When the OPP held a recruitment night this time last year in Sault Ste. Marie, every seat in the audience was taken. Responding to the enthusiastic turnout in 2017, provincial police decided to move to a larger venue for tonight's session being held at Sault College - in the Bonifero Multi Media Centre on Northern Avenue East.
Constable Renee Taylor stresses candidates need to be well prepared for a police career before they actually make an application.
These days the OPP is looking for a lot of diversity in their new officers. They need everyone from front line officers to IT specialists, interpreters, mechanics and people with a number of other skills. With space for 300 officers to be hired in 2018, Constable Taylor says the competition will be stiff to land one of those positions.
Taylor plans to go into detail at the recruitment session about that process. She explains that, aside from post secondary education and physical condition, the service is also looking for people with leadership skills and community involvement experience as key aspects of resumes from would-be officers.
Tonight's session starts at 6 p.m. and will run for two hours. For more information on the OPP's recruitment process, go to opp.ca and look for the R.E.A.C.H program.