Executive Officer Campaign 2019 Mod warning #1682

November Golf · 05-02-2019 12:07am

Daz_ wrote: »

Have people received the stage one online questionnaire yet ? It says link to be sent by the 6th ..

No I didn't. but in saying that, when they say by the 6th at 3pm - what they usually mean is on the 6th at 3.05 :rolleyes: well at least in my experience anyways.

Daz_ · 05-02-2019 12:24am

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

No I didn't. but in saying that, when they say by the 6th at 3pm - what they usually mean is on the 6th at 3.05 :rolleyes: well at least in my experience anyways.

Lol ok Mike good to know !

Newport81 · 05-02-2019 2:04pm

LouD2016 wrote: »

You can get decent ones online. Any HEO/EO I work with used these:

https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/about

For free online ones:
www.graduatesfirst.com
https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/e-tray-exercise.html

I've never heard of anyone doing a course in Kilroys College - id imagine its just a money making thing tbh
Plenty online to give you a jist of the layout and then just make sure to practice the ones PAS will send out

Which tests from jobtestprep would be best to purchase?

Vologda69 · 05-02-2019 3:24pm

Newport81 wrote: »

Which tests from jobtestprep would be best to purchase?

If you buy a subscription for 49 for 6 months, it gives you access to all their tests : ). Good value

Eod100 · 05-02-2019 6:19pm

My laptop picked a great time to pack it in..

anyone know how long it takes? Might have to rely on PC in library or something so.

November Golf · 05-02-2019 6:26pm

Stage 1 Pre-Test Information Booklet is out.

No link yet but the questionaire should take an hour to complete.

katiek102010 · 05-02-2019 6:33pm

Invitations are out for online assessment but no link to tests yet

lateron · 05-02-2019 9:06pm

Can the online practice assessment be taken more than once?

eroc79 · 05-02-2019 9:15pm

lateron wrote: »

Can the online practice assessment be taken more than once?

You can but you won't need to. It's a very basic practice.

irish_goat · 05-02-2019 9:44pm

Any tips for the test? Can't really afford to splash out on the paid practice test websites.

Breezer25 · 05-02-2019 11:49pm

irish_goat wrote: »

Any tips for the test? Can't really afford to splash out on the paid practice test websites.

There are free practise tests online if you google them.

eroc79 · 06-02-2019 9:35am

The link to the test has arrived. Wasn't expecting to get it till later

GAA Beo · 06-02-2019 11:59am

eroc79 wrote: »

You can but you won't need to. It's a very basic practice.

The familiarisation material is so basic like that 2 questions, it's almost a waste of time so there is no real way to prepare. Do many people do practise tests elsewhere or do people just wing it? I've done so many of these tests at this stage, but I still don't get high enough. Plus you don't get any you proper feedback to know what went wrong. Quite frustrating. Feels like a lottery really.

keepkeyyellow · 06-02-2019 1:44pm

77 open 20 interdepartmental. Interdepartmental might be the wrong number I got distracted listening to her.

November Golf · 06-02-2019 2:06pm

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

77 open 20 interdepartmental. Interdepartmental might be the wrong number I got distracted listening to her.

Is that the expected vacancies? Where did you hear that from?

keepkeyyellow · 06-02-2019 2:15pm

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Is that the expected vacancies? Where did you hear that from?

Whoops meant to post this in the Dublin EO topic

joseph brand · 06-02-2019 3:19pm

IIRC, this first stage (assessment) is where you are going to rate yourself on personal attributes such as:

Are you late to work? Never, sometimes or often.
Leave the work to others? Never, sometimes or often.
Bit of a weird loner? Never, sometimes or often.
Do the bare minimum? Never, sometimes or often.

You have the option to give yourself top marks or something less.

This is my third campaign and I feel like my honesty may have given me a lower score, whereas someone else could portray themselves as a stellar employee and get a high score. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

I was raised to think that 'honesty is the best policy' but looking at the likes of politicians, there are many people in power who have blagged their way to the top (or close to the top).

MedPsych · 06-02-2019 3:23pm

joseph brand wrote: »

IIRC, this first stage (assessment) is where you are going to rate yourself on personal attributes such as:

Are you late to work? Never, sometimes or often.
Leave the work to others? Never, sometimes or often.
Bit of a weird loner? Never, sometimes or often.
Do the bare minimum? Never, sometimes or often.

You have the option to give yourself top marks or something less.

This is my third campaign and I feel like my honesty may have given me a lower score, whereas someone else could portray themselves as a stellar employee and get a high score. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

I was raised to think that 'honesty is the best policy' but looking at the likes of politicians, there are many people in power who have blagged their way to the top (or close to the top).

Yeah I really am not sure what this test on its own accomplishes. Either people are too depreciating of their skills or talk themselves up way more. Some are worded tricky and no matter what answer you give it seems to look bad on you. Some things are relative to the organisation you are in. I have done the same job in two different ones and they both had very different expectations of what level of responsibility I should have for example (i.e. do I check with someone higher before making a crucial decision or just go for it on my own judgement) I am capable of either but I need to know the organisation to know which is required where and these questionnaires dont show that.

PhuckHugh · 06-02-2019 3:34pm

MedPsych wrote: »

Yeah I really am not sure what this test on its own accomplishes. Either people are too depreciating of their skills or talk themselves up way more. Some are worded tricky and no matter what answer you give it seems to look bad on you. Some things are relative to the organisation you are in. I have done the same job in two different ones and they both had very different expectations of what level of responsibility I should have for example (i.e. do I check with someone higher before making a crucial decision or just go for it on my own judgement) I am capable of either but I need to know the organisation to know which is required where and these questionnaires dont show that.

It's the job scenario that's the tricky part --- how you would respond to certain situations --- these tests are set to a formula and they are looking for people that hit certain notes... You are presented with 4 options per answer and you have to rate each option and say whether it is weak/adequate/strong etc. etc.

It's hard to know what they are looking for exactly from your response

irish_goat · 06-02-2019 3:40pm

joseph brand wrote: »

IIRC, this first stage (assessment) is where you are going to rate yourself on personal attributes such as:

Are you late to work? Never, sometimes or often.
Leave the work to others? Never, sometimes or often.
Bit of a weird loner? Never, sometimes or often.
Do the bare minimum? Never, sometimes or often.

I don't understand these questions at all. Who is ever going to admit that they are often late for work?

Breezer25 · 06-02-2019 3:44pm

irish_goat wrote: »

I don't understand these questions at all. Who is ever going to admit that they are often late for work?

They don't actually phrase it like that. It will be a general question about punctuality.

e.g compared to others are you more punctual, as punctual , less punctual

irish_goat · 06-02-2019 4:21pm

Breezer25 wrote: »

They don't actually phrase it like that. It will be a general question about punctuality.

e.g compared to others are you more punctual, as punctual , less punctual

Aye but still...

LouD2016 · 06-02-2019 5:04pm

This is it...do you make yourself out to be so amazing and sound like a big headed tool that's not even considering the questions or do you make yourself out to be average and have them think you aren't strong enough for a management role.

The job scenario ones I get, but this self assessment stuff is ridiculous.

joseph brand · 06-02-2019 5:16pm

Breezer25 wrote: »

They don't actually phrase it like that. It will be a general question about punctuality.

e.g compared to others are you more punctual, as punctual , less punctual

I was paraphrasing, keeping it concise. But you get the gist.

Here's an interesting answer from Quora:

https://www.quora.com/What-type-of-answers-are-employers-looking-for-during-a-pre-employment-assessment-test

In any section where you have choices of Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neutral, Somewhat Agree, Agree, Strongly Agree you need to be very careful.

Most people, who are answering honestly, will not choose either Strongly Disagree or Strongly Agree. Why is that? When applying for a job, we want to be seen as a person who is able to get along. Having strong feelings either for or against an idea or topic seems to be somewhat rude. We might even worry that we will appear as confrontational, aggressive, or even egotistical. Right?

So, you'll take the more passive approach. You'll choose anything BUT the Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree. AND YOU WILL GET THAT ANSWER WRONG!

Any section that has choices ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree needs to be seen as True or False. Ignore all the choices in-between. That's right, ignore them! Because they are wrong.

Why are they wrong? Keep in mind that the employer does not see your answers to the test, they only see the results. To get the best result you need to be seen as confident in your abilities. Any other answer other than "strongly" shows a lack of confidence, and employers don't want employees that are not sure of themselves.

Always pick 1 or 5/ Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree. (I think there are 5 options). Food for thought.

ahnowbrowncow · 06-02-2019 5:53pm

joseph brand wrote: »

I was paraphrasing, keeping it concise. But you get the gist.

Here's an interesting answer from Quora:

https://www.quora.com/What-type-of-answers-are-employers-looking-for-during-a-pre-employment-assessment-test

Always pick 1 or 5/ Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree. (I think there are 5 options). Food for thought.

I've read the opposite in psychometric and questionnaire test books, they've said to seldom answer a question with strongly agree or disagree, unless going for a leadership role that requires decisiveness.

I've also got high scores and low scores in these questionnaires despite answering them in a similar manner so I wouldn't be surprised if the correct answer changes between competitions as the answers can be very subjective.

So it really does seem to be a lottery, not sure it's the best test to filter candidates for the next stage as it does seem.to a lottery.

Just thought I'd give my thoughts even though I'm not applying, best of luck to everyone

whatlliwear · 06-02-2019 8:32pm

Does anyone know if you can stop & start again or do you have to complete it in 1 go?

jr86 · 06-02-2019 8:55pm

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

I've read the opposite in psychometric and questionnaire test books, they've said to seldom answer a question with strongly agree or disagree, unless going for a leadership role that requires decisiveness.

I have to agree with this

I had a go at the test earlier and its fairly obvious there are particular questions weighted heavily towards specific EO qualities and there are ones that are subtly linked to similarly worded questions on the next page and so on.

I imagine they'll weed out time wasters who veer towards the extreme ends of the spectrum in each case and those that answer differently to linked questions.

From previous experience - the main thing is to be honest! To a point

The situational questions at the end aren't bad but bear in mind your head will potentially be fried when you get to that point.

eroc79 · 06-02-2019 9:06pm

whatlliwear wrote: »

Does anyone know if you can stop & start again or do you have to complete it in 1 go?

I think it mentioned in the familiarisation material that you could come back to it but it shouldn't take more than an hour to complete anyway and that would be taking your time

Rikand · 06-02-2019 9:19pm

whatlliwear wrote: »

Does anyone know if you can stop & start again or do you have to complete it in 1 go?

Book an hour for yourself. Turn off the phone and just do it. Chances are you won't even need the hour.

Just tell the wife/husband/kids/pets you are not to be disturbed between X and Y on Z and get her done in one go

RioM · 06-02-2019 10:34pm

joseph brand wrote: »

IIRC, this first stage (assessment) is where you are going to rate yourself on personal attributes such as:

Are you late to work? Never, sometimes or often.
Leave the work to others? Never, sometimes or often.
Bit of a weird loner? Never, sometimes or often.
Do the bare minimum? Never, sometimes or often.

You have the option to give yourself top marks or something less.

This is my third campaign and I feel like my honesty may have given me a lower score, whereas someone else could portray themselves as a stellar employee and get a high score. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

I was raised to think that 'honesty is the best policy' but looking at the likes of politicians, there are many people in power who have blagged their way to the top (or close to the top).

Same thoughts here. This time I might be giving myself gold stars for everything.

November Golf · 06-02-2019 11:24pm

Can anyone here please tell me what this mean? an example of or description would be great? TIA

"A role with a lot of fluidity"

Vologda69 · 07-02-2019 12:25am

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Can anyone here please tell me what this mean? an example of or description would be great? TIA

"A role with a lot of fluidity"

https://blog.shrm.org/blog/going-with-the-flow

I think that sums it up pretty well

Mikefitzs · 07-02-2019 12:54am

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Can anyone here please tell me what this mean? an example of or description would be great? TIA

"A role with a lot of fluidity"

Working in Irish Water lol

katiek102010 · 07-02-2019 1:07am

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Can anyone here please tell me what this mean? an example of or description would be great? TIA

"A role with a lot of fluidity"

A role that is constantly changing

jr86 · 07-02-2019 9:30am

joseph brand wrote: »

IIRC, this first stage (assessment) is where you are going to rate yourself on personal attributes such as:

Are you late to work? Never, sometimes or often.
Leave the work to others? Never, sometimes or often.
Bit of a weird loner? Never, sometimes or often.
Do the bare minimum? Never, sometimes or often.

You have the option to give yourself top marks or something less.

This is my third campaign and I feel like my honesty may have given me a lower score, whereas someone else could portray themselves as a stellar employee and get a high score. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

I was raised to think that 'honesty is the best policy' but looking at the likes of politicians, there are many people in power who have blagged their way to the top (or close to the top).

It really depends on the job

Obviously they won't ask outright are you a "weird loner" but for certain roles that involve a lot of working on your own to complete stringent tasks, admitting that you may not be outgoing or not comfortable with extensive social interaction may not be a bad answer at all.

I don't entirely agree with these personality tests other than a handy way to weed out chancers ("better than most" at everything). You wouldn't want to be answering the situational assessment question completely wrong either, however. I've done much harder situational analyses than this particular one though

sillysocks · 07-02-2019 10:43am

Hate these type of tests, no real way to know if you’ll do well or even to practise. Much prefer when the first stage is regular aptitude testing!

November Golf · 07-02-2019 11:08am

Mikefitzs wrote: »

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Can anyone here please tell me what this mean? an example of or description would be great? TIA

"A role with a lot of fluidity"

Working in Irish Water lol

Haha lol

Eod100 · 07-02-2019 6:39pm

Did test there. Wasn't very conscious if it was timed as didn't see countdown. Generally in line with previous ones.

sillysocks · 08-02-2019 10:59am

Eod100 wrote: »

Did test there. Wasn't very conscious if it was timed as didn't see countdown. Generally in line with previous ones.

Also just completed it, fairly straightforward but impossible to know if you’ve done well or not. Depends what they’re looking for.

The test isn’t timed.

blaagirl03 · 08-02-2019 12:20pm

Very difficult to know how to best answer them.... fine line between appearing obnoxious by answering better than everyone and not appearing confident enough by being modest....u would need a decent order of merit to have any hope in this campaign ðŸ˜¥

keepkeyyellow · 08-02-2019 12:44pm

Test done. Hasn't changed in 2 years.

Mikefitzs · 08-02-2019 12:50pm

Just remember that you will be asked these questions further along the process so don’t lie as it will be uncovered and you’ll exit the competition.

keepkeyyellow · 08-02-2019 12:51pm

Mikefitzs wrote: »

Just remember that you will be asked these questions further along the process so don’t lie as it will be uncovered and you’ll exit the competition.

What are you on about?

jr86 · 08-02-2019 1:54pm

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

What are you on about?

Probably means at interview stage

I'd be surprised if they even looked at these tests again though. Generally, personality tests and the like are just for simple filtering purposes before the next stage

Obviously weeds out the chancers and anyone who doesn't match specific criteria.

Eod100 · 08-02-2019 3:05pm

jr86 wrote: »

Probably means at interview stage

I'd be surprised if they even looked at these tests again though. Generally, personality tests and the like are just for simple filtering purposes before the next stage

Obviously weeds out the chancers and anyone who doesn't match specific criteria.

I think majority of people get through. It's a case of giving an objective ranking to decide who's called next and in what order .

Mikefitzs · 08-02-2019 3:05pm

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

What are you on about?

They will ask you the same questions at interview (not all of them) just worded differently. You need to be consistent with your answers. Info given to me from friend who saw her file on the interviewers desk.

yessiryes · 10-02-2019 2:50pm

Finished it there. Decided to give myself top marks for everything pretty much! If I don't then nobody else will

Had a lot of I don't mind in the what my job must include section though...not sure if that is good or bad!

November Golf · 10-02-2019 4:26pm

Mikefitzs wrote: »

They will ask you the same questions at interview (not all of them) just worded differently. You need to be consistent with your answers. Info given to me from friend who saw her file on the interviewers desk.

They will of course ask a lot of similar questions at interview became its competency based but I dont believe PAS actually see your answers from this questionaire or even if they did what would it prove.

In one section your asked, in comparison to someone you worked or studied with, were you better than more, quite good, broadly the same, not quite as good.

There is no possible way to verify the accuracy of your response because
1. Its your Opinion &
2. Its about people YOU worked or studied with (which is also subject to your opinion of them)

I'm not saying your responses don't matter or that over-selling yourself is a good ideas. I'm just saying I wouldn't be overly concerned with your responses.

(Except for the scenario's, because if they did see your answers they could possible ask you to justify why would gave a particular answer 'good' or 'Bad' etc.)

Vologda69 · 10-02-2019 4:49pm

Did anyone notice a lack of 'excellent' responses in relation to the situational judgement? And a lot of adequate responses?

sillysocks · 10-02-2019 4:50pm

I’d also imagine even if you did the exact same test again the chances of you answering exactly the same are probably slim. Even the kind of day you’re having would probably impact on your answers!

Executive Officer Campaign 2019 Mod warning #1682

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