What next? Looking for advice.

[mx736]

Alright, I'm pretty disappointed of how things are going for me. I have a degree, speak a second language, no criminal history, etc. I applied to 5 departments in south florida in April for non-certified as I have not gone through the academy. I have interviewed with two of them and still waiting on the other three. I know the process is long, but is this long normal? What else can I do? Should I self sponsor through an academy? Should I wait? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Mateudn]

Man, competition is very fierce nowadays. I applied to 5 departments, and only now after a year and half, I'm being sponsored through the academy. You should be glad that you already had 2 interviews after just a few months from application. Just relax, it takes time. Best advice that I ever received...Forget about it. Live your life like you never applied and don't stress about it.

[Officer_vanilla]

Competition is very tough, especially in South Florida since everybody would love to work down here. Mostly all agencies are tightening up because of budget reasons, they would rather hire someone who already spent 7 grand on the academy so they don't have too, plus a salary. If you could put yourself through the academy id recommend it, it would make you a better candidate, if not, patience is key when apply non-cert.

[mx736]

Man, competition is very fierce nowadays. I applied to 5 departments, and only now after a year and half, I'm being sponsored through the academy. You should be glad that you already had 2 interviews after just a few months from application. Just relax, it takes time. Best advice that I ever received...Forget about it. Live your life like you never applied and don't stress about it.

Thanks for the reply. So there is hope. Lol. I'll just try to keep it out of mind.

[mx736]

Competition is very tough, especially in South Florida since everybody would love to work down here. Mostly all agencies are tightening up because of budget reasons, they would rather hire someone who already spent 7 grand on the academy so they don't have too, plus a salary. If you could put yourself through the academy id recommend it, it would make you a better candidate, if not, patience is key when apply non-cert.

I've been looking at academies down here and it seems Miami is the only choice. I talked to palm beach and the last opening was open for one day due to so many people applying. I'm looking at the Santa Fe College in Gainesville, which is less expensive and they take financial aid. I might look into applying and moving up there for the 5 months. I have to figure out the finances with my wife and see if it's possible for me not to work that long.

[lag.314]

If you're really adamant on getting sponsored then it may take some time. Personally, I never bothered applying for non cert, I've heard the stories of how long the process takes and how even after waiting for several months to even start the hiring process some didn't get hired. Non certified positions are really a shot in the dark. In my opinion you'll save yourself time if you just self sponsor and it's a worthy investment however that's just my personal opinion. If you really want to get hired as a non certified then don't give up, something has to give eventually, just know it may take some time.

[Officer_vanilla]

I've been looking at academies down here and it seems Miami is the only choice. I talked to palm beach and the last opening was open for one day due to so many people applying. I'm looking at the Santa Fe College in Gainesville, which is less expensive and they take financial aid. I might look into applying and moving up there for the 5 months. I have to figure out the finances with my wife and see if it's possible for me not to work that long.

If your looking at that location up north, Check out Orange County Sheriffs Office. They hire by the numbers. Their last academy class was 10 deep and they always seem to hire both non-cert and Cert very frequently.

[mx736]

If you're really adamant on getting sponsored then it may take some time. Personally, I never bothered applying for non cert, I've heard the stories of how long the process takes and how even after waiting for several months to even start the hiring process some didn't get hired. Non certified positions are really a shot in the dark. In my opinion you'll save yourself time if you just self sponsor and it's a worthy investment however that's just my personal opinion. If you really want to get hired as a non certified then don't give up, something has to give eventually, just know it may take some time.

Thanks for the response. I am looking to self sponsor now. Just need to figure out the ones to apply to. Did you go to Miami?

[mx736]

If your looking at that location up north, Check out Orange County Sheriffs Office. They hire by the numbers. Their last academy class was 10 deep and they always seem to hire both non-cert and Cert very frequently.

I really would like to stay down here. My wife just started a great job in Boca Raton. I have thought about that though. I was only looking up there to self sponsor up there.

[lag.314]

I will be starting soon, if you're up in boca why not try Broward college? I'm not sure if they only take sponsored still, but it's worth a try. At miami dade college They do accept financial aid. You can also inquire at city of miami academy I'm not sure if they accept financial aid though. I'm sure officer_vanilla can answer the miami dade college academy questions more thoroughly than I can, I believe he already graduated from there.

[deadpan]

I will be starting soon, if you're up in boca why not try Broward college? I'm not sure if they only take sponsored still, but it's worth a try.

I got info on this yesterday. Apparently they've recently opened it up to some self-sponsors, but the slots are incredibly limited. Something like 5 slots. I think right now they only have like 3 people self-sponsoring out of all three current classes.

[USMCPOG]

I honestly don't know your history or background, only you do, but I would say if it is clean and you have a bachelors and do legitimately speak another language (preferably Spanish), then just self sponsor yourself. I wouldn't even waste time applying for non-certified positions. I got calls for interviews from all the places I applied to as a non-cert, but I decided that if I failed any steps of the process or the agency laid off people, had budget issues, had no academies, etc. then I just wasted up to a year applying for nothing. I had degree, military, plus other stuff too.

At least with a certification, you get more options of where you really want to work and if worst comes to worst, you save yourself time/effort/money because cert positions usually take much less time to get than non-cert. Self-sponsoring was the best option for me because I didn't really want to work for any of the depts. that were sponsoring, so I had more options once I graduated. Once you get your cert, almost every agency will look at you, barring you're not an idiot or have some issues with your background or too lazy to fill out the app correctly. SOME agency will hire you as a cert, there are just too many in Florida for you not to get hired unless you obviously mess up somewhere.

[Yesman]

If your doing a self-sponsor, when is it best to start applying to your top choice agencies? When your starting your academy or wait until you go through it & have your cert? Also, most will reimburse you?

[USMCPOG]

If your doing a self-sponsor, when is it best to start applying to your top choice agencies? When your starting your academy or wait until you go through it & have your cert? Also, most will reimburse you?

Depends on the dept. Some will state if you can apply halfway through the academy on their website. If it doesn't, its best to call and find out. And the deps won't reimburse you because you are self-sponsoring yourself. By that time you have already paid. But most academies do offer tuitions assistance in the form of pell grants if you don't have a bachelors. That can cover a lot of the costs sometimes.

[JediWarrior]

Get a loan and self sponsor yourself. If you said you already had two interview while your non cert, than departments are obviously interested. If you're looking to jump right into becoming a LEO, than self sponsor yourself.