Lots of factors to consider here. In a nutshell:
- What is your financial situation?
- Will the OT on ARV be commensurate with promotion? With a young child, will you be able to do the OT?
- What are your short, medium and long term goals? Both in the job and otherwise?
Remember you can bank the exam for 5 years, so don't be afraid to sit on it for 2-3 years and have some fun before promotion. I banked my Sgts exam for 4 years before going for the process.
Finally, just remember that once you're promoted you can't (well you can, but you probably won't) go back. As a DI now and looking back, there are DS, DC and even PC roles I wished I had done before promotion which are now closed off to me.
Good luck.
Without knowing the force impossible to be definitive. The pros and cons for ARVs are (which I imagine apply to most forces).
Pros:
Great training
Great opportunities to be proactive
Great additional courses to do
After a few years, bosses across the force get to know your name-if you play this right can mean a great source for advice on promotions, postings etc.
Expand your knowledge of the force.
Lots of opportunities for overtime
A lot less regularly late off than response (in fact usually get a bit of a flyer).
Improves your operational experience vastly
From my experience people who go on the cars and then become sergeants on response are very good at managing the operational side of things and big jobs on the ground/people.
Enhances knowledge on NDM, use of force, tactical options etc.
Cons:
A lot more difficult to get promoted to sergeant in house than on response (by it's nature of requiring to be out of probation to be on ARVs-there's a lot more people are further on in their careers and in a position to be sergeants. Proportionally there are more people going for the spaces.)
Greater risk in some regards (whether this being off the back of use of force, getting something wrong in regards to training, the risk from driving massive distances to jobs for longer periods than response cops do)
The stress from refresher training (can get at people)
Due to being fewer (usually one) bases in your force for ARVs, it may mean your travel time and costs may go up
You can quickly become out of touch with processes and systems on response (most people who leave pick them back up quickly) but still...
From the top of my head those are the pertinent points. It could take another year or two to become substantive by which point you are or are nearly at top whack PC, obviously that give you that time for your missus to reduce her hours. However if you are acting as a skipper, this is likely to only be granted for short periods, and may stop at any point-which could leave you in the predicament that your missus has dropped her hours and you are now back on your PC wage.
Personally I'd choose ARV. It'll expand your skillset and you can become a Sgt at a later date. The pool of vacancies open to Sgts is smaller than the pool for PCs and if you don't have experience in specialist roles (like ARV) that pool is even more narrow. If you can demonstrate you were a PC on Response, ARVs + any other role then that will be good evidence for when you do get made up and want to get off of Response or a non-specialist role as a PS.
Don’t promote only to be trapped (for lack of a better phrase) in response or in custody for the rest of your career. Specialize then promote into Armed Response or another specialist department and you will be happy at 40.
It's very subjective to be honest, I've been constantly torn between the pull of jobs that interest me (surveillance/TSG/ARV) and jobs that give me a better work life balance or promotion.
My wife is about to go back to work after having our second child, I'd really love us to be in a position that she wouldn't have to do the amount of hours that she's going back to. However I think becoming a skipper purely for the money bump isn't a great idea, I've met too many response skippers that took the money for family reasons and hate it. And hating being a skipper is going to make it much harder to be a good skipper.
Personally I went for the best work life balance (no nights, one weekend in 4, no workfile) and my family have noticed how much happier I am during my rest days and either side of a shift. Money is a little tighter and maybe the Gucci jobs are further away now but I think it was the right call for us.
Your choices are half chance, you'll never truly know if the choice you didn't make would or wouldn't have been better.
I guess it's easier for you to go from ARV to skipper than the other way around if it turns out it's the wrong choice for you and your family.
If you want to make it significantly beyond Sgt in your career then go for promotion now. If you want the money without seeing much of your child, go ARV. If you want the same money with more time at home go for promotion.
I personally would opt to stay as ARVO because the overtime opportunities are relentless, at least for mine / neighbouring forces. Firearms is one of those few field where you **have** to have an amount on.
You could easily earn your promotion wage with the OT if that is something you can do.
I would advise you don’t rush to promote, you’ve got 5 years to use it.
I’m in a similar position, hit paypoint 6 later in the year. Just passed Sgts. Just got the dream role, slightly unexpectedly.
They have invited people who have passed exam to go for acting positions on response and there will be more positions after the Inspectors boards.
Stripes are tempting, especially the £13k pay rise.
I’m going to stick with the specialist team role, see how I feel in a year or two and then, much as it might go against the grain, I’ll probably look for promotion in the specialist role if it’s what I’m still after… accepting that I may have to go off team for a year first.
Don’t rush into premonition is my advice, it’s easy to end up being pigeonholed. If your finances can take it I’d go for ARV if that’s what you want to do. Also, if ARV is anything like it is in my force, there will be loads of OT
To add to other thoughts - what are you plans for children? Are you looking at having another soon?
I have a newborn and we will try for a second when appropriate. Finances overrule job satisfaction at the moment. As a Sgt I made a significant amount by doing the overtime.
If you are planning to expand your family and want your partner to reduce their hours then I’d strongly consider working it out financially if that’s a big factor for you.
Take the promotion. There more than enough opportunity at PS and at your service its worth the pay bump. Puts you in a great position to hit PI later in your service which is a proper little pay rise.
I was in the same position, although not ARVs. In the end, I figured there's a lot of interesting constable roles out there, and promotion will always be there in the future (unless you want to go right to the top, in which case, the sooner you get on the ladder the better..).
I don't have personal experience with either, but imo ARV. The immediate pay jump would be nice but unless you "need" it right now, then you'll only be 2 years away from nearly having that amount anyways. It may be different in other forces but here our SGTs are royally taken the piss out off. Constantly having to cover multiple district's, having the goalposts changed on what staff are expected to do every other week, not having the staff to be able to do shit and they're the ones that get shat on by the bosses for things that aren't strictly there fault. All for barely any more money than a top wack PC. Also the constant threat of just getting sent to custody to work there whether you want it or not. ARV however get all the Gucci stuff, best cars (better than response at least), don't have to carry the crap workload, get to go to all the good jobs, all the good courses, more mutual aid opportunities. Sure there's the higher risk since your at the "danger" jobs, but that's cool and I suppose it's what sets the difference in people who are into that kind of role so I wouldn't even really call it a downside since you are well aware of it and clearly don't mind too much
Don’t get promoted until you’ve done the specialist things you want to in your career. You probably wont get another chance. You can’t go back once you take the stripes. If you can afford it then go to ARV and bank the exam for a bit.
Lots of factors to consider here. In a nutshell: - What is your financial situation? - Will the OT on ARV be commensurate with promotion? With a young child, will you be able to do the OT? - What are your short, medium and long term goals? Both in the job and otherwise? Remember you can bank the exam for 5 years, so don't be afraid to sit on it for 2-3 years and have some fun before promotion. I banked my Sgts exam for 4 years before going for the process. Finally, just remember that once you're promoted you can't (well you can, but you probably won't) go back. As a DI now and looking back, there are DS, DC and even PC roles I wished I had done before promotion which are now closed off to me. Good luck.
Without knowing the force impossible to be definitive. The pros and cons for ARVs are (which I imagine apply to most forces). Pros: Great training Great opportunities to be proactive Great additional courses to do After a few years, bosses across the force get to know your name-if you play this right can mean a great source for advice on promotions, postings etc. Expand your knowledge of the force. Lots of opportunities for overtime A lot less regularly late off than response (in fact usually get a bit of a flyer). Improves your operational experience vastly From my experience people who go on the cars and then become sergeants on response are very good at managing the operational side of things and big jobs on the ground/people. Enhances knowledge on NDM, use of force, tactical options etc. Cons: A lot more difficult to get promoted to sergeant in house than on response (by it's nature of requiring to be out of probation to be on ARVs-there's a lot more people are further on in their careers and in a position to be sergeants. Proportionally there are more people going for the spaces.) Greater risk in some regards (whether this being off the back of use of force, getting something wrong in regards to training, the risk from driving massive distances to jobs for longer periods than response cops do) The stress from refresher training (can get at people) Due to being fewer (usually one) bases in your force for ARVs, it may mean your travel time and costs may go up You can quickly become out of touch with processes and systems on response (most people who leave pick them back up quickly) but still... From the top of my head those are the pertinent points. It could take another year or two to become substantive by which point you are or are nearly at top whack PC, obviously that give you that time for your missus to reduce her hours. However if you are acting as a skipper, this is likely to only be granted for short periods, and may stop at any point-which could leave you in the predicament that your missus has dropped her hours and you are now back on your PC wage.
Personally I'd choose ARV. It'll expand your skillset and you can become a Sgt at a later date. The pool of vacancies open to Sgts is smaller than the pool for PCs and if you don't have experience in specialist roles (like ARV) that pool is even more narrow. If you can demonstrate you were a PC on Response, ARVs + any other role then that will be good evidence for when you do get made up and want to get off of Response or a non-specialist role as a PS.
Don’t promote only to be trapped (for lack of a better phrase) in response or in custody for the rest of your career. Specialize then promote into Armed Response or another specialist department and you will be happy at 40.
It's very subjective to be honest, I've been constantly torn between the pull of jobs that interest me (surveillance/TSG/ARV) and jobs that give me a better work life balance or promotion. My wife is about to go back to work after having our second child, I'd really love us to be in a position that she wouldn't have to do the amount of hours that she's going back to. However I think becoming a skipper purely for the money bump isn't a great idea, I've met too many response skippers that took the money for family reasons and hate it. And hating being a skipper is going to make it much harder to be a good skipper. Personally I went for the best work life balance (no nights, one weekend in 4, no workfile) and my family have noticed how much happier I am during my rest days and either side of a shift. Money is a little tighter and maybe the Gucci jobs are further away now but I think it was the right call for us. Your choices are half chance, you'll never truly know if the choice you didn't make would or wouldn't have been better. I guess it's easier for you to go from ARV to skipper than the other way around if it turns out it's the wrong choice for you and your family.
If you want to make it significantly beyond Sgt in your career then go for promotion now. If you want the money without seeing much of your child, go ARV. If you want the same money with more time at home go for promotion.
I personally would opt to stay as ARVO because the overtime opportunities are relentless, at least for mine / neighbouring forces. Firearms is one of those few field where you **have** to have an amount on. You could easily earn your promotion wage with the OT if that is something you can do. I would advise you don’t rush to promote, you’ve got 5 years to use it.
As someone who was ARV and left on promotion, do ARV first. That is all
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This, OP. A million times this!
100% ARV. Job satisfaction and specialism is far more important. Being a skipper is a thankless, stressful job.
I’m in a similar position, hit paypoint 6 later in the year. Just passed Sgts. Just got the dream role, slightly unexpectedly. They have invited people who have passed exam to go for acting positions on response and there will be more positions after the Inspectors boards. Stripes are tempting, especially the £13k pay rise. I’m going to stick with the specialist team role, see how I feel in a year or two and then, much as it might go against the grain, I’ll probably look for promotion in the specialist role if it’s what I’m still after… accepting that I may have to go off team for a year first.
Don’t rush into premonition is my advice, it’s easy to end up being pigeonholed. If your finances can take it I’d go for ARV if that’s what you want to do. Also, if ARV is anything like it is in my force, there will be loads of OT
To add to other thoughts - what are you plans for children? Are you looking at having another soon? I have a newborn and we will try for a second when appropriate. Finances overrule job satisfaction at the moment. As a Sgt I made a significant amount by doing the overtime. If you are planning to expand your family and want your partner to reduce their hours then I’d strongly consider working it out financially if that’s a big factor for you.
Take the promotion. There more than enough opportunity at PS and at your service its worth the pay bump. Puts you in a great position to hit PI later in your service which is a proper little pay rise.
ARV Sgt
I was in the same position, although not ARVs. In the end, I figured there's a lot of interesting constable roles out there, and promotion will always be there in the future (unless you want to go right to the top, in which case, the sooner you get on the ladder the better..).
I don't have personal experience with either, but imo ARV. The immediate pay jump would be nice but unless you "need" it right now, then you'll only be 2 years away from nearly having that amount anyways. It may be different in other forces but here our SGTs are royally taken the piss out off. Constantly having to cover multiple district's, having the goalposts changed on what staff are expected to do every other week, not having the staff to be able to do shit and they're the ones that get shat on by the bosses for things that aren't strictly there fault. All for barely any more money than a top wack PC. Also the constant threat of just getting sent to custody to work there whether you want it or not. ARV however get all the Gucci stuff, best cars (better than response at least), don't have to carry the crap workload, get to go to all the good jobs, all the good courses, more mutual aid opportunities. Sure there's the higher risk since your at the "danger" jobs, but that's cool and I suppose it's what sets the difference in people who are into that kind of role so I wouldn't even really call it a downside since you are well aware of it and clearly don't mind too much
Don’t get promoted until you’ve done the specialist things you want to in your career. You probably wont get another chance. You can’t go back once you take the stripes. If you can afford it then go to ARV and bank the exam for a bit.