Second Careers for Street Cops

By John Eldridge

Retired Police Officer, Vancouver, BC.

Researching & writing about second careers for law enforcement officers. Author of Second Careers for Street Cops (pub. May, 2015).

Vancouver, BC

secondcareersforstreetcops.com

Have you thought of starting another career? There’s a lot of second career information available these days, but not much specifically for police officers. I had a full twenty-six year police career followed by a great second career. Along the way, I learned some things about preparing for a second career and then making the leap into a job after policing. I decided to try a second career for a year and see how I liked it. I ended up leading a team investigating workplace fatalities and other serious accidents. That lasted eleven years.

When my second career ended, I looked around for something else to do. Then I thought: “Maybe I should pass on all that I learned about a second career. The cops of today might be able to use my experience to find one for themselves.”

That’s when I decided to write Second Careers for Street Cops and build a website with the same name. Once I started researching, I quickly found how easy it is to get overwhelmed with advice and information about second careers. Have you ever searched the net or looked in your local library for information about second careers? There is so much it’s hard to figure out where to start. Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean.

I think I can help. My website is focused on high-quality resources about second career planning, rather than general information or fluff pieces that just use up time and add to confusion.

The Second Careers for Street Cops website is there to help today’s cops. Drop by, take a look, and let me know what you think. Look under the Resources tab for lots of great material about designing a resumé, considering the impact of your reputation, networking, online job seeking, and employment trends. Pick a few good sources of second career advice and develop your plan from there. Here’s the link http://secondcareersforstreetcops.com/

If you want to keep up to date on the latest second career information, follow me on Twitter @copsecondcareer. I search the net for good second career material that I think will help street cops who are looking ahead. Then I tweet it. That includes job postings.

I’m just putting the finishing touches on my book and will publish it later in May. Writing a book is a whole different adventure. If you think you’d like to do that for a second career, talk to me first!