NEW 2018 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

WAW

The_Conductor wrote: »

Yep- and its a lot easier to fill in the AO form (they don't ask for examples for the competencies until later). Filling out the AP form was a chore- the AO, in comparison, is a breath of fresh air.

Did you apply The Conductor for the AO test? I don't know a great deal about civil service but is AO more policy oriented than HEO? The grades look similar. I'd be more interested in the policy than people/section management tbh.

Aglomerado

WAW wrote: »

Did you apply The Conductor for the AO test? I don't know a great deal about civil service but is AO more policy oriented than HEO? The grades look similar. I'd be more interested in the policy than people/section management tbh.

Depends on the department. I'm a HEO and I work in policy analysis. I don't have a section under me either!
I applied for AP but as luck would have it I'm going to be in Spain on the dates of the test window...I'll have to search for a library ....

duffman13

disland wrote: »

Hi

I just did some shl sample tests. Does it only give you the results and not show the questions you got wrong? Seems a waste of time just getting the result with no idea what questions I got wrong for both the numerical and verbal samples. Also the situational sample doesn’t give any result at all - no indication whatsoever as to how i did? Is it the same for everyone or maybe I’m doing something wrong?

Thanks

I spent a while doing situational test today and got no results or feedback. I obviously clicked the wrong link, at least you got a result

The_Conductor

WAW wrote: »

Did you apply The Conductor for the AO test? I don't know a great deal about civil service but is AO more policy oriented than HEO? The grades look similar. I'd be more interested in the policy than people/section management tbh.

Hi- yes, I did.

I've applied for both the AO and the AP this time round again- given my experience thus far- and the lack of staff I have had reporting to me- it would probably be better if I ended up as a section manager for a while to better equip myself- however, my personal choice would be for a more policy orientated role.

narwog81

Looking ahead here to the next stage as I'm working abroad and have to get organised, what is the likely next step after the shortlisting from the online aptitude testing?

Will there be an assessment centre day similar to other competitions or reading the AP booklet information on Stage 2 it sounds as if the next step is an interview? Is this likely to take place in November based on the current timelines?

Crunchymomma

narwog81 wrote: »

Looking ahead here to the next stage as I'm working abroad and have to get organised, what is the likely next step after the shortlisting from the online aptitude testing?

Will there be an assessment centre day similar to other competitions or reading the AP booklet information on Stage 2 it sounds as if the next step is an interview? Is this likely to take place in November based on the current timelines?

I think it will be an assessment centre day like 2016 campaign. No idea on a timeline though. If like last time it was 3.5 weeks for results of Stage one and then three weeks notice on stage two date.

I'm hopeful they will let us book in our own time for stage two also as was done with the most recent pas comps

narwog81

Crunchymomma wrote: »

I think it will be an assessment centre day like 2016 campaign. No idea on a timeline though. If like last time it was 3.5 weeks for results of Stage one and then three weeks notice on stage two date.

I'm hopeful they will let us book in our own time for stage two also as was done with the most recent pas comps

Thanks for that, I thought that would be the case but the information booklet is worded a little ambiguously.

"Candidates will be ranked on the outcome of their on-line assessment tests and will be shortlisted in accordance with their ranking. In this respect, the Public Appointments Service provide for the employment of a short listing process to select a group for interview who, based on an examination of the application forms, appear to be the most suitable for the position."

This reads like they'll examine the application forms for whoever makes the grade on aptitude tests and then call for interview based off that.

Time will tell I suppose, I'll get the online test under the belt first and then worry about flights home I guess.

ThumbTaxed

duffman13 wrote: »

disland wrote: »

Hi

I just did some shl sample tests. Does it only give you the results and not show the questions you got wrong? Seems a waste of time just getting the result with no idea what questions I got wrong for both the numerical and verbal samples. Also the situational sample doesn’t give any result at all - no indication whatsoever as to how i did? Is it the same for everyone or maybe I’m doing something wrong?

Thanks

I spent a while doing situational test today and got no results or feedback. I obviously clicked the wrong link, at least you got a result

Are they tests where you can get the answers?

Crunchymomma

narwog81 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I thought that would be the case but the information booklet is worded a little ambiguously.

"Candidates will be ranked on the outcome of their on-line assessment tests and will be shortlisted in accordance with their ranking. In this respect, the Public Appointments Service provide for the employment of a short listing process to select a group for interview who, based on an examination of the application forms, appear to be the most suitable for the position."

This reads like they'll examine the application forms for whoever makes the grade on aptitude tests and then call for interview based off that.

Time will tell I suppose, I'll get the online test under the belt first and then worry about flights home I guess.

This section is from the stage one info booklet :

"please note that while candidates complete these assessment tests online in an unsupervised environment, those who qualify and are placed highest on the order of merit may be required to sit similar tests in a supervised environment at a later stage in the process. If a candidate’s performance at the supervised test is outside the expected scoring range from their unsupervised test, they may be excluded from subsequent stages of the selection process".

I can't remember a pas campaign in recent times that didn't have stage two as supervised testing. It's definitely possible though that they will shorlist from application forms between stage one and stage two

Josey Wales

The Situational Judgement Test sample on the SHL site is hardly worth doing. I know they said in the preparation material it was for a lower level of management but it also doesn't actually give any feedback when you submit your answers. Waste of time.

Does anyone know what the pass mark is in the maths test?

Luckyduck78

Josey Wales wrote: »

The Situational Judgement Test sample on the SHL site is hardly worth doing. I know they said in the preparation material it was for a lower level of management but it also doesn't actually give any feedback when you submit your answers. Waste of time.

Does anyone know what the pass mark is in the maths test?

the last time was 40 out of 80 I think.
can't find any shl tests online, I suppose given that organisations pay to use them to test candidates, it defeats the purpose somewhat if we can access them online to practice

lapua20grain

Did one of the SHL tests 2 weeks ago for a job flew through all and then had a major brain fart in the middle of the maths one couldn't get my head around 4 questions and ended up not answering 4. It can be a bit off putting that it can go pear shaped so easily.

Luckyduck78

lapua20grain wrote: »

Did one of the SHL tests 2 weeks ago for a job flew through all and then had a major brain fart in the middle of the maths one couldn't get my head around 4 questions and ended up not answering 4. It can be a bit off putting that it can go pear shaped so easily.

Anyone can just have a bad day doing one of these tests.

never_mind

Hi all

it says that we shouldn't use a work/college computer to do the test but I was hoping to do it at work during my lunch (flexi two hour lunch). Anyone know if that would be OK?

Thanks

Sir Ophiuchus

It's not that you're not allowed to, it's just that the work firewall or internal IT setup might cause problems with the test system, in which case you'd be a bit stuck.

I wouldn't chance it personally, but I have a PC and a good connection at home.

Crunchymomma

never_mind wrote: »

Hi all

it says that we shouldn't use a work/college computer to do the test but I was hoping to do it at work during my lunch (flexi two hour lunch). Anyone know if that would be OK?

Thanks

I did recent pas tests on work computer and it was grand but maybe it wouldn't work everywhere

never_mind

Did one of the numerical sample tests... jesus... no way I will be able to pass this.

Ahshurlookit

The_Conductor wrote: »

Sure- the majority of prospective candidates will be applying for both- however, the trick is- if you have choice- take the interdepartmental rather than the open- so you don't have to mark time on the payscale once you're appointed (pre-existing civil or public sector employees who get a post in an open competition are appointed at the point on the salary scale closest to their current salary- however, they must then mark time on that point- until the external candidates who come in at point 1 catch up with them on the scale. So- if you have choice- always take the Interdepartmental over the Open- however, you'd be silly not to apply for both........

Can you point me in the direction of a HR circular or similar that states that those promoted on an Interdepartmental competition don't have to mark time? Thanks in advance.

Crunchymomma

Ahshurlookit wrote: »

Can you point me in the direction of a HR circular or similar that states that those promoted on an Interdepartmental competition don't have to mark time? Thanks in advance.

I think (but am definitely open to correction) that circular 34/77 refers to both promotion from open competition and from interdepartmental

channelsurfer2

never_mind wrote: »

Did one of the numerical sample tests... jesus... no way I will be able to pass this.

those full test examples on the shl website are awful alright. I doubt they will be the same level as they seem to be geared towards an American audience. hopefully not anyway!!

redarse

Does anyone know what the pass mark for the aptitude tests is? If you're getting 20/30 on the verbal reasoning are you there or there abouts etc. I'm aware you should get as much as possible right. The pass standard probably varies from competition to competion I assume...

Crunchymomma

redarse wrote: »

Does anyone know what the pass mark for the aptitude tests is? If you're getting 20/30 on the verbal reasoning are you there or there abouts etc. I'm aware you should get as much as possible right. The pass standard probably varies from competition to competion I assume...

In 2016, the pass marks were verbal 42/80, numerical 40/80 and situational 40/80
.but they will set the pass mark to whittle down the numbers to what they want

Sir Ophiuchus

Crunchymomma wrote: »

but they will set the pass mark to whittle down the numbers to what they want

They shouldn't really need to, though. It doesn't matter much to them if one thousand or ten thousand people meet the minimums, they'll use shortlisting to decide how many off the top to call to interview regardless.

willthiswork

Sir Ophiuchus wrote: »

They shouldn't really need to, though. It doesn't matter much to them if one thousand or ten thousand people meet the minimums, they'll use shortlisting to decide how many off the top to call to interview regardless.

But the fewer people pass, the fewer applications they need to read!

Aitor

willthiswork wrote: »

But the fewer people pass, the fewer applications they need to read!

I’m pretty certain it’s a bell curve. They don’t whittle down the numbers based on application forms. The forms only provide background for the interviewers if you get that far.

tigger123

Anyone know if you can spread the three assessments out over a few days between Thursday and Tuesday? I.e., do one a day for three days or something similar?

TaurenDruid

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

those full test examples on the shl website are awful alright. I doubt they will be the same level as they seem to be geared towards an American audience. hopefully not anyway!!

You'll be getting pretty much exactly the same type of questions, and yes, they are American-centric. The only concession they make is using the metric system.

WAW

TaurenDruid wrote: »

You'll be getting pretty much exactly the same type of questions, and yes, they are American-centric. The only concession they make is using the metric system.

Haven't looked at it yet. Jeeze not looking forward to it. My maths is rusty!

Crunchymomma

WAW wrote: »

Haven't looked at it yet. Jeeze not looking forward to it. My maths is rusty!

It's the exact same practise link as we got for EO

irumudikkilli

The Information booklet says "This exercise is designed to assess your ability to understand numerical information. You will be presented with a series of tables and graphs, each followed by several questions." The practice questions at SHL site seems to have other types of word problems as well.