PSNI Recruitment - Stage 1 - The Initial Selection Test

forestgrump

so gazzabelfast are you a psni member now or did it all go wrong in the end?????
iv my ist next week and nervous but just want to get it done now!!!
And my advice about wearing a suit would be DONT!!.....everyday wear is perfect,comfy clothes are the way to go!

lilac55

omg did my ist, was really hard the practice test is easy compared to the real thing, they totally put you under pressure trying to answer all the questions in a short amount of time.... i hope i did enough!!!:D

Bifbert

lilac55 wrote: »

omg did my ist, was really hard the practice test is easy compared to the real thing, they totally put you under pressure trying to answer all the questions in a short amount of time.... i hope i did enough!!!:D

Welcome to the boards!!! Good Luck.

lilac55

thanks bifbert lol so nervous think ive failed, well if i dont suceed there is always next year!! good luck everyone:D

Agito

I was actually quite pleasantly surprised when I got there. Firstly, I think I wasn't the youngest, or at least there were many people around my age group. lol Secondly, the examiners were really nice people and even drinks were provided. Wasn't expecting it that way.

Speaking of suits... What if I like wearing suits in general and I feel comfortable in them? lol I was actually wearing stuff that most people would not consider casual but it was casual for me.

forestgrump

agito in that case a suit is perfect for you....fair play to you! hope it went well for you now.......... and IF it is the case that you find suits comfortable and IF i make it to garnerville and i see someone lounging around during free time in a suit il know its you!!!:)

Annoymus

Hey guys,
Been reading these forums for a few weeks, decided to finally make a post. My IST is soon and i know alot of people who have already done it this year, this is my first time applying, but im trying my best to prepare for it, i just cant find anything!

So, any help please? Especially with the maths section

scullersky

Hey I have my IST coming up, i just wanted to know can you see the time om examiners stopwatch ? Or like do they have one on the wall or anything? :rolleyes:


Thanks,:D
Tomy-Kerry.:cool:

Annoymus

Hey tommy,
My guess is they'll ask us to leave all electronic equiptment outside of the room, cant you just wear a watch xD?

p.s do we bring pens or anything?

grad10

If you go back through this thread you will find links to both sample verbal and numerical reasoning tests, as well as plenty of useful tips. A lot of people will say it is a test you can't prepare for, but others prefer to do some extra revision and use the likes of Nintendo DS Brain Training.

B182

Annoymus wrote: »

Hey tommy,
My guess is they'll ask us to leave all electronic equiptment outside of the room, cant you just wear a watch xD?

p.s do we bring pens or anything?

no they give u pencils

and nothing comes to the maths that i found online so i would suggest just practise gcse maths skills being able to add and takeaway quickly is a bonus

u watch your own time i used a digital timer as looking at watch seriously isnt the same as 1min 20sec etc left

they have a clock at top off the room but u maybe at the back or middle so i wouldnt rely on it

grad10

You cannot see the examiners stopwatch. Make sure you bring you own watch and keep a close eye on your time.

You don't need to bring pens/pencils or anything like that, it's all provided. Just yourself, your letter and ID.

All of the information you need will be in previous posts in this thread.

Annoymus

is it just add/subtract maths?
or percentages and what not?

B182

doesnt ask what is 20 - 2 but for example but your given a table and it will ask what is the price and you have to go check several different tables to give you the price

but if you gather the info it can be simple whats 20 - 2 but you are under a very tight time limit

meaning if you get lost in the information chances are your not finishing the test

hope that helps

Annoymus

yeah, cracker response bud, Thanks for that.

I suppose all the answers are there, its just a matter of finding them and putting them together?

and not stuff like

what is the angle of this triangle :P

Agito

Agito wrote: »

Speaking of suits... What if I like wearing suits in general and I feel comfortable in them? lol I was actually wearing stuff that most people would not consider casual but it was casual for me.

Nothing wrong with that, better to look that part that turn up looking like you've just rolled out of bed! Besides, I do love me a man in suit and I'm sure there's other ladies out there wouldn't complain having something nice to look at while waiting to go in

About the whole clock thing, take your own timer with you, I didn't last year and found it really distracting looking up to the clock all the time to see how long was left. I got a wee cheap countdown timer for this year so I can just glance at it and see 3mins 15secs left etc...and then panic!

wannabe2010

Just back from my IST :(:( sad times. Looks like it's the end of the road for me! Please tell me everyone else found it as hard as I did! I had to randomly answer the last TEN questions!! Anyone else from here in my IST today?

grad10

wannabe2010 wrote: »

Just back from my IST :(:( sad times. Looks like it's the end of the road for me! Please tell me everyone else found it as hard as I did! I had to randomly answer the last TEN questions!! Anyone else from here in my IST today?

Try not to get too disheartened wannabe, I was convinced I had failed mine last year, left out about 7 questions in each section (didn't even guess them) and couldn't believe it when I passsed. So don't give up hope just yet, you really don't know until you get your letter, you could well be pleasantly surprised.

wannabe2010

Thanks grad makes me feel a bit better.. I totally underestimated it. I mean, I knew it'd be hard but jeeze that was unreal! Part A wasn't too bad, think I maybe did alright-ish in it - the last two or three Qs were a bit rushed though. But the maths! Flip me, I just stared blankly at most of them.. I think I maybe got as little as under 10 conscious correct answers let's just hope the random guesses come through for me lol :eek:. How did yours go this year or have you not done it yet?

B182

Youll go like that thinking wow I messed that then to ack maybe it wasn't bad as look at it this way first part is outta 48 so more you got here less off the maths is needed

wannabe2010

I guess so... Let's just hope luck is on my side! It'd be a bummer havin to wait til next year Just over a month to get the results, hopefully it'll fly in! Hope you did ok in yours chunkerz and grad, and everyone!

Agito

Wannabe if we'll both get through I totally wanna meet you. lol If we do, hope we get the same date for the 2nd part of the process.

grad10

wannabe2010 wrote: »

How did yours go this year or have you not done it yet?

I think it's an exam you can't really prepare for, and can't tell how you've done when you come out of it. The paper was the same as last year, which I thought should have made it easier, but I was much more nervous this year after reading these boards so found it really tough. I managed to guess the answers that I didn't have time to finish rather than leaving them blank this time though, so as long as they don't raise the pass mark I'm keeping my fingers crossed I've done ok. Just hope the positive thinking pays off!

Cashflow

If you think its hard then you're probably better off just forgetting about it altogether. Its there to separate the wheat from the chaff right off the bat. Unfortunately there isn't really anything you can do if you find maths hard, or are unable to answer questions based on English comprehension. Thems the breaks.

grad10

Cashflow wrote: »

If you think its hard then you're probably better off just forgetting about it altogether.

I would say the majority of people who sit the IST think it's hard. The opinions of the boardies seem to agree. Just because you find something difficult, doesn't mean you are not capable of doing it. I'm sure there are many trainees and officers who found it tough! So I don't think it's right to advise people to forget about it and give up, not everyone finds it easy, but can still pass. Trying to keep a positive spirit around here Cashflow!

Cashflow wrote: »

Unfortunately there isn't really anything you can do if you find maths hard, or are unable to answer questions based on English comprehension.

I don't think people find the questions hard, more the time restrictions. So learning methods of working better under pressure and speeding up reactions would probably help.


I do understand what your saying, it's an easy way to cut the list of applicants down, but that's not gonna make anyone feel better around here who's just sat/ soon to sit it!

I agree with grad10...the maths itself isn't hard, its all in the time limit. If you were to sit down and do the same paper with no limit (or even a reasonable one!) it would be a rather easy test. You just need to get in to the swing of working quickly and under pressure.

unistudent2009

Deleted User wrote: »

I agree with grad10...the maths itself isn't hard, its all in the time limit. If you were to sit down and do the same paper with no limit (or even a reasonable one!) it would be a rather easy test. You just need to get in to the swing of working quickly and under pressure.

Totally agree. the maths is not hard its the pressure you are under. I say this as someone who has sat the test three times. I've passed the first two (waiting on the third results). If you were asked to answer the questions in your own time it'd be simple. Just don't get too disheartened. I thought I'd failed both times but that's the way the test is designed. Anyone who sits it and says it was easy is lying. Just don't worry bout it. Just remember there's thousands in the same position as you so don't stress.

wannabe2010

Agito wrote: »

Wannabe if we'll both get through I totally wanna meet you. lol If we do, hope we get the same date for the 2nd part of the process.

Awk that's nice of you to say for good reasons I hope..? Lol.

If we do, you'll probably notice me cuz I'll probably have some kind of black eye or bandaged limb - being crap at jiu jitsu is a skill lol.

wannabe2010

The police is something I have always wanted to do since I was old enough to know what a 'job/career' was... I also agree that it is the working under pressure thing that throws you. I'm not too hot at maths mind you, history and text analysis is more my thing or so says my degree anyway lol! As far as I'm concerned, I'll never give up.. eventually they'll just get so fed up seeing me there every year for the next thirty years that they'll just give me the job to get rid of me haha that's my plan anyway

scullersky

wannabe2010 wrote: »

Just back from my IST :(:( sad times. Looks like it's the end of the road for me! Please tell me everyone else found it as hard as I did! I had to randomly answer the last TEN questions!! Anyone else from here in my IST today?

Hey wannabe21010, I did mine yesterday, I traveled up north from Co. Kerry! Yeah I found it really hard, especially the second part like everyone is saying... But anyway I hope we both get the result we want

Tommy-Kerry:cool: