Hello, so I have recently started my application for Warfare Specialist in the Navy. I thought that I would try, to my best ability, and document each step and give as much advice as possible. I know that there is advice out there for individual sections but I plan to compile all onto this one.
Recruitment Test
The Day itself;
So I sat my Recruitment Test last week and thought I would share some feedback about the day especially since it seems to have changed since I last did it.
I received an invitation in the post inviting me to attend my local AFCO for 08:45 for my interview. There were 2 Officer Candidates, 2 RFA Candidates, 1 Royal Marine Candidate and 1 Royal Navy Candidate - me. There were different style of dress one came in a suit the other casual civies, some came in a shirt and tie and other's in their work gear.
In true military style I arrived super early, 0810 to be exact, luckily I wasn't the only one who thought better to be early than late. by 0845 the rest of the candidates had arrived. By 0900 we all had our paperwork checked and scanned things to consider - read the letter and don't forget any documents one person was turned away because they didn't bring their documents with them. The Tattoo proformer and the MOD Rehabilitation documents is easily found online.
By 0915 were we taken into the test room and given an informal brief by the AFCO about was going to happen we then received a formal official brief on what was going to happen - this is to ensure there is consistency across the UK. When then started the test I took off my watch and placed it on the desk so I could keep an eye on the time. You get 9 minutes for the General Reasoning and Verbal Ability, 16 minutes for maths and 10 minutes for mechanical comprehension. The best thing to do is to spend 20seconds per question if oyu cant answer write it down and come back to it saves you wasting time.
Needless to say I completed all 4 parts within the allocated time frame with enough time to go back and check my answers and answer any that I had not been able to answer and luckily I passed.
Training:
Only you know how you train best. I personally am I visual learner so I preferred to read about the test and did research. I bought 2 books:
- Armed Forces Test by Richard McMunn
- Psychometric Test for Dummies
The Armed Forces Test was, for me, the best as this specifically dealt with Armed Forces and not Psychometric tests as a whole. When I did the 30 questions I timed myself to make sure that I didn't go over the allocated time this comes in real use.
Reading books/newspapers or articles will also help massively!! I didn't think that reading could help improve your English but it does especially with grammar and spelling. Maths I have a friend who is a maths teacher so spent an hour with him and mechanical comprehension my dad is a mechanic so any questions I didn't understand I asked him to explain the theory of it.
There is also a link to an online test which has a timer built into it https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/practice-naval-service-recruitment-test-navy/ this is a very good test.
After the test:
Here comes the big wait. I had to wait an hour to find out if I had passed or not and it is the longest wait ever!! You then get called into a room and told your result. We were then give a 30 minute brief about the rest of the application process what is involved in each stage and they give you material about HMS Raleigh and the 10 week training (will post that later), eye test paperwork, medical questionnaire x 2 and we got given a Navy News so we can brush up on latest Naval News. They then booked out Interview for Tuesday 16th at 0930.
My Top Tips:
- Train to the times
- Have breakfast 90 minutes before the test
- Get a decent night sleep,
- Have plenty of water leading up to the test (good for the brain)
That's all I can think of I will post each stage of the application to keep you all posted!!
Recruitment Test
The Day itself;
So I sat my Recruitment Test last week and thought I would share some feedback about the day especially since it seems to have changed since I last did it.
I received an invitation in the post inviting me to attend my local AFCO for 08:45 for my interview. There were 2 Officer Candidates, 2 RFA Candidates, 1 Royal Marine Candidate and 1 Royal Navy Candidate - me. There were different style of dress one came in a suit the other casual civies, some came in a shirt and tie and other's in their work gear.
In true military style I arrived super early, 0810 to be exact, luckily I wasn't the only one who thought better to be early than late. by 0845 the rest of the candidates had arrived. By 0900 we all had our paperwork checked and scanned things to consider - read the letter and don't forget any documents one person was turned away because they didn't bring their documents with them. The Tattoo proformer and the MOD Rehabilitation documents is easily found online.
By 0915 were we taken into the test room and given an informal brief by the AFCO about was going to happen we then received a formal official brief on what was going to happen - this is to ensure there is consistency across the UK. When then started the test I took off my watch and placed it on the desk so I could keep an eye on the time. You get 9 minutes for the General Reasoning and Verbal Ability, 16 minutes for maths and 10 minutes for mechanical comprehension. The best thing to do is to spend 20seconds per question if oyu cant answer write it down and come back to it saves you wasting time.
Needless to say I completed all 4 parts within the allocated time frame with enough time to go back and check my answers and answer any that I had not been able to answer and luckily I passed.
Training:
Only you know how you train best. I personally am I visual learner so I preferred to read about the test and did research. I bought 2 books:
- Armed Forces Test by Richard McMunn
- Psychometric Test for Dummies
The Armed Forces Test was, for me, the best as this specifically dealt with Armed Forces and not Psychometric tests as a whole. When I did the 30 questions I timed myself to make sure that I didn't go over the allocated time this comes in real use.
Reading books/newspapers or articles will also help massively!! I didn't think that reading could help improve your English but it does especially with grammar and spelling. Maths I have a friend who is a maths teacher so spent an hour with him and mechanical comprehension my dad is a mechanic so any questions I didn't understand I asked him to explain the theory of it.
There is also a link to an online test which has a timer built into it https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/practice-naval-service-recruitment-test-navy/ this is a very good test.
After the test:
Here comes the big wait. I had to wait an hour to find out if I had passed or not and it is the longest wait ever!! You then get called into a room and told your result. We were then give a 30 minute brief about the rest of the application process what is involved in each stage and they give you material about HMS Raleigh and the 10 week training (will post that later), eye test paperwork, medical questionnaire x 2 and we got given a Navy News so we can brush up on latest Naval News. They then booked out Interview for Tuesday 16th at 0930.
My Top Tips:
- Train to the times
- Have breakfast 90 minutes before the test
- Get a decent night sleep,
- Have plenty of water leading up to the test (good for the brain)
That's all I can think of I will post each stage of the application to keep you all posted!!
