Unstable job history

[OHRugby]

Hello,

I'm applying to two large PD's and I'm concerned whether my job history (and application history) will be problematic. I graduated from college with my BA this past June. I applied to a PD during my senior year of college and failed the video portion. I then applied to a second PD -- mainly b/c it is close to my family -- and passed the written/physical, but I asked to be taken out of the pool b/c I turned my attention toward applying to law school. I didn't have very good reasons for applying to law school and although I've been accepted, I know for certain I want to be a police officer.

While thinking I was going to go to school again in the fall -- and I know that's not an excuse -- I haven't kept a stable work history. I did work while in college in a position of some responsibility (Resident Assistant in the dorms), but since then I've held several (6 ) part-time, minimum wage jobs. I have "some" explanation... I've changed cities to be closer to my S.O. (who's graduating from college in March) and changed jobs accordingly.

I guess my overall concern is that I haven't shown a lot of stability, with changing my career focus, and changing jobs. In my mind, at the time, it wasn't important. Now I know it was. When my S.O. graduates in March, we will be relocating (there's not a lot of work in our college town), and I plan on keeping whatever job I find through until I'm (hopefully!) hired by a PD.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[lich]

Your history doesn't sound so bad. Congratulations on graduating from college! There's your proof of ability to handle responsibility. Just relax and keep up your efforts. I'm sure you'll be hired soon enough.

Good luck.

[OHRugby]

Thanks for the response. Would I be wrong to assume that my job history counts somewhat less because I have a degree? Would this also go for my post-college job history? I'm a little scared since I know I'll have to quit my current job in mid-March to relocate and I'll have only had it for a few months. Then, with whatever job I start, I'll only have had that job for a few months if my testing goes well and my background investigation were to start, say, this summer.

[lich]

Your job history while a college student is less important to me (although I'm not looking at your application). It's hard enough to get through years of classes without holding down the same buck-an-hour retail job that pays nothing and leaves you working every weekend.

Overall, the context of the employment history matters just as much as your performance as an employee. Moving out of commuting distance to a job won't be held against you in the same way as leaving due to personality conflicts or, worse yet, leaving due to termination.

We're not talking about twenty jobs at which you worked a week each before getting your first paycheck and quitting.

Stop worrying. There are worse things out there for background investigators to find than less than rock solid employment histories. I'm not suggesting you have any of these skeletons in your closet, but that they are gunning for the bigger targets.