AFP Police Recruit vs ABF Officer (BFORT): which career suits you?

Both are federal law enforcement careers, but the work differs. AFP officers investigate Commonwealth crime and police the ACT, as sworn police. Australian Border Force officers work at airports, seaports, mail centres and at sea, enforcing customs and immigration law, and enter through Border Force Officer Recruit Training (BFORT). Both need an AGSVA security clearance plus their own suitability checks. Choose the AFP for investigative policing; the ABF for border and trade enforcement.

AFP Police Recruit: online battery of four timed parts for national and act policing: personality questionnaire, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning and numerical calculation. the afp does not publish the number of questions in about 86 minutes in total: personality 25 min, deductive reasoning 23 min, inductive reasoning 23 min, numerical calculation 15 min (protective service officers sit three parts, about 63 min). ABF Officer (BFORT): cognify: 3 timed mini-games (gridlock, numbubbles, proof it). emotify: 3 parts (matching faces, emotional ties, emotions in action). illustrait: a behavioural job-fit questionnaire. criteria corp does not publish item counts in cognify 15 minutes in total; emotify about 20 minutes. video interview answers and the written task are timed per question with an on-screen countdown. The longer exam covers more ground, but the harder one is the one further from your daily work. Take both free practice tests to see where you stand.

You can usually apply to more than one agency at the same time, and many candidates do. You can only work in one full-time role at once, though, and each agency runs its own tests, checks and merit list, so plan your preparation around the test you'll sit first.

Start with the free practice test for each, then study by topic. Premium is per exam (A$89 a month each), so most people start with the exam they'll sit first and add the second when they're ready.