "other guy" at the POE. You know the one I am talking about. The guy that has been around for a long time and has tons of knowledge and experience. He doesn't share that knowledge or experience because then he isn't quite as important or indispensable anymore

CBP is suppose to be very much a team effort. While you may find yourself at a small port of entry, I am very familiar with small ports of entry, there is seldom no one to answer a question. All the ports have telephones. You could always call the main port or someone else you know having met them at a training class or a prior port.

I can tell you I wouldn't be very happy if an officer made someone wait an unreasonable amount of time because that officer's colleagues wouldn't answer a question in order to teach that officer how to do research or worst yet the officer was too afraid or proud to ask for help. That is recipe for botcthed tasks be it casework, passenger processing, or cargo processing.

FB

[Firebug]

If you look around here you'll find many current CBPOs have indeed left this forum. Dfacedc, the guy you called a 'loser', is one of only a few left.

There is always another perspective. When a current CBPO comes to this forum and makes it public that he is a current CBPO he is very much representing the agency. You can usually tell pretty fast who is telling the truth when they make that claim. He or she is still anonymous but is still representing the agency. When you are in the port of entry in uniform or out and about in the community, (you know if you are in a small port or entry in a small community everyone knows where you work), and someone asks you about the job, the job description, or the process to get the job do you refer them to the website so they can learn it or do answer to the best of your ability? Not answering the questions would be like setting up a recruiting table at a job fair but referring everyone to the website and not answering questions. Recruiting should be a part of every officer's job at the very least when you are representing the agency you should be providing the interested folks the information that is permissible to disseminate.

FB

[Americoza]

There's 1,227 pages on this forum topic I'm sure it's been answered over a hundred times along with every other question that's been asked the last 5 dozen pages. Take some time put in some work and read and you'll find the answer.

Lets put it this way, i was addressing to a person who's been through the process and could answer my question ,in fact that's what for this forum meant to be,have a problem,don't read it,ignore it ,don't answer it, i work two jobs and have no time looking through 1000 pages when it could be answered at once,definitely don't need to be lectured i have enough supervisors at my current jobs.