West Midlands Police opens applications for in-demand jobs
Applications have officially opened to join West Midlands Police, with more than 20,000 people having expressed an interest in just 450 posts.
The hiring of the new police constables follows the end of a five-year recruitment freeze by the force.
West Midlands Police is specifically aiming to improve its quota of black and ethnic minority officers.
Supt Manjit Thandi said the scale of the interest so far had been "overwhelming".
"Unfortunately we can't take all those 20,000 - we can only recruit 450 constables over a two-year period, so it's going to be a tough selection process," he said.
The force, the second largest in the UK, is targeting younger recruits as well as ethnic minorities in a bid to "better reflect the communities of the West Midlands".
The first phase of recruitment, which opened on Wednesday, will be followed by another in the autumn and a third in 2015.