Hong Kong police recruitment day results in 490 applications after entry requirements lowered
Hong Kong Free Press
About 1,500 people attended a recruitment day for the Hong Kong Police Force on Sunday, around a month after police announced they would relax several requirements for new recruits. Over 490 job applications were received on the spot, according to the Force.
Recruitment stations were set up at the Hong Kong Police College in Wong Chuk Hang for participants to submit applications and undergo initial screening, as police representatives provided visitors with career advice and information, according to a police press release.
Students and “working people” were among those applying for positions such as probationary inspector and auxiliary police constable.
The event marked the first time applicants could take a recently introduced language examination – an alternative for candidates who failed to score a sufficient grade in the city’s university entrance exams.
On May 5, the Force relaxed the physical and academic standards for police candidates, including the minimum height, weight and English-language requirements. Applicants were also allowed to wear contact lens or glasses during an eyesight test.
The test results of those who passed will be valid for a lifetime if they submit a job application within three months of the assessment, the Force said in its press release.
Lat year’s police recruitment day saw 926 on-the-spot applications.
Firefighters’ fitness test
The city’s Fire Service Department chief, Andy Yeung, has also said the department was looking into lowering the eyesight standards for firefighter applicants, according to the South China Morning Post.
The physical fitness test – that up to 40 per cent of station officer candidates have failed in the past – will also be moved to the final stage of its five-round recruitment process in a bid to boost recruitment, the report read.
Applicants would have more time to prepare for the fitness test and get familiar with the department’s requirements, Yeung told the SCMP.
The Fire Department said in its annual press conference in January that it faced a manpower shortage as almost half of the applicants for station officer failed the fitness test. Only 53 of the 119 station officer vacancies were filled last year, according to local media reports.
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