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Main Page Career Curiosity
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: TrickyDik

I have a few questions but first let me explain who I am and a little bit of my background since I have never posted on this message board.

I grew up in Londonderry NH almost my entire life, did all 12 years of schooling through that town. Upon graduation I entered the Criminal Justice program at NHTI in Concord. I received an associates degree in that field at the age of 20 (or 2004). Upon that graduation I enlisted as an Active Duty U.S. Coast Guardsman for a 4 year term (8 total if you could my required inactive time). My job, or rating as we call it, is a Radio Watchstander which directly relates to 911/Dispatcher. I am currently 2 years and 6 months into my enlistment with 1 year and 6 months left (as of April 2nd 2007). I'm stationed out of South Portland Maine, live in Southern Maine as well but I am still a current legal resident of New Hampshire due to the "Home of Record" clause.

Upon my active duty seperation I plan to transfer over to the Active Reserves and serve until I either finish that contract or grow tired and seperate from the Coast Guard entirely.

In addition I've recently aquired a part time dispatching job with a beach town in southern Maine.

My questions are as follows:

I plan to start applying (testing) with departments in the Southern NH area starting this fall of 2007, this gives me about a year before I leave my enlisted contract and am eligible to be hired by an agency. Is this a good plan? Should I start testng/applying sooner, or later?

With my education and work history listed above do I stand competitive against the typical candidate that is applying in the Southern NH area?
(Obviously this based entirely on what I mentioned above but if it matters to anyone I have one convicted moving violation when I was 17 for failure to yield at a stop sign, my credit history is normal for my age, never tried any drugs or even a cigarette, and my physical ability is lacking but will be sufficient to pass tests come this fall.)

Lastly, I'm concerned about the job market. I'm very interested in Manchester PD since I lived there for so many years and love the entire area. In addition I'm interested in the State Troopers amongst many other towns and cities in the Rockingham County area. I'm interested in the current Job trend in this area. Are there a lot of applicants for vacant positions? Is their a lack of qualified applicants? Is the job market thin (or in other words, not many open positions)? Or is the job market a qualified candidants dream (more or less)?

Basicly I'm concerned that I won't be able to get a full-time position when I'm ready to seperate from the Coast Guard. I will need a full time job and Law Enforcement has obviously been where I want to be and more so where I belong. I would be very un-happy (for lack of a better term) if I were to have to take a full time job in a field other than Law Enforcement (although I wouldn't mind picking up a dispatcher job for the time being should that be the case.) Again, keep in mind my availability starts in the October-November area of 2008.

I know this was lengthy and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read it over and more so if you took the time to pass on some advice/answer some questions and concerns of mine. Thank you, and stay safe out there.

Posted by: pahapoika

don't know anything about southern NH law enforcement opportunities , but in this densely populated area of the north-east the job market is very coemptive.

not many jobs left with a decent pension and benefits , so apply for everything and if you find a home someplace , consider yourself lucky.

it's great you've been grooming yourself for law enforcement , but it can be hard if you stay "one dimensional" when you need to find other work.

if you ever find yourself burnt out , fired or injured and need another job , a 2nd skill can come in handy.

also if you can hang with the military gig , a second pension is nice when it comes time for the gold watch.

just some ramblings from an old man

good luck

Posted by: TrickyDik

Quote:

Originally Posted by pahapoika

don't know anything about southern NH law enforcement opportunities , but in this densely populated area of the north-east the job market is very coemptive.

not many jobs left with a decent pension and benefits , so apply for everything and if you find a home someplace , consider yourself lucky.

it's great you've been grooming yourself for law enforcement , but it can be hard if you stay "one dimensional" when you need to find other work.

if you ever find yourself burnt out , fired or injured and need another job , a 2nd skill can come in handy.

also if you can hang with the military gig , a second pension is nice when it comes time for the gold watch.

just some ramblings from an old man

good luck

Yea I've been told about the whole 1 dimensional thing. Law Enforcement is my desire however my love is for all of Public Safety which is why I joined the Coast Guard as opposed to another branch of service. Which is also why I've taken to the communications side of things because I figure it will be a good alternative should the Police Job market be flooded. Then I can apply and keep applying until a position opens up.

I'm hoping my part-time dispatch job opens up some good oppurtunities in the entire public safety field so that I don't seem too one dimensional.

Hopefully someone can help me out with some of my direct concerns/questions.

I appreciate your input and anything else you can provide please feel free too. I actually enjoy the ramblings of the more "seasoned" vets of this field

Posted by: TrickyDik

Well I just learned from another Coastie here that if I do in fact get a "unique" job offer I can request an early out for up to 90 days. So basicly if a department can hire me and wants me on and working with them within 90 days of November 2nd 2008 then I can request an "early out" of my contract for the job oppurtunity. That is good news since it relieves some of the time critical job offers that may come my way. Which means that I could theoritically start on the job as of August 2nd 2008, and possibly a month or two earlier if they allow me to take terminal leave. Which could then put me at July or June 2nd of 2008.

Posted by: Inspector

As your writing shows you should have no problem passing exams I'd recommend you try to get a part-time position in law patrol (beaches) Maine, NH etc. while you await full time openings. There are jobs opening up in NH regularly and qualified applicants are not as many as one may imagine.

Posted by: TrickyDik

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector

As your writing shows you should have no problem passing exams I'd recommend you try to get a part-time position in law patrol (beaches) Maine, NH etc. while you await full time openings. There are jobs opening up in NH regularly and qualified applicants are not as many as one may imagine.

Thanks for the kind words and information. Currently I work part-time as a dispatcher for a beach town in Maine. Next winter (2007-200

I'm hoping to do the 100 hour course in Maine and work as a reserve officer for them as well. That should give me another level of experience.

Posted by: Sully88

Hey two of my cousins are cops in NH one in Litchfield?(I believe thats how you spell it?) And the other in Manchester he was a volunteer and eventually worked his way into the force there. I'd suggest going that route but thats just me.

Posted by: POPCOP

Londonderry and Hudson are currently hiring..

Posted by: TrickyDik

Sully88: I was considering that as an option for next summer as well.

POPCOP: Thanks for the heads up, however I can't work full time for another year and a half.

Hopefully Londonderry needs another Officer come 2008 because that would be perfect.

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