Police Detective Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Police Detective resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Police detectives are highly trained professionals who work in law enforcement to investigate crimes, gather evidence, and apprehend suspects. They’re often called upon to solve complex cases that involve multiple jurisdictions or that cross over into multiple areas of law.
If you have an investigative mind and are passionate about solving mysteries, you might be ready for a career as a detective or a position in law enforcement. It’s a job that requires a unique set of skills and abilities, but it can also be incredibly rewarding.
Before you can land a job as a detective, you need a resume that showcases your skills and experience effectively. Follow these tips and resume example to write a police detective resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Police Detective Resume
Here’s how to write a police detective resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And they’re the best way to showcase your experience and qualifications.
So it’s important to use them to their full potential. And that means using them to describe your accomplishments and results. So rather than saying you “conducted investigations,” you could say you “conducted investigations into allegations of fraud resulting in the arrest of 15 suspects and recovery of more than $2 million in stolen funds.”
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a police detective, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs look for certain terms related to the job, like “investigations” or “law enforcement,” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match for the position. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right keywords, your application might not even make it to a human recruiter.
One way to make sure you have the right keywords on your resume is to read through a few job postings and take note of the terms that are used most often. You can then use those same terms in your resume. Here are some common police detective keywords:
- Criminal Investigations
- Law Enforcement
- Criminal Justice
- Public Safety
- Investigation
- Patrol
- Police
- Firearms Handling
- Interrogation
- Criminal Law
- Crime Prevention
- Community Policing
- Homeland Security
- Private Investigations
- Law
- Surveillance
- Evidence Collection
- Patrol Operations
- Fraud Investigations
- Police Management
- Homicide
- Internal Affairs
- Terrorism Investigations
- Intelligence Analysis
- Executive Protection
- Intelligence
- Homeland Security
- Interviewing
- Police Training
- Evidence
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Police detectives use a variety of technologies in their work, so it is important to list your technical skills on your resume. Some of the most commonly used technologies are law enforcement databases, forensic software, and social media platforms. Additionally, detectives need to be familiar with the laws and regulations that govern their jurisdiction.