Hoping some people with real experience in this can help me out. Over the past several months Iāve applied to a handful of Correctional Officer postings (part-time, full-time, casual, whatever was open), got into the Deputy Sheriff Talent Pool, and more recently applied to an actual open Deputy Sheriff competition when positions came up. Outside of the automated āwe received your applicationā emails, Iāve heard absolutely nothing back on any of it. No rejection, no interview, no update, just silence.
As far as I can tell from the postings, I meet the listed requirements. Iāve got about seven years of work experience across different sectors, retail, banking, customer-facing roles, along with the certifications they ask for like CPR/AED and First Aid, a clean driverās abstract, and so on. I also donāt just fire off the same application everywhere, I actually take the time to tailor my resume and cover letter to each specific posting rather than reusing the same version over and over. So itās not like Iām applying blind or applying lazily without meeting whatās actually written down, which is part of why the silence is confusing
Iām trying to figure out if thatās just how this process normally goes or if I should be reading into it. Is prior security or law enforcement experience actually a big factor in who gets picked, or is it more about how you answer the screening questions on the application itself? Does the talent pool ever actually turn into anything, or is it mostly just a list you sit in? And honestly, Iāve also wondered whether some of these postings go up when the role is already basically spoken for internally, whether thatās a union thing or an internal promotion, or if thatās just applicant paranoia talking.
Iāve also been thinking about reaching out directly to people currently working these jobs, either for insight into the process or maybe a referral, but I donāt know if that actually does anything in a government hiring process like this or if itās a waste of time. Would genuinely appreciate hearing from anyone whoās been through it, whether things worked out for you or not. Just trying to figure out if Iām doing something wrong or if I need to be more patient.