Third Secretary & Development Specialist Campaign 2020

FenFlynn

Anyone knows how to practice for the next stage? I'm not that confident on this part, being able to do some practice would put my mind at east a bit.

ticklemonster

Is OOM reset at each stage or is it cumulative?

PeachL00pies

ticklemonster wrote: »

Is OOM reset at each stage or is it cumulative?

Normally re-set. There's no guarantee at any stage of the competition that your OoM will allow you to advance.

PeachL00pies

Information is out about the next stage - not what I was expecting!

Daisies

Has anyone had any experience in requesting a new time for the precis test? I have quite an important all morning meeting on Thursday that I won't be able to get out of. Why they don't allow it to be done outside of working hours is crazy

PurpleRainx

I was told I will receive an email at 2 Wednesday containing allocated time slot. Is 2 Wednesday the allocated time slot? I wish they would give us the time slot now so work arrangements can be made...it seems to me I’ll just have to have my phone always on loud and drop whatever I’m doing Wednesday ...

Surprised also at the lack of preparation time..

Daisies

PurpleRainx wrote: »

I was told I will receive an email at 2 Wednesday containing allocated time slot. Is 2 Wednesday the allocated time slot? I wish they would give us the time slot now so work arrangements can be made...it seems to me I’ll just have to have my phone always on loud and drop whatever I’m doing Wednesday ...

Surprised also at the lack of preparation time..

I was told 10am Wednesday for DSO and 2pm would suit me much better

FenFlynn

Yeah, it's so strange they don't allow you to pick a time, I'm 12 noon on Wednesday, morning would suit me far better. Ah, well, they do state below:
Requests for a reschedule or change to a candidate’s allocated test session may only be considered in exceptional circumstances (i.e. bereavement/illness). This is not guaranteed due to the strict timeslots for this stage of the selection process.

PurpleRainx

Daisies wrote: »

I was told 10am Wednesday for DSO and 2pm would suit me much better

Do you think your time slot is 10am Wednesday? Or is it 10 AM Wednesday when you will receive the time slot?

Daisies

PurpleRainx wrote: »

Do you think your time slot is 10am Wednesday? Or is it 10 AM Wednesday when you will receive the time slot?

I think my time slot is 10am

ErikaYa

Got my timeslot, 2pm Thursday. Me nerves!

blithe

I've got 12 noon on Thursday! Strange how there's no general testing period like the previous two stages. That would have made it a lot easier for people to fit in around their schedules.

ticklemonster

PurpleRainx wrote: »

I was told I will receive an email at 2 Wednesday containing allocated time slot. Is 2 Wednesday the allocated time slot? I wish they would give us the time slot now so work arrangements can be made...it seems to me I’ll just have to have my phone always on loud and drop whatever I’m doing Wednesday ...

Surprised also at the lack of preparation time..

From my reading 2pm on Wednesday IS your time slot. You will receive an email with the materials then and have an hour to complete the task.

PurpleRainx

How is eveyone preparing for the precis? With work and the tight deadline I'm starting to think I won't be able to do much.

eattherainbow

Does anyone know how many stages are left? I wonder if the first batch of offers might be out before Christmas.

PurpleRainx

eattherainbow wrote: »

Does anyone know how many stages are left? I wonder if the first batch of offers might be out before Christmas.

The info booklet says 4 stages. Thought it also said 3rd stage via zoom though so not sure how much we can rely on it now

eattherainbow

Just found the info booklet and it seems to suggest that everyone who has gotten through to stage 3 will also be interviewed. Hopefully it's just the one interview. Best of luck everyone!

- Stage 3: Precis Exercise
Candidates being called to Stage 3 will be required to complete a written exercise. This will be done online. Further information will issue to those candidates nearer the time.

- Stage 4: Remote Interview
Candidates being called forward to Stage 3 of the selection process will complete an online interview. Candidates may attend their interview in a venue of their choice, wherever they have access to a computer, a webcam and a reliable internet connection. Further information will issue to those candidates nearer the time.

blithe

eattherainbow wrote: »

Just found the info booklet and it seems to suggest that everyone who has gotten through to stage 3 will also be interviewed. Hopefully it's just the one interview. Best of luck everyone!

- Stage 3: Precis Exercise
Candidates being called to Stage 3 will be required to complete a written exercise. This will be done online. Further information will issue to those candidates nearer the time.

- Stage 4: Remote Interview
Candidates being called forward to Stage 3 of the selection process will complete an online interview. Candidates may attend their interview in a venue of their choice, wherever they have access to a computer, a webcam and a reliable internet connection. Further information will issue to those candidates nearer the time.

That would be great if that's the case!
When I read it first I assumed it was a typo though, and that seems more likely to be honest.

PeachL00pies

blithe wrote: »

That would be great if that's the case!
When I read it first I assumed it was a typo though, and that seems more likely to be honest.

I really don't think they'll be keeping everyone for interview. My guess would be that they re-jig the OOM after the précis exercise. They might then invite a certain number for first batch interviews, with the intention to complete additional interview rounds.

With the new DSO competition and the current volume of Third Secretaries, I don't expect them to generate a very large panel.

spritefeedback

PeachL00pies wrote: »

I really don't think they'll be keeping everyone for interview. My guess would be that they re-jig the OOM after the précis exercise. They might then invite a certain number for first batch interviews, with the intention to complete additional interview rounds.

With the new DSO competition and the current volume of Third Secretaries, I don't expect them to generate a very large panel.

It really makes sense that if you have to reach a particular standard in the précis exercise that they sort that out before calling to interview. Putting all the effort into the interview doing well and then finding out that the précis exercise is what knocks you back would be hard.

HartsHat

There would be no sense if having a separate stage 3 and stage 4 if they weren't going to cut anyone at stage 3.

blithe

Just getting around to reading the Stage 3 info booklet now. It says:

'The number of those to be invited to Stage 4 (interview) will be determined by the PAS. Candidates must reach the qualifying standards in all elements of the Precis Exercise in order to be considered for Stage 4. Reaching the qualifying standard at Stage 3 is no guarantee that you will be invited to Stage 4'

So it's as we thought, no different to the previous 2 stages.

spritefeedback

blithe wrote: »

Just getting around to reading the Stage 3 info booklet now. It says:

'The number of those to be invited to Stage 4 (interview) will be determined by the PAS. Candidates must reach the qualifying standards in all elements of the Precis Exercise in order to be considered for Stage 4. Reaching the qualifying standard at Stage 3 is no guarantee that you will be invited to Stage 4'

So it's as we thought, no different to the previous 2 stages.

Given that is in the second paragraph of the stage 3 info booklet I decided it was better to go back and read it all again. It's a pretty interesting challenge I'm not sure there is a lot of practice you could do for it. I think the biggest challenge with these sorts of tests is if you know a lot or even something about the topic area you can be tempted to 'correct' or add to what is in the example.

You just have to focus on the example and information at hand.

CrouchTiger

spritefeedback wrote: »

Given that is in the second paragraph of the stage 3 info booklet I decided it was better to go back and read it all again. It's a pretty interesting challenge I'm not sure there is a lot of practice you could do for it. I think the biggest challenge with these sorts of tests is if you know a lot or even something about the topic area you can be tempted to 'correct' or add to what is in the example.

You just have to focus on the example and information at hand.

The précis is an excellent test of the exact kind of bread and butter work you'll do as a TS... namely reporting on something very detailed and fast-paced in a concise way with little in the way of luxuries for time or tools to proof the final product. A fundamental virtue of any TS is being able to produce things quickly with minimal mistakes while capturing the important points. It would be a very bad idea to attempt to reinterpret the information or to embellish it to show off in some way. I'm not sure you can practice for it realistically in a few days, but I suppose anyone who has taken notes at lectures in college etc. has done a version of this before.

emhds

CrouchTiger wrote: »

The précis is an excellent test of the exact kind of bread and butter work you'll do as a TS... namely reporting on something very detailed and fast-paced in a concise way with little in the way of luxuries for time or tools to proof the final product. A fundamental virtue of any TS is being able to produce things quickly with minimal mistakes while capturing the important points. It would be a very bad idea to attempt to reinterpret the information or to embellish it to show off in some way. I'm not sure you can practice for it realistically in a few days, but I suppose anyone who has taken notes at lectures in college etc. has done a version of this before.

Any inkling on what type of document it is they usually use?

chrishic

Just completed the precis exercise and it did not go well at all. Anyone have any inkling if we still get the interview to pull it back as per the booklet or will they assess the precis to filter applicants first?

blithe

chrishic wrote: »

Just completed the precis exercise and it did not go well at all. Anyone have any inkling if we still get the interview to pull it back as per the booklet or will they assess the precis to filter applicants first?

Fingers crossed it went better than you thought!

I think it's pretty certain unfortunately that you have to pass and do well in this stage to get to interview. I'm convinced that bit in the information booklet was a typo.

chrishic

blithe wrote: »

Fingers crossed it went better than you thought!

I think it's pretty certain unfortunately that you have to pass and do well in this stage to get to interview. I'm convinced that bit in the information booklet was a typo.

Thanks. So am I to be fair, may just wait and see.

It hopefully won't be too long to hear back.

emhds

Without obviously giving too much away, what sort of text did you have to summarise? Was it very technical or jargony?

spritefeedback

emhds wrote: »

Without obviously giving too much away, what sort of text did you have to summarise? Was it very technical or jargony?

Having just completed mine I have to say that it was pretty messy. It's not overly complicated but there is a fair amount of information that you have to decide whether it is important or not.

I know I have worked in different areas where they would have taken different approaches to the same text. Will just have to see if I picked it right this time around.