# What makes a successful career?



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Career Survival*
with Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith

*What makes a successful career?*

Sometime in about 8th grade I first decided I was going to be a cop. This was around 1972 (yes, I'm that old), well before women were very prevalent in law enforcement. The co-called "women's movement" was in full swing, so I also decided I would be the first female chief of police in whatever agency I chose to join after college. In 1980 I was hired by the suburban Chicago department I still work for, and was so excited to finally be a "real" cop that my dreams of promotion were relegated to the far back burner.

After about seven years of patrol, detectives, and narcotics, it was recommended to me that I get back to patrol work so that I could prepare to become a sergeant.









AP Photo/ Toby Talbot​
A sergeant? I wasn't ready to be a sergeant, as I was still learning how to be a really great cop! 
Nevertheless, I finished my time in the drug task force, returned to patrol and became an FTO. A couple of years later I transferred back to detectives, this time as a juvenile officer, while two of my friends, both with less time on the job than me, were about to become sergeants. They had taken the sergeant's test that I had declined to take, and I still hadn't felt ready or worthy of becoming a supervisor.

I took the test the next time it became available, and lo and behold, in mid-1992, I was promoted to sergeant. Newly married, I felt I could finally think about becoming a parent. I had always told myself that I would not have a baby until I had sergeant's stripes - my life was going according to plan, as I smugly believed it always would.

Fast forward to 2003: I was divorced, remarried, mom to a third grade girl and step mom to three teenagers. I had just been transferred back to patrol from a seven-year assignment to the crime prevention unit. I was working on the side for the Law Enforcement Television Network (LETN) and had also just begun to work for Calibre Press and the "Street Survival" seminar.

I had taken the lieutenant's text a couple of times and it finally it appeared that I was going to become a lieutenant, a promotion I had coveted for years. This time though, I secretly had my doubts about a promotion enhancing my career and my life. I was the senior sergeant in patrol, first to pick my shift, my day off schedule, my vacation time.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/1679566-What-makes-a-successful-career/


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