The Hong Kong Police (HKP) will recruit 180 probation inspectors and 890 police constables in its 2012-13 continuous recruitment exercise. Within these two job brackets, the force offers a wide range of exciting careers in different fields, including working in airport security, marine, traffic and crime divisions.
In line with the variety of job opportunities, the criteria for new recruits are also broad, says Francis Cheung Kwok-wai, chief inspector of police.
'We welcome people with different social and educational backgrounds to join us to serve the community, but they need to be competent and mature,' he says. 'They must be eager to serve the community as a professional police officer, and they must share our values.'
Successful candidates need common sense, good judgment, a mature approach, good communication skills and the ability to put people at ease. Much of the work involves dealing directly with members of the public, so communication skills are particularly crucial.
'We deal with people, so it's very important that they can communicate,' explains Cheung.
'For police inspectors, we look for more,' he says. 'We look for leadership potential - we are looking for people who can lead a team. We are [also] looking for management abilities. [Recruits] must have good personalities and values, and share the common values of our police force.'
The level of preparedness shown by many Generation Y candidates has impressed the force. 'They are smart, they know how to research and they use the internet extensively, so they are very well-prepared,' notes Cheung.