AIBU to consider a career as a police detective

[NotInspectorPoirotYet]

I think it sounds like a interesting, rewarding and challenging job but I'm worried about whether it's really compatible with family life? Any detective's with primary school aged children out there? How do you find it?

At the moment I do a job that I find some what uninspiring but that is well paid and with a reasonable work life balance, 40 hours + commute but no real overtime or unsociable hours.

If anyone is on Twitter, this is an interesting thread of conversation about DE

twitter.com/JSHKT20/status/1093985048737529856?s=19

If you have a family I honestly wouldn't recommend becoming a Detective. My husband was in the job when we had a young family and it was so difficult, never knowing when he was coming home. He missed so many family events and special times. I honestly felt like a single parent at times. Also totally heartbreaking when your kids are always asking "When's Daddy home?" "When will we see Daddy next?" And not knowing the answer. It put a real strain on our relationship.

Jjop, sorry didn't say thank you earlier for sharing information about your role. It sounds incredibly tough. Maybe that's why they can't recruit your replacement. But someone obviously has to do it as it's such important work.

Mummydummy, that sounds hard with your husband. It's not what I want for my kids.

To be honest I am getting the impression that working conditions for detectives need to be improved so that it is a decent option for people with families etc.

But instead they are trying different methods to recruit more people when they also need to improve the working conditions to retain the existing people. So starting to remind me of teaching in that sense at any rate....

Or maybe the influx of extra staff will help. Unless they all leave again straight away as someone suggested in that Twitter feed.

But then again someone who was actually on the program posted to say it was being well run and retention was good. I don't know, lots to think about anyway.

You want to be a police detective so instead of doing a bit of detection work to see if it's doable, you ask on MN!!! I don't think you have the necessary skills!

You do realise that if you ever got the job, you can't come on here and say "AIBU to ask who robbed the post office?"

And pray tell where on earth the OP will go to get a broader range of up to date views from an anonymous pool who can be frank? What a knobbish thing to say lifecraft

@Lifecraft the OP has been given honest accounts of the job by numerous detectives from across the country. Your comment is idiotic. I hope you're not a detective.