Starting thinking

Take control and plan

Leaving any job can be a challenging, exciting and stressful time. Allow yourself the time and space to plan and do the things that are right for you. The best transitions are those that are planned, to enable you to be in the best position possible as you leave. 

The demands of a busy job can mean you don’t always put yourself first. Often, we are so busy trying to juggle our work and home lives, we forget about ourselves and run out of one of the most valuable commodities – time. There is a big change on the horizon, you are leaving your job! 

Life after leaving the police can be quite different, but by taking time for yourself to plan and care for your own needs, the chances are this transition will be so much more successful. Longer term, everyone will benefit. You are not being selfish by taking time to plan this transition. It is in everyone’s interests that this goes well.

Talk to family, friends and colleagues

Leaving the police, either through retirement or because you want to move on, is a big decision. Talking your plans through with your family and friends really does help, as these are the people who have your best interests at heart. Work colleagues and peers can also provide a valuable listening ear. 

You may be worried about money, about feeling bored, taking on a new role or that you will miss your social connections and sense of purpose. No matter what you are feeling, having those conversations early really will help. There may be other avenues or hobbies to explore that you have not even thought of, or comfort and advice that can be gained from the experiences of others.

Enjoy and contribute to your role

Being in good quality work is better for your health than not working, so whilst cruising into your departure might seem like a perfectly good strategy, continuing to enjoy and contribute to your job is probably a better one for your longer-term health and wellbeing.

Many of those retiring or leaving, feel at the peak of their performance having amassed a wealth of knowledge and transferable skills. If you can continue to enjoy working as you build up to and manage your departure, it will feed your sense of purpose and wellbeing, ready for the next chapter.

Take appropriate professional advice

Get advice from the experts. This could be financial advice, career advice, educational advice or even retirement coaching. Talk to people who can help guide your path and make it the best it can possibly be. Get advice from a range of sources to help you make key decisions. Ask friends and family for personal recommendations so that you have a degree of confidence you are talking to people you can trust and who will have your interests at heart.

Enjoy the journey

Whilst having a calendar that counts down to your departure date can be fun, don’t forget to enjoy the journey into your next chapter, rather than just seeing it as a destination. All too often we wish time away and this is a very precious thing that we only have so much of.

Take notice of anxiety and stress

It is very common to feel stress and anxiety in the run up to major change, however for some people changing jobs can become extremely stressful. You should not bottle up any emotions and there is support available through Oscar Kilo or occupational health services if you require it.

I don’t know what career I want, what should I do? 

A good proportion of those leaving policing for whatever reason may choose to continue to work. For some people, the next steps may be obvious, but for others the path ahead, and their careers after the police, may be unclear. It’s not uncommon to feel confused about what you do next, especially when for some officers and staff the job they know so well does not at first glance seem to exist in the outside world.

Be sure to consider your personal strengths, transferable skills, and the qualities you’ve developed in policing. Think about which positions you might enjoy or feel motivated to pursue that will give you a sense of purpose. Think about your technical skills, qualifications and training, passions and interests, life plans, family commitments and priorities. It can be hard to look at yourself and your life like this, particularly if you’ve been doing a job for a long time, so we’ve pulled together information and guidance to help you take a step back and reflect.

If you are struggling with deciding what do next, it may be worthwhile taking a bit of time to try to understand a little more about yourself and what drives you. Here's a short video to help you with this.

Meaning, motivation and purpose

If you have just spent many years working in a busy police environment, the chances are you have had little time to reflect and set goals so that you can take positive steps towards what is important to you. Leaving policing is a unique opportunity to pause and take stock. We know that having purpose in life improves physical and mental wellbeing and quality of life. One way to identify your life purpose is by reflecting on your motivation, passions and strengths, and from this develop a plan with step-by-step goals.

Values

Values are what we believe are important in the way we live and work. These can determine what’s important to us and what we prioritise, including in our careers. Over time your values may change. For example, becoming a parent may change what’s important to you and in turn what you value. Retirement also offers another opportunity to reflect on what values are important and think about how your future direction can reflect these.

Not acting in line with our values can be a source of unhappiness. This is why making a conscious effort to identify our values is important. Living and demonstrating our values should give us a sense of pride, fulfilment and achievement.

Proudest moments

Another useful exercise is to think about and reflect on your policing career and remember your proudest moments. These could have been helping the public or supporting a colleague or someone you managed. Once you have identified your examples, you can think about the skills you used in these scenarios. These can be referred to as our strengths. Your strengths can be thought of as your positive characteristics or traits. They can influence how you behave, your motivations and how you act and feel.

You can also get feedback from others around you such as friends, family and colleagues to help you identify your key strengths and achievements. When going through a transition such as leaving policing, thinking about our key strengths, achievements and proudest moments can help us decide what it is we want to do in the future.

Life crafting

Another tool which can be very useful in helping understand what is important to us is ‘life crafting’. This is a holistic approach that can help us identify our purpose and future actions. Life crafting involves reflecting on and writing down personal goals. Setting goals is an important component of finding fulfilment and purpose, as it sets out our intentions as well as helping us plan for how to overcome obstacles.

Working from home can be an appealing career move. It eliminates most of the traditional aspects of going to work, like commuting and formal dress codes, while reducing social interaction and standard means of accountability. Depending on your preferred work style and culture priorities, it could either be a beneficial or detrimental thing for you.

Are you someone who has always thought about working for yourself? Being your own boss? It is definitely an option when transitioning from one role to another as there are lots of great things about being self-employed. As a starting point if you know anyone who has made the leap it might be worth getting in touch with them to see how they went about it, as there are lots of things to consider:

What is self-employment?

• Self-employment is when an individual works for themselves instead of an employer.
• This could involve anything from running and managing a business, through to selling goods or services regularly (for a profit) as a trader, or consulting for an organisation on a consultancy basis.
• Instead of being paid a salary or wage by an organisation, a self-employed person earns their income directly through the profits made by their own business or trades.

What type of business can I run self-employed?

There are many opportunities available for those wanting to become self-employed – but your legal responsibilities will differ depending on the type of business you run.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you make your decision:

• Do you know what you want to do – and are you qualified?
• Can you afford to be self-employed?
• What financial options are available (such as grants, bank loans, investors, crowd funding)?
• Do you have a business plan?
• How will it affect your personal life, work life-balance or other commitments?
• Are you aware of the legalities?
• Do you need to take out liability insurance?
• Does your home have planning permission from your local council to be used as a registered business address?
• Do you need to let your mortgage provider know that your home will be used as a registered office address?

For more information you can explore what local courses are available. It is a big decision, so doing your homework is really important.

The government website has some important information: www.gov.uk/guidance/help-and-support-if-youre-self-employed

How to find volunteer work

Volunteering is when someone spends unpaid time doing something to benefit others. In other words, a volunteer is a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task and receives no form of monetary reward or payment. 

To consider whether volunteering is a good fit for you personally, it’s a good idea to think about what interests you, or what are you passionate about and then begin researching volunteering projects either locally in your community or on a wider scale. 

This might be the ideal way to fulfil a passion project, something you have always wanted to do, or as a way to build up skills and experience in an area you have never worked in before to help with future employment opportunities. You could help protect the environment, work with animals, or support disadvantaged groups of people. Alternatively, you could get involved with your community and assist with local initiatives and cultural events, such as arts, music, or sports.

Always do your research and see what’s out there before you settle on one idea as you may find something that better fits with your passion and perhaps provides work experience where you can really add value and help. Choosing a cause you care about and support will go a long way in making your volunteer work journey successful for you.

Preparing a list of your strengths and values is a great way to decide what volunteering route you should take. Not only will it help you figure out what you’d be good at, it’ll also give you a comprehensive list of your key strengths that may be relevant in an application. It may be a good idea to consider a skills-based CV when applying for a volunteer role.

You will also need to consider what time you can allocate to volunteering so it doesn’t interfere with a full time, part time or self-employed career you have. In addition, work-life balance and other family commitments need to be considered. Most local organisations will offer flexible volunteer work and will allow you to take on part-time, evening or night volunteering opportunities. It all comes down to tailoring your search to your personal diary and looking for the projects that fit in with it. diary and looking for the projects that fit in with it.

Some organisations might not advertise voluntary programmes, but this doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. Proactive tactics (like getting in touch with a business directly) could actually persuade an organisation to give you a chance to volunteer – even if they are not offering a formal position. 

If the volunteer roles you are looking at are being advertised, you should reach out to the organisation to find out more about the role and they may even remember you, which looks good when they are reviewing your application.

Good questions to find out more about voluntary roles include the following:

• How long will the volunteer initiative last?
• What hours would you like me to do?
• Will my expenses be paid?
• What support and training will be provided?

You can also look at various volunteering opportunities on a number of job boards (Indeed, Monster, CV-Library, Reed, Glassdoor).