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cally important for competent report creation and documentation. Require the candidate to arrive for the interview 30 minutes prior to the time you anticipate interviewing him / her. Allow the candidate approximately 30 minutes to draft a written report that explains what skills he / she possesses that he / she believes will make her an excellent law enforcement offcer. There are numerous other topics that would work well ��� the primary goal is to produce a writing sample that can be assessed for clarity and professionalism. You can also include a presentation as part of the interview. Offcers will often present before community groups, media or school children. Requiring them to make a brief presentation as part of an interview process is practical and it allows for an accurate assessment of interpersonal style, organization and communication skills. The presentation, interview questions and writing sample can all be scored immediately following the interview process. Alternatives to Oral Interviews As was mentioned previously, it is often diffcult and impractical to administer interviews to large groups of candidates. When the group reaches a certain size, the security and reliability of the interview can be so compromised that an interview process is no longer feasible. In such cases, there is an alternative assessment tool that can assess similar job skills in a much more effcient manner. Situational judgment tests are paper-and-pencil tests that assess job skills using job-related scenarios. In fact, these tests can contain the same scenarios that are used in oral interview questions. The manner in which the multiple-choice answer options are created and scored is the key to deploying a successful situational judgment test; however, if done properly, these tests can produce results that are very similar to the interview and much more effcient. These tests have been underutilized, likely as a result of people���s affnity for oral interviews ��� people tend to appreciate the face-to-face interaction. However, if you have 100 or 1,000 candidates to interview, a good situational judgment test may be the perfect solution. Chad Legel is the President of Selection Works, a human-resources consulting frm specializing in public safety testing. Legel may be reached at clegel@ selectionworks.com. Photos by Mark C. Ide. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com Click on EInfo at - www.lawandordermag.com reader service #20 www.lawandordermag.com 45