Army Recruitment - Questions Thread

beco2010

cruasder777 wrote: »

"QUOTE]

KickstartHeart wrote: »

QUOTE]
keep to what this thread is about ,if both of you want to dick measure start a new thread were poeple can read of there own choosin. not taking up space and pushing poeple questions back to prove witch one of ye think yer right.save that for investment

KickstartHeart

beco2010 wrote: »

save that for investment

Enough said. Apologies.

CIGANO

It was mentioned on the news today, 10500 people have applied to the Defence Forces.

John_D80

CIGANO wrote: »

It was mentioned on the news today, 10500 people have applied to the Defence Forces.

Not good odds on the face of it, but for anyone that has applied, take some comfort from the FACT that at least half of that number will be totally unprepared for either the fitness test or the interview.

If you're properly prepared you will have a huge headstart on the majority of applicants.

c-90

Seing as the applications are closed now its time to start thinking about the interveiw stage. Has any of the members on here ever been an nco or officer on the interveiw board?

If so could they shed some light on the areas a candidate is being assesd on and what kind of answers attributes theyre looking for?

mikeym

If your daddys an officer or nco that should help

John_D80

c-90 wrote: »

Seing as the applications are closed now its time to start thinking about the interveiw stage. Has any of the members on here ever been an nco or officer on the interveiw board?

If so could they shed some light on the areas a candidate is being assesd on and what kind of answers attributes theyre looking for?

Heard on the grapevine about an exer who's doing interview prep with applicants for a fee.

c-90

John_D80 wrote: »

Heard on the grapevine about an exer who's doing interview prep with applicants for a fee.

sounds good as long as its not investment in a different persona. if u have a way of contcating him could you possible pm it to me?

John_D80

c-90 wrote: »

sounds good as long as its not investment in a different persona. if u have a way of contcating him could you possible pm it to me?

Dont know the chap personally but tbh even if i did i'm afraid i couldn't help. I'm pretty sure it would be against some DFR for me to do something like this. In my original post on the topic I merely wanted to say that i heard it was happening not that i agreed with it or would be willing to assist someone in availing of this service. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that mate.

In laymans terms, the guy in question (if its even true), is either a con-artist or else he has, or has had at some stage, access to information that the disclosure of which, while it is not detrimental to national security, should not be shared with the public.

CIGANO

c-90 wrote: »

Seing as the applications are closed now its time to start thinking about the interveiw stage. Has any of the members on here ever been an nco or officer on the interveiw board?

If so could they shed some light on the areas a candidate is being assesd on and what kind of answers attributes theyre looking for?

Best case scenario is that interviews will start mid June, best to concentrate on psychometric/fitness first.

goldie fish

from www.military.ie

If you have any specific queries please direct them to Recruitment and Competitions Section at 01-804 2653/ 2654 or recruitment@defenceforces.ie or see the CAREERS tab on this website.

No sanction has been received for the 2012 Officer Cadet Competition. When sanction is given it will be posted here.

The competitions for General Service in the Army, Naval Service and Instrumentalists are now closed.

For those who have applied you will hear from us in due course.

c-90

John_D80 wrote: »

Dont know the chap personally but tbh even if i did i'm afraid i couldn't help. I'm pretty sure it would be against some DFR for me to do something like this. In my original post on the topic I merely wanted to say that i heard it was happening not that i agreed with it or would be willing to assist someone in availing of this service. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that mate.

In laymans terms, the guy in question (if its even true), is either a con-artist or else he has, or has had at some stage, access to information that the disclosure of which, while it is not detrimental to national security, should not be shared with the public.

no problem man! on second thought it does sound a bit dodgy.

CIGANO wrote: »

Best case scenario is that interviews will start mid June, best to concentrate on psychometric/fitness first.

preparation for the psycometric/fitness stages are straight forward (not implying theyr easy) but i think the interveiw is the stage that actually awards you a position. the more prepared you are the better your chances.

Turbine

From TheJournal.ie today:

Those who meet the minimum standard will undergo psychometric testing of their numerical and verbal reasoning skills. From this, a bell curve graph will be created, through which the applicants will be marked against each other. This will help to whittle down the number to 2500 applicants, who will then be brought for fitness testing.

Physical testing involves running, push-ups and sit-ups, and applicants will either pass or fail this part. Anyone who passes will be interviewed and from there a shortlist of 600 applicants will be drawn up.

The first platoon will be inducted in September and the final place will be filled by the end of the year.

beco2010

this seems to be a bit much. by this i mean if you are of high entelligence but not commetted you will be picked over someone who is ,but didnt finish in the top 2500

is this the right way to go about recruitment or just the quick way

Local-womanizer

beco2010 wrote: »

this seems to be a bit much. by this i mean if you are of high entelligence but not commetted you will be picked over someone who is ,but didnt finish in the top 2500

is this the right way to go about recruitment or just the quick way

The interview will filter out those who are not committed.

John_D80

beco2010 wrote: »

is this the right way to go about recruitment or just the quick way

Well with so many applicants, they can afford to raise standards, but i agree that the best candidate on paper isn't always the best candidate in reality.

But, as with the interview, proper preparation will give you a huge advantage.

In my opinion, the psychometric test, fitness test and interview should ALL be graded and the candidates with highest total score should get through.

cruasder777

John_D80 wrote: »

Well with so many applicants, they can afford to raise standards, but i agree that the best candidate on paper isn't always the best candidate in reality.

But, as with the interview, proper preparation will give you a huge advantage.

In my opinion, the psychometric test, fitness test and interview should ALL be graded and the candidates with highest total score should get through.

I dont see how lowering the age to 24 is raising standards ?

It would be more logical to make the fitness and psychomertric tests more challenging, see how candidates work in a group etc.

KickstartHeart

cruasder777 wrote: »

It would be more logical to make the fitness and psychomertric tests more challenging, see how candidates work in a group etc.

True. If someone is 28 and as fit as a 21 year old, then they're just as equally capable a candidate.

Maybe the Army is thinking in lines of getting younger people so that they'll get longer out of their recruits before they do get older and inevitably less fit than their younger counterparts, or longer out of their recruits before they get to retirement age. So in that regard I suppose you could say that it is better to pick the younger guys. I wonder...

beco2010

KickstartHeart wrote: »

Maybe the Army is thinking in lines of getting younger people so that they'll get longer out of their recruits before they do get older and inevitably less fit than their younger counterparts, or longer out of their recruits before they get to retirement age. So in that regard I suppose you could say that it is better to pick the younger guys. I wonder...

yes i agree but in todays climate poeple are looking at the army as a easy job. not that it is easy,but someone with a degree or masters done who will look at this as a way to fill a few years or leave for somthing better when they find out how hard it is. will get in befor some kid who finished leaving cert who wants to make a career out of the army. aswell as those who are 25 or 26 who are just as deserving as any 24 or under, basically the fear of wasted places is what im getting at.

any way back to what this thread is about sorry for bringing it off topic

KickstartHeart

beco2010 wrote: »

yes i agree but in todays climate poeple are looking at the army as a easy job. not that it is easy,but someone with a degree or masters done who will look at this as a way to fill a few years or leave for somthing better when they find out how hard it is. will get in befor some kid who finished leaving cert who wants to make a career out of the army. aswell as those who are 25 or 26 who are just as deserving as any 24 or under, basically the fear of wasted places is what im getting at.

any way back to what this thread is about sorry for bringing it off topic

Yeah to be fair though, "motivation" is one of the competencies assessed at interview. That's motivation as in, what's your motivation to become a soldier/seaman. So a definite effort is made to get the right candidates.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

People with educational qualifications are not guaranteed a place over someone with no education. It doesnt matter what you have, its all down to the interview and the character and knowledge of the person.

potenialcandid

question in relation to the medical exam, i have everything covered from the psychometric exams, fitness and mock interviews in terms of prep but the medical I feel i may be screwed by! My eye sight is shocking, I would go for the laser route but Im 19 and havent exactly got that kind of cash, how do they carry out that side of the medical?

lots of people I have talked to just say keep your head down and say nothing but how do I even do that, do I wear my glasses and say they arent as bad as they are or wear contacts and hope they dont notice?

I just dont see how they dont realise if your eye sight is bad or not

A.G.S

potenialcandid wrote: »

I just dont see how they dont realise if your eye sight is bad or not

An eye test perhaps ?

beco2010

potenialcandid wrote: »

lots of people I have talked to just say keep your head down and say nothing but how do I even do that, do I wear my glasses and say they arent as bad as they are or wear contacts and hope they dont notice?

I just dont see how they dont realise if your eye sight is bad or not

I went trough the medical and can tell you that the testing for it is not made so you can cheat it. when i did it i passed this was down to the fact i have good eye sight so it will be found out that you have bad eye sight. so wearing glasses would be better but i dont know how this might go with your aplacation

John_D80

potenialcandid wrote: »

question in relation to the medical exam, i have everything covered from the psychometric exams, fitness and mock interviews in terms of prep but the medical I feel i may be screwed by! My eye sight is shocking, I would go for the laser route but Im 19 and havent exactly got that kind of cash, how do they carry out that side of the medical?

lots of people I have talked to just say keep your head down and say nothing but how do I even do that, do I wear my glasses and say they arent as bad as they are or wear contacts and hope they dont notice?

I just dont see how they dont realise if your eye sight is bad or not

Found this on military.ie.

Vision.
Unaided and untreated vision of not less than 6/36 in both eyes, but which can be
corrected to at least 6/12 in each eye or not less than 6/6 in the right eye and not less
than 6/36 in the left eye, with normal colour vision. Both eyes must be free from
disfiguring or incapacitating abnormality and free from acute or chronic disease.
There must be no evidence of squint or latent squint. Applicants who have had
previous incisional or laser treatment to correct visual acuity are excluded from
eligibility

I dont have a bog what most of that means but i'm sure your GP would be able to do a simple eye test with you. I know plenty lads in the army who wear glasses or lenses so i'm sure you'll be grand.

Amyom

Just wondering regarding the interview is it worth mentioning things like winning best overall soldier in my recruit camp for the RDF in 2009 and the fact I've a few All Army Orienteering gold/silver medals under my belt from the passed few years? I'd like to mention it but don't want to seem arrogant for thinking they're worth anything when it comes to the PDF. Thanks in advance for any advice.

goldie fish

Amyom wrote: »

Just wondering regarding the interview is it worth mentioning things like winning best overall soldier in my recruit camp for the RDF in 2009 and the fact I've a few All Army Orienteering gold/silver medals under my belt from the passed few years? I'd like to mention it but don't want to seem arrogant for thinking they're worth anything when it comes to the PDF. Thanks in advance for any advice.

By all means mention it. The orienteering definitely. Best soldier in recruit camp is more subjective but still displays a good historic pattern of behaviour. Arrogance does not exist in the interview room. Ambition takes over. You need to show how you are better than the other 10000 candidates by whatever means possible.

Amyom

Cheers for that goldie fish.

B2deF

When is the next stage starting?

Maybe_Memories

For the push up test, do your arms have to be tucked in to your sides or can they come out perpendicular to your body when you bend them, or does it matter what way you move your arms?