RCMP to host open house at local McDonald’s

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The RCMP are hiring, and an open house is being hosted in Strathmore at the McDonald’s for potential applicants to drop in an speak with local officers about the opportunity.

Taking place Feb. 3 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., the coffee with a recruiter event will be a very casual setting as part of a large recruiting push across the province. 

“We will have one of our recruiting officers there. Members from our local detachment will pop in and out depending on calls for service,” said Sgt. Jay Salmon, speaking on behalf of the Strathmore RCMP. “If anyone is interested, they can come in, they can speak with a regular member from the recruiting branch, and if one of the local members is available, they can speak with them. It is a good opportunity for people to just ask any kind of questions about the job, good and bad and get answers from guys who are living it.”

Salmon added it is very much the intention to create a casual, more approachable setting for the public and potential applicants to drop in and learn about the job. 

As opposed to being set up at a formal job fair, this creates more of an opportunity to ask more candid questions and have direct, impactful conversations about the job opportunities as opposed to being in a loud environment with less time at a booth, and more people vying for jobhunters’ attention.

Resumes and applications will not be collected at the event directly. Instead, those who are interested in applying will be directed to where they may be able to submit an application and begin the hiring process.

“They will have pamphlets, we have recruiting cards with QR codes on them that will take people to the website, we will have lots of answers about the process and that kind of information there,” said Salmon. “It is across the province. During COVID-19, our recruiting numbers were very low, and now we are ramping up to try to catch up.”

Successful applicants are recruited to the Alberta RCMP and may be posted anywhere in the province, rather than the Strathmore detachment specifically hiring people for a guaranteed local position. 

Salmon described that the RCMP look for all sorts of different kinds of people to take on as applicants. Since a great deal of the job requires interacting with the public, there is a need to have a diverse pool of people as members of the RCMP.

“We are looking for all different kinds of people because we deal with all different kinds of people. I do not think there is a cookie cutter, ‘you must be like this,’” said Salmon. “I have worked with guys who played video games professionally, I have worked with guys who played in the WHL, who were in the army, I have worked with guys who were drywallers before. We deal with everybody in the public, and so we need a wide cross section of members so that we have a representation of the communities that we serve.”

More information regarding a potential career with the RCMP is available online (rcmpcareers.ca).