NEW 2020 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

Nicole2020

Well done guys on getting through! What kind of questions are they asking in the interview? I know it’s mostly STAR based, was there any kind of general chat as well?

InsideEdge

HannahR31 wrote: »

Just did my remote interview there - don't think it went well at all! Just wasn't on form - but sure at least it's over!

Well done Hannah, I'm sure you just think it was a lot worse than it was! Its natural for us to come out of these interviews second-guessing ourselves and thinking the worst. Fingers crossed for you!

poundhound

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Hi Nicole

Wife had it earlier and asked her for input - her quote was and I do quote “why would I give others an advantage over me and others who did it”

So there - that’s you put in your place !! (Sorry...!)

But yet she asked for assistance on 28th September and was promptly given the assistance she sought?

InsideEdge

poundhound wrote: »

But yet she asked for assistance on 28th September and was promptly given the assistance she sought?

One of the attributes of a civil servant is to work collegiately with colleagues but that seems to have slipped her mind. Also, she is not really in competition with anyone here - if she gets the qualifying marks she will be on the panel, if she doesn't then she won't get on the panel. Nothing any of us do in an interview will alter that.

In any case, if people have a look back at the thread dealing with the 2018 AP competition they will find some info on the interviews from about page 80. Best of luck to all, including Beechwoodspark's wife but I hope she never becomes my manager!

HannahR31

Nicole2020 wrote: »

Well done guys on getting through! What kind of questions are they asking in the interview? I know it’s mostly STAR based, was there any kind of general chat as well?

It's funny how I always instantly forget the questions I was asked!! But it was very structured as expected - they went from competency to competency asking mostly STAR questions yes. They mostly opened a competency with a pretty open question where anything you have prepared for that competency will work, and then they drill down a bit with more specific questions for that competency.

For example you might start Leadership with 'Tell us about a time you feel you showed good leadership' and then after your answer 'and have you ever had to deal with a team or team member fighting back against your leadership and how did you deal with it?' and so on.

mariagirl

Hi all, does anyone happen to know if Batch 3 have bern called yet and if so what score are they on? Thanks

flanders1

poundhound wrote: »

But yet she asked for assistance on 28th September and was promptly given the assistance she sought?

Hi folks, I've been following this thread silently until now (just did my 3 question video interview recently so there hasn't been that much that I can offer by way of advice/insight so far), but I had to weigh in here to say the absolute neck of this person's wife giving that response after seeking pretty much the exact same advice only last week. I'm actually laughing in disbelief here

Surprising that such brazen self-interest exists and not something you see too often in the Civil Service, from my experience. That sort of attitude just doesn't work in an environment where sections/units within Departments, units between varying Departments/Govt agencies, etc, constantly need to engage and share each others' expertise in order to achieve their goals and deliver for the public. Particularly relevant to the 'Interpersonal & Communication Skills' and 'Drive and Commitment to PS Values' competencies. In fact, it's so central to ALL the competencies really.

Anyway, best of luck to all going through this competition at the moment - it's certainly tough going, but hopefully as many of us as possible will make it through in the end.

johnelusive

Hey all,

Does anyone know what the score cut off to advance from the video interviews to the e tray was for batch one?

I'm batch two, and although I passed the video interview, I'm not sure my scores will cut it.

Cheers!

John

CBCB

johnelusive wrote: »

Hey all,

Does anyone know what the score cut off to advance from the video interviews to the e tray was for batch one?

I'm batch two, and although I passed the video interview, I'm not sure my scores will cut it.

Cheers!

John

Once you pass it you are through to etray, there is no cut off

CBCB

johnelusive wrote: »

Hey all,

Does anyone know what the score cut off to advance from the video interviews to the e tray was for batch one?

I'm batch two, and although I passed the video interview, I'm not sure my scores will cut it.

Cheers!

John

Just checked the message on Public Jobs and after the results it says

"Further details on the next stage of the process, an online simulation exercise in the form of an etray, will issue in due course".

InsideEdge

HannahR31 wrote: »

It's funny how I always instantly forget the questions I was asked!! But it was very structured as expected - they went from competency to competency asking mostly STAR questions yes. They mostly opened a competency with a pretty open question where anything you have prepared for that competency will work, and then they drill down a bit with more specific questions for that competency.

For example you might start Leadership with 'Tell us about a time you feel you showed good leadership' and then after your answer 'and have you ever had to deal with a team or team member fighting back against your leadership and how did you deal with it?' and so on.

Thanks Hannah, that is very useful. Were you asked for any alternative examples?

Nicole2020

HannahR31 wrote: »

It's funny how I always instantly forget the questions I was asked!! But it was very structured as expected - they went from competency to competency asking mostly STAR questions yes. They mostly opened a competency with a pretty open question where anything you have prepared for that competency will work, and then they drill down a bit with more specific questions for that competency.

For example you might start Leadership with 'Tell us about a time you feel you showed good leadership' and then after your answer 'and have you ever had to deal with a team or team member fighting back against your leadership and how did you deal with it?' and so on.

Ok, so it’s not just one question on each competency and one example. That’s really good to know, at least you have the opportunity to really showcase yourself and give a couple of examples for each one. I did an interview for a government body a few months ago and it was just one question and answer for four competencies! Thanks so much Good luck, hope you get good news soon!

Nicole2020

flanders1 wrote: »

Hi folks, I've been following this thread silently until now (just did my 3 question video interview recently so there hasn't been that much that I can offer by way of advice/insight so far), but I had to weigh in here to say the absolute neck of this person's wife giving that response after seeking pretty much the exact same advice only last week. I'm actually laughing in disbelief here

Surprising that such brazen self-interest exists and not something you see too often in the Civil Service, from my experience. That sort of attitude just doesn't work in an environment where sections/units within Departments, units between varying Departments/Govt agencies, etc, constantly need to engage and share each others' expertise in order to achieve their goals and deliver for the public. Particularly relevant to the 'Interpersonal & Communication Skills' and 'Drive and Commitment to PS Values' competencies. In fact, it's so central to ALL the competencies really.

Anyway, best of luck to all going through this competition at the moment - it's certainly tough going, but hopefully as many of us as possible will make it through in the end.

I was a bit shocked myself when I read back and saw the question I asked was the same as the one previously asked by the person before! But sure we’ll move on, the posts have been deleted now!

Definitely tough going considering we might pass all this but still end up waiting a long time to get a position but positive thinking!

Nicole2020

CBCB wrote: »

Just checked the message on Public Jobs and after the results it says

"Further details on the next stage of the process, an online simulation exercise in the form of an etray, will issue in due course".

The first batch got their results on the 20th of August, then notification on the 25th that the e-tray was to be completed between the 1st - 4th Sept. Wonder if we’ll hear this week...

Northern Sound

HannahR31 wrote: »

I don't know if the scenario will be exactly the same but the set-up should be similar. You basically login and you are presented with a wall of text to read which explains the situation you are in. It will tell you what organisation you work for, and who you are (it may give you a name different than your own in which case make sure you sign off emails as that person), and what is going on.

Make sure you read this carefully - it will be available during the eTray but you don't want to waste any time once the timer starts.

Then you're presented with an email inbox that is 'your inbox' where you will get emails, be able to upload/submit documents, send emails etc. Usually there are a few emails waiting for you to deal with and you might have some arrive as you do it as well.

The best advice I can give is to just put yourself into the situation as much as you can. Pretend it's real life and act as you would if you were just doing the job. Don't feel you have to do everything - they also want to see that you delegate appropriately. You will be told who your staff so you can send things on asking others to do them or get back to you.

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the tips. Are any of the Inbox emails to be answered in Multiple Choice Format - Most Effective, Least Effective etc

HannahR31

Northern Sound wrote: »

Thanks for the tips. Are any of the Inbox emails to be answered in Multiple Choice Format - Most Effective, Least Effective etc

Nope - not in mine anyway. It's literally an email so if you choose to reply/forward or whatever you write out an email.

In previous eTrays I've also had to deal with phone calls (which would just pop up with what the person said - you wouldn't literally have to speak to someone) and they would normally have 2 or 3 options of what to do/reply to the person and you'd pick the best one.

It's like pretending to do the job for an hour so not really a multiple choice type thing.

MrsBean

Can anyone in this first batch of interviews tell me

A: if they received a response when they sent their confirmation of attendance/photograph to PAS and,
B: if they received details of their interview board members prior to the interview?

I'm probably worrying for no reason but I haven't heard anything from PAS since I got the invite to interview.

HannahR31

MrsBean wrote: »

Can anyone in this first batch of interviews tell me

A: if they received a response when they sent their confirmation of attendance/photograph to PAS and,
B: if they received details of their interview board members prior to the interview?

I'm probably worrying for no reason but I haven't heard anything from PAS since I got the invite to interview.

A: No.
B: Yes.

HannahR31

Just got word I passed my interview and am on the panel!! Can't believe results are out already - I only interviewed on Monday! And they are still interviewing...

They must be in a rush...

InsideEdge

HannahR31 wrote: »

Just got word I passed my interview and am on the panel!! Can't believe results are out already - I only interviewed on Monday! And they are still interviewing...

They must be in a rush...

That is fantastic news, absolutely delighted for you!

Herriott

Well done, same here. Can't believe it. I only interviewed yesterday. An absolute first in terms of speed of placement!

HannahR31

Herriott wrote: »

Well done, same here. Can't believe it. I only interviewed yesterday. An absolute first in terms of speed of placement!

Well done to you too!!! I absolutely can't believe it either. I assumed when I was opening the message that it was some random off-topic message like that there'd been a data breach or something - hadn't even begun to think of getting the results!

InsideEdge

MrsBean wrote: »

Can anyone in this first batch of interviews tell me

A: if they received a response when they sent their confirmation of attendance/photograph to PAS and,
B: if they received details of their interview board members prior to the interview?

I'm probably worrying for no reason but I haven't heard anything from PAS since I got the invite to interview.

A: I sent a reminder and then received a confirmation
B: No details of who is on the panel yet!

HannahR31

InsideEdge wrote: »

Thanks Hannah, that is very useful. Were you asked for any alternative examples?

I was asked for 1 competency to use a different example than the application form if I had one but if not the one on the form was fine. I had another so I used that but they seemed genuine in that they wouldn't have minded too much if I hadn't.

InsideEdge

Herriott wrote: »

Well done, same here. Can't believe it. I only interviewed yesterday. An absolute first in terms of speed of placement!

That's brilliant too, well done!
Do you know what number you are on the panel yet? I'm assuming they will have to finish all the first batch of interviews before giving people their place?

InsideEdge

HannahR31 wrote: »

I was asked for 1 competency to use a different example than the application form if I had one but if not the one on the form was fine. I had another so I used that but they seemed genuine in that they wouldn't have minded too much if I hadn't.

That's good to know!

Herriott

HannahR31 wrote: »

Well done to you too!!! I absolutely can't believe it either. I assumed when I was opening the message that it was some random off-topic message like that there'd been a data breach or something - hadn't even begun to think of getting the results!

I was sure it was a 'thanks, but no thanks' and they weren't wasting any time telling me! Now we just have to hope positions are offered soon. Congrats again - it's so nice to get some good news.

Herriott

InsideEdge wrote: »

That's brilliant too, well done!
Do you know what number you are on the panel yet? I'm assuming they will have to finish all the first batch of interviews before giving people their place?

Cheers! They gave me my order of merit today - perhaps the panels are going to be batched - 1.1, 1.2 etc.?

HannahR31

Herriott wrote: »

Cheers! They gave me my order of merit today - perhaps the panels are going to be batched - 1.1, 1.2 etc.?

I wondered that too - I wonder did the interview us in order of our previous placements and therefore they're placing as we go.

InsideEdge

HannahR31 wrote: »

I wondered that too - I wonder did the interview us in order of our previous placements and therefore they're placing as we go.

That sounds like what they are doing alright. Another question on the interview if you don't mind - were you asked to give an overview of your career/experience to date?