NEW 2018 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

willthiswork

Aitor wrote: »

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.

It depends, in some competitions they do further short listing based on the application forms after the aptitude tests. For example, the local authority senior management competition did that earlier this year.

Crunchymomma

Aitor wrote: »

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.

They do shortlist based on application forms, it was done in 2017 heo. Those who passed stage one and stage two and placed highly (top 400) did not necessarily get an interview as they were knocked out by the shortlisting

Aitor

Crunchymomma wrote: »

They do shortlist based on application forms, it was done in 2017 heo. Those who passed stage one and stage two and placed highly (top 400) did not necessarily get an interview as they were knocked out by the shortlisting

Oh interesting! I didn’t think they shortlisted on application forms for the AP competition I did, but maybe they did and I’ve forgotten!

PhoenixParker

They must shortlist based on CV for competitions at this level. Potentially anyone can get through the verbal/numerical/sa. No point wasting time interviewing someone who's only just completed the Leaving Cert.

brownbinman

did one of the test exams and didn't fare very well at all. I quite fancy my chances with shortlisting, but now very worried about the bloody tests

Aitor

PhoenixParker wrote: »

They must shortlist based on CV for competitions at this level. Potentially anyone can get through the verbal/numerical/sa. No point wasting time interviewing someone who's only just completed the Leaving Cert.

You’d think so, wouldn’t you?

PhoenixParker

Aitor wrote: »

You’d think so, wouldn’t you?

It's clearly stated on page 11 of the booklet under stage 2. They will shortlist based on the application forms.

Aitor

PhoenixParker wrote: »

It's clearly stated on page 11 of the booklet under stage 2. They will shortlist based on the application forms.

Good stuff.

BobCat123

After the shortlisting of forms,are people then callled for a second round of tests or straight to interview?

gerrybbadd

Jesus those tests aren't what i expected - bring back the Cut - E tests!

uncleiano

So are the shl practice tests typical style of the questions we will get? I only ask as there are so many variations of numerical and reasoning tests out there. Is there any idea what a pass score for both would be or how many questions they will have?

Crunchymomma

Test links out

ThumbTaxed

Does anyone have a link to a site where you can practice situational awareness ones AND get answers?

lapua20grain

Luckyduck78 wrote: »

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

Just got word today they want to interview so must have done okay its a Pharma company so quite high standards.

Crunchymomma

uncleiano wrote: »

So are the shl practice tests typical style of the questions we will get? I only ask as there are so many variations of numerical and reasoning tests out there. Is there any idea what a pass score for both would be or how many questions they will have?

Yeah, shl are the test suppliers so the style will be very similar to the practise ones. I do think any shl ones I hsve done though hsve been more graph based but I have never done one for this management level before

Crunchymomma

Can we do them separately, ie verbal now, numerical tomorrow and situational the next day? Or do they have to be done one after the other

chrismean

Sheeeessh, those shl practice numerical tests - the questions themselves, i acknowledge are not impossible. but the time pressure....25 mins - 18 questions. yikes. anyone else struggle?

never_mind

chrismean wrote: »

Sheeeessh, those shl practice numerical tests - the questions themselves, i acknowledge are not impossible. but the time pressure....25 mins - 18 questions. yikes. anyone else struggle?

I'm gonna do the whole lot tonight. If i'm gonna get called it will down to my CV and experience and not down to figuring out how many tumble dryers were needed to make a profit lol

gmisk

Anyone know how long you have to complete these SHL tests when you open them on the actual AP application site?
Never min 110 minutes for whole thing found in document.

prettyboy81

All done. Numerical was a little sticky let’s see what result falls out for me.

Crunchymomma

All done here too. Numerical is usually my strongest but I struggled a bit with it and it's always so hard to tell the situational.. ... Fingers crossed 🀞 🀞

brownbinman

how similar to the examples were they?

The_Conductor

brownbinman wrote: »

how similar to the examples were they?

The examples give you an idea of 'how' to do them- not the difficulty of them........ The examples are significantly easier- than the actual ones.

never_mind

The_Conductor wrote: »

The examples give you an idea of 'how' to do them- not the difficulty of them........ The examples are significantly easier- than the actual ones.

Uh-oh. I found the examples really hard

TaurenDruid

Are they the same as the 2016 tests, or similar enough, which I think were shl also? The kind where you went "Er, if I was doing this in work, I'd have a spreadsheet add these things up for me..."

gmisk

Are people just doing the couple of example questions here?
https://www.shldirect.com/en/practice-tests
Or where would I find some longer practice tests?

chrismean

i did the full length practice tests they have listed there. 
@crunchymomma, did you have to do them sequentially?

Crunchymomma

chrismean wrote: »

i did the full length practice tests they have listed there. 
@crunchymomma, did you have to do them sequentially?

I actually don't know if I could hsve logged out, was scared to try hahaha so just ended up doing them in order anyway

tattycoram

Kicking myself that I didn't practice the numerical test more. If i'd double the time I'd have been grand but I panicked against the clock!

The_Conductor

tattycoram wrote: »

Kicking myself that I didn't practice the numerical test more. If i'd double the time I'd have been grand but I panicked against the clock!

Don't worry- lots of us are in the same boat.
The clock is your enemy on these.........