The Kern County Sheriff's Office is looking for a few good men and women to join their ranks. They'll be holding a hiring event on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the KCSO RTC.
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00:00 Welcome back. It is 6 44. The current county Sheriff's Department is looking for a few good men and women to join their ranks and they're hosting a hiring event this Saturday at the current county Sheriff's Department's RTC and joining us in Studio B this morning to tell us more about that is public information officer Lori Mesa and Sergeant Charles Shin. Welcome to you both. Thanks for getting up this morning. Good morning. Alright, so this is an exciting opportunity for many people this Saturday. Exactly how many positions open positions are there within the department?
00:29 - Overall, we are over 200 positions, right?
00:33 - Wow. - Correct.
00:34 - Talk about a shortage.
00:35 And this one is specifically for deputies, correct?
00:37 - So the event is specifically for deputies.
00:39 And we don't like to use the word shortage,
00:41 we like to use the word opportunities.
00:43 - Like that. - We have over 200
00:44 opportunities for you here. (laughing)
00:46 - Let's write that down,
00:47 make sure we get that in there.
00:48 Opportunities out there, and you are open to,
00:51 is there any age-specific requirements
00:53 or anything like that?
00:54 - So they have to be 21 when they're appointed,
00:56 which means about 20 and a half
00:57 when they start the academy.
01:00 - Okay, and not to scare anybody off
01:02 for these opportunities, but Sharjit,
01:05 Shin, you were telling me just a moment ago
01:07 just about the test, there'll be testing available
01:10 on Saturday for prospective applicants.
01:12 - Correct, alongside with the fact
01:13 that we're gonna have county HR,
01:15 Sheriff's Office HR, background investigators,
01:19 individuals who work in the field,
01:20 have an open Q&A, be able to walk around the academy,
01:22 see what life is like.
01:23 On site that day, we're gonna have testing
01:25 that starts at nine o'clock in the morning.
01:27 It's the Appellate B exam, it goes over your suitability
01:30 for the position based off your education.
01:34 You're reading, writing, comprehension aspects.
01:37 It's a test that's very unique
01:39 in that there's a section in it
01:41 that is fill in the blank that most people
01:43 haven't taken a test like that before.
01:45 So if you haven't taken the test before,
01:46 I highly recommend you take a look at a practice exam
01:49 that we have at kcsojobs.org,
01:51 or you can go to Barnes & Noble's,
01:52 they have several different practice exams books there
01:56 where you can also take the opportunity
01:57 and take a look and see what the test entails
02:00 and become more comfortable with it.
02:02 - So we were just talking,
02:03 this isn't sort of the SAT kind of a thing,
02:05 but it is something that you should review for
02:07 before you go.
02:08 - Definitely, it's not the SAT,
02:09 but it is something that if you haven't taken before,
02:12 you wanna prepare for.
02:13 - And you said that the pass rate for people
02:15 is not very high.
02:17 - Correct, it's definitely under 50% pass rate.
02:19 So if you haven't taken it, you wanna prepare.
02:22 - Lori, what's the attendance been like?
02:24 What's the interest been like for you recently?
02:27 - So we've been getting a lot of interest.
02:31 We definitely get a lot of interest,
02:33 but some of the things that we're seeing
02:36 when people arrive is maybe they're not entirely
02:39 as prepared for some of the questions
02:41 that they're gonna be asked.
02:42 So we encourage people to come out again
02:45 if you have passed a certain threshold,
02:48 like maybe you didn't pass the test
02:49 or maybe they've given you a threshold,
02:51 like, oh, please come back and apply in this amount of time.
02:54 Just remember that you do have that option to come back
02:56 if you didn't make it through the last time.
03:00 We'd like to continue to see faces come back through
03:02 and keep trying 'cause I know that it is a difficult,
03:05 a difficult career to get into,
03:08 but it's definitely a career that has that need.
03:09 We have a lot of opportunities.
03:11 - Okay, so for people out there
03:13 that are wondering about this,
03:14 it's at RTC, which is next to the Sheriff's headquarters
03:18 on Norris Road, correct?
03:19 - Right, so we have the Sheriff's office
03:21 and then there's a trucking company
03:23 and then we have the RTC,
03:25 which is where we hold the academies.
03:27 - And it starts at?
03:28 - It starts at 8.30 a.m.
03:30 - And you walk up, sir, this is what it's encouraged,
03:32 they can't sign up ahead of time?
03:34 - No, so you just show up.
03:37 It's first come, first serve basis for seating on the test.
03:40 So you just get there as early as you can
03:42 and get in line and sign up for the test.
03:44 And if you wanted to go faster,
03:46 complete your application online at kcsojobs.org.
03:49 - There you go.
03:50 All right, Lori, thank you so much.
03:51 Sergeant Jen, appreciate you seeing you again.
03:54 It is this Saturday, it is your opportunity to get in there
03:57 and get started on a fabulous career.