Quick Oral Board/Interview Question

[TK5]

Hey everyone. For 3 years I've been a detention officer with a city PD, and I have applied for police officer at this same agency.

During an oral board/interview: When I am given prompts such as "Tell us about a time that you disagreed with your supervisor and how you resolved it," is it appropriate to talk about internal experiences? I know that it wouldn't be OK to talk about sensitive issues or those that were currently being resolved, but I wasn't sure otherwise.

My gut tells me this is a gray area, but my experience prior to becoming a detention officer is brief (I'm young) and certainly had less responsibility.

Thanks for your time.

[jroo21]

Internal, job-related experiences is what they want. As long as you are not commenting on an active internal investigation, anything is pretty much game as it relates to the question being asked.

[jakflak]

That's not only ok but it's a common question. They want to hear about the conflict and how you dealt with it, not the internal workings. The question basically translates into "Are you an attitude problem?"

[BrickCop]

You don't necessarily have to get into specifics. Give an overview as to the problem and how you addressed it. They're not interested in the specific internal matter of another agency. The panel is seeking info as to how it was resolved.

Any specific questions they have as to you and the incident itself will most likely be investigated during your background check.

[TK5]

Thanks for the help, guys!