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Admiralty Interview Board

N

Navy_Sam82

Newbie
I've just applied to be a Warfare officer and I am waiting (for ever) for an AIB date. Does anyone have any good tips to get me through it.

The PLTs should be my strong point but if anyone has any guidence or example of the tasks that they give you.

What kind of stuff should i prepare for the compitence based interview, i'm swatting up on all the ships, should i prepare any answers for personal qyestions.
 
You might want to make sure your speeling is up to scratch.

Anyway, a while since I did mine and I know the structure has changed, so just a couple of general points:

Up to date on current affairs, read a couple of broadsheets with different political positions (Telegraph and the Grunaid or Independent, I don't rate the Time much atm) You might also want to read the Economist as well, very good coverage of global issues.

Be able to talk about the alleged build programme, and you might want to have a position on the numbers debate, have a skim throgh some of the threads here. Be able to talk about the Brigade in Afghanistan, although it's a PJHQ operation the Brigade is a Fleet formation.

Be yourself, relax and take what you can from it.
 
Looking down the page at the various headers would have given you the follwing topic:

AIB

Any specific guidance, ask away or send me a PM as I provide a lot of advice on AIB at work and have observed the new style of board.
 
The timeless advice is be yourself, they have been doing the job for long enough to see through most things. Always engage brain before speaking, if you don't know say so, it may though be appropriate to explain how you would find out. Remember that from the moment you pass through the gate till the momnet you are out of sight when you exit you are being watched and listened to.

The AIB is not an exam with correct answers, it is an assesment of you as a person and your ability to be trained to do the job they want done and do it well.

Give it your very best shot, it's worth it, and good luck.
 
Read The Economist the week before you do AIB, so you have a good general knowledge brief.
Be yourself - these guys can spot a b*llshitter at a mile. Be confident, but not a cocky tw*t. Know what is going on in the Navy and services generally.
Try and enjoy it - it isn't so bad. Though I must admit I enjoyed the end, when they told me I'd passed it, a lot more than the previous three days of trying to get through it.
 
Having just done AIB I can tell you I wasn't asked about any current affairs. I will post my opinions of AIB along with the timesheet I was given, although bare with me it was written for a 'wannabe' website ;)
 
As asked I have produced a step-by-step walkthrough of AIB, most of this is the same as the booklet, however, i will try to add some of my experiences to it.

DAY 1
day to travel up to Gosport. arrive at AIB by 1700hrs. Arrive early to allow for delays and to meet all the other applicants (very important, if you have a good team then you are much more likly to get through)

1700hrs - tour of AIB folloowed by breifing and issue of trainers and overalls

1830 - Dinner - must wear full suit for every meal everyday, order off menu, loads of choice mmmmmm

after dinner free time - go to the pub! its a must unless u18. this is a time where you can relax and get to know your syndicate, talk to evreyone but focus on your particular team, i believe we were the best bonded team and we all passed, only one other person passed.

2300 - shore leave expires, lights out

DAY 2

0615 - wake up tune! usually the reveille, depending on if boss is in

0645- 0715 breakfast

0725 - muster in restroom

0745 - Testing begins - right these tests are bloody hard! half the words on verbal reasoning i had never heard of, maths also very hard, dont expect to finish even half the questions in the harder sections. some tests are negativly marked but they wont tell you which (i think maths because it says DO NOT GUESS on the front) i still guessed (educated, of course). you really get loads of breaks to get drink etc. essay is nothing to worry about, you get about 1 1/4 A4 pages to write it with 45mins! plenty of planning time.

1145 - practice planning exercise - waste of time rely because the hardest part of the planning is the question barrage and you dont get that, plus the practice is far too simple. gives you an idea though, just use the imagination.

1345 - PLT practice - good fun, listen in because there are techniques you MUST use, you might get wet depending on if the staff want to make you all jump in! we were lucky but others werent. lol do revise your techniques in the evening before the pub (with team)

1530 - MSFT (bleep test) not fun. you have a short 5-10 min warm up by PTI. The hall is so slippery that you land on the line and slip about 6 inches on each turn, no exaggeration! the staff say you can expect to get a level lower than your usual (i guess they take it into account). i got 9.11 my Pb is 11.4

1630 - jog back to AIB (5mins)

1830 - Dinner

go to the pub again have a wind down and really work on becoming a good team.
2300 - leave expires, lights out

DAY 3 - THE BIG ONE

0615 - reveille

0645 - 0715 breakfast

0725 gather in restroom in overalls ad trainers boards 1 & 2 for PLTs. board 3 suits for planning ex

PLTs - right the time to shine, all the problems are really simple, you will easily make a solution in your 15min silent planning time. leaderless task, each member try to say part of the plan, let each member have a crack. speak up to maximum volume without shouting. dont take control but dont say nothing, be really CAMP! i mean it support evryone with encouraging comments! lol pretend you cant lift things so that other people get to help, and follow the rules! its one big game so play up to it. leader task - same as above but really dont get to invovled get to a position where you can be in the middle of the team if possible. group hugs at the end! no really!

Planning ex - by far the most pressured task. get soo much bloody information, make notes quickly as possible. the officer will call you in and present a problem. you will have about 7mins to come up with a plan infront of the board. one person presents the aims, one person presents the plan. then the questioning begins, it is timed on each person, about 5-6mins i think but seems like weeks. the SDT are really easy figures but then they add them to times events happend, again easy, but alot to remember. keep switched on because at any time you could be questioned! if she presents a better plan take it! she might propose a worse one though!
Finally you will leave and be called back in one by one to present your final plan, 2mins with just the map. deviate from the group plan if you wish, or not, we had both on our team and all passed.

0915 approx - boards 1 & 2 got to AIB to do Planning ex. board 3 to PLT

1030 approx - board 3 to AIB Boards 1 &2 complete planning ex

1100 approx - interviews conducted - 25- 30 mins, each board member talks to you for about 8-10 mins. i mean talks, it is very relaxed. they focus on all the things that are in the q101 application form, they touch on naval knowledge too. use the sticky 'FAQS' to find the questions for OASC, apply them to the RN and thats a good guide.

1330 approx - results and debrief - only takes about 5 mins then you report straight to reception, if unsucessful a taxi will be rang, if sucessful fill out some forms and go straight to medical. yes all sweaty and smelly haha!

medicals - mine went on til 1800 they include everything you can think possible! fat measurement and all! you can ask for a heads up on how your doing and they will probably tell you.

1830 - dinner

free time to bathe in happiness and to think about being the next top gun!
No alchohol tonight if you are going for EEG tomorrow, we didnt have to do EEG or chest x -ray so we could have 1 pint, small celebration. O and expect hostility at the pub, there are likley to be matlows wanting to have a go at future officers whilst they can! lol

DAY 4

0615 - revielle

0645 - 0715 - breakfast

0800 - be at eye place - i cant spell opticians!

after eye test go to hospital for ECG. sit on a bed with sensors attatched to you for 15 seconds. then you can go, all good but run by grumpy pongo's!

day 4 all happens very quick and i was on a train home by 1020.


there you go, you will notice i havent included lunch times, you get sent when the oppotunity occurs, it will occur though so dont worry.

any questions..... i will post a reply or add if i have left anything out.
hope it helps!
blimy
 
Best thing I can tell you is that it was a brilliant three days, my board all really gelled together, and I think that may have been why so many passed. I would echo the advice of going to the pub, have a drink if you want, they are not testing your ability to refuse alcohol!

Listen to the Ratings, my board was assigned a Chief as our "watcher" almost, this guy was on the ball, seriously switched on, I think he'd been on all the bomber boat types, and having been at the board for a well had stacks of brilliant advice.

Read a Broadsheet, the Times is a good and comparatively balanced one, and if you want to improve your spelling avoid the Grauniad. Have a look into the recent Trident debate, it is more than likely to come up as an essay choice, look at why we need a Strategic Nuclear Deterrent, and I then examined as to why the Submarine based variant was the best choice for the United Kingdom.

PLTs use a clear, loud voice, and double check anything you say in your head first, if you havent got a clear idea of what you want to do next, ask the other candidates, admitting you need help and building on the skills of your fellow candidates scores your brownie points.

As has been said the Interview is the most relaxed part of the whole Board, it went very quickly, where as the Planning Excercise is tough, and you need to be alert for it.
 
PLT tasks are all a variantion on get from point a to point b using the equipment without touching the ground, usually whilst carrying a jerry can or oil drum. Variations on the point a to b include point a to be and back to a with all the equipment you used coming back with you, or point a to b stopping to pick up the burden on the way.

I could give more specific examples but really i don' think its worth it, its fairly easy to work out what you need to do and how. The problem is how you use your team to get the task done and the time limit in task. As i'm sure someone has said don't worry if you don't finish. Out of my group of four only one of us completed their task in the time limit and he did not pass. THe impression i have got having spoken to a former chair of the Army RCB recently is that command tasks are designed to be almost impossible to finish because they want to see you under pressure, I'm fairly sure the same is true of the AIB

Couple of more usefull tips. Remeber the techniques you are shown on the first day. As these will make things a lot eaiser.

When its your command task, your job is to lead it not get involved in the "heavy lifting" this is your teams job. Opposite is true in the task where you arn't the leader, shut up and do as you are told, unless it is something you can't do for saftey reasons or equipment rules. In which case speak out loaudly abd clearly so the board can hear you.

I'd disagree about pretending you can't lift things etc as I'd expect the board to see right through it as what it is , but your experence may be different

For the plannign task have a look a the army one on the RCB website as this is fairly close to the exercise you will get on the at the AIB. Again no hard and fast rules on how to do this different people seem to have different experences with it. General tip is to speak up but don't talk over people. Keep up with the questioning owkring out answers to the questions ask as if one peron gets it worng they will keep asking people questions till someone gets it right. Expect to get questions on the bkacground to the scenario eg. name of your CO Name and operation of the ship you are on etc. not just your plan.

Other than that good luck

Final bit of advice, 1.) Listen to your board NCO if they suggest you to do something do it! 2.) If your lucky enough to be in a group that has in service candidates in it talk to them they are a gold mine of information when it comes to the navy knowledge test and the interview. For example without them i would not have known that the largest royal naval deplomyent is currently in landlocked afganistan. And finally in your interview you will be asked to point out 3 areas on the map where the royal navy is operating. The map is identical to the one in the candidates break room and is a topographical rather than politicla map. I.e countries arn't marked on it so work out where places are like afgansitan before you go in.
any other questions yell

Simon

Also navy news is availible free online this month, so if you haven't got a copy go to the website and read it. ti will give yopu pretty much all the infor you need on current deployments etc
 
I'd disagree about pretending you can't lift things etc as I'd expect the board to see right through it as what it is
Click to expand...

We did it because the NCO told us to, along with being really enthusiastic when throwing items. I thought it was a little strange myself but then again, perhaps he just wanted to laugh at us!
 
No you are right there blimy, Health and Safety is said to be Paramount at all times, but proper techniques are shown on the first full day.

I've got to back down to the AIB in April for the medical (there was no Medical cover when I had my AIB.) I suppose it will just be for the day.

Really looking forward to getting into the RN hopefully, cannot wait to get in.
 

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