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The Hong Kong Police Force today (March 30) announced that with effect from April 1, 2010, applicants for the posts of Probationary Inspectors and Recruit Police Constables will sit for the psychometric test before they attend the Final Interview Board in recruitment exercise.
The Force has looked into overseas experience in the use of psychometric test in recruitment for several years. In 2009, a team of six staff (two Police Clinical Psychologists, one Statistical Officer and three Assistant Clerical Officers) set up a Personality and Cognitive Evaluation Programme (PerCEP) Centre to run the Test.
A Police spokesman said: "The Test will help identify and recruit psychologically resilient and effective applicants whose personal values are aligned with Force values, in order to improve service through selecting candidates with both the right competence and appropriate psychological abilities."
The Test will be conducted through completion of three sets of paper-and-pencil test and it takes about three hours to complete.
It will strengthen an already stringent recruitment selection by providing additional information on the applicant's cognitive abilities, emotional resilience and personality traits to Final Interview Board in recruitment exercise.
"There is no pass or failure for the Test. It will not be used as a tool to screen in or screen out a candidate and will only be used as a reference.
"The Board will continue to assess a candidate's competencies such as leadership, communication skills, judgment, motivation and general knowledge as displayed throughout the selection process in deciding their suitability for the job," the spokesman added.
As the Test results are subject to change over time because of developmental change and other changes, it is valid for one year from the date of taking the Test. Personal data generated through the Test will be destroyed 12 months after the selection exercise.
It is estimated that about 3,000 candidates will sit for the Test annually which will be held at the PerCEP Test Centre in Police Headquarters.
It is projected that the first batch of Recruit Police Constables (RPC) and Probationary Inspectors (PI) who have taken the Test will be taken on strength for the Intake commencing on July 5, 2010 and will complete foundation training on January 8, 2011 (for RPC) and March 12, 2011 (for PI) respectively.
The Force will conduct periodic review on the Test and the relevant mechanism to assess its effectiveness so as to achieve continual improvement.
Police Report No. 5
Ends/Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:59
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