Any ideas?

Sorry to add more spam to the newbie section.

Just a quicky really, aside from curricular activities I don't have any real examples of leadership, and with my medical coming up next week and my uni graduation in July, I figure I might as well do something to put down on the application in the coming months.

The only thing I can think of so far would be something akin to either leading a few friends up a mountain (although if Snowdonia only takes five hours, that seems a bit dull) or maybe trying the three peaks challenge. I don't suppose anyone has any other ideas?

 

Offer your services to the Scouts/cubs or any youth group. You'll need quantifiable leadership qualities. Taking a group of mates up a mountain won't cut it. Have you been team leader on any uni projects etc?

 

Dont forget though, if you are working with kiddies, by law you should be CRB Checked..

 

As fun as mountain climbing sounds...I concur with previous comments.

When I had my interview they were more interested in leadership in school teams/councils/sports etc, and college and uni sports/teams/unions etc and jobs such as supervisory work even in a shop or something as long as it was leadership.

Good Luck with medical, and enjoy graduation - I also graduate in July. Happy Days.

Jen

 

The only kind of things I've ever been a team-leader of are seminar groups/presentations etc. Unfortunately we never had to do any marked projects.

As for sports, I'm a member of the fencing club and I do quite a lot of running, but I never appealed for any sort of leadership within the team (mainly as I've only been in it for 8 months).

I'll have a quick shunty over clubs in my hometown, I doubt I have the time to get a CRB, unless I delay my AIB by quite some time.

Also; at the age of 22 I could only go for gold in the DoE Award right?

-edit- Cheer Jen, best of luck with the graduation.

 

When asked, focus on that sort of thing, you won't need objective evidence.

 

Agreed, taking charge oof work/study groups is just as much leadership , in fact often more so, than pulling some of your mates up a mountain. The big thing then is to make sure your leadership excercise at AIB reflects your claims.

Read up on the lies of Shackleton too, so yoyu understand what leadership is.

 

Cheers for the input folks, very appreciated. I'll make the most with what I've gained in curricular leadership, and probably try the three peaks challenge just for a laugh anyway. I'm imagining the AIB gives you on opportunity to actually show your abilities, rather than just talk about them.

This is also a silly question, but it's worth finding out anyway; my degree is International politics and intelligence studies (from Aber, so it's not entirely micky mouse) - I picked that subject particularly because I have a strong interest in military intelligence (my diss is in WWII naval intelligence). Do you think that degree subject will count for much in the application? I never really imagined it would, integrity of the candidate valuing much more than a a slightly relevant qualification and all.

 

Mate. If the AIB is like Army Officer selection then think of yourself as a product that you would wish to market and sell. You have to convince the board or whatever you Naval types have that you are the best person for the job. It's not all about qualifications.

 

From recollection, i was not asked this at Westbury. We had to do a planning exercise where you formulate a plan from a scenario eliminating any other options. You have 45 mins to formulate and write down your plan which they then take off you as you then make a group plan. By the time it was my turn to present mine, my head was spinning like the teacup ride. The Major asking me the questions told me to forget my plan altogether and come up with a new one there and then. However, i stuck to my guns only to be told "Number 63. I wouldn't follow you into a pub. You've just killed two men". I passed though. The moral of this story? Keep your head and stick to your decision. They don't like people who change their minds for no good reason.

 

They do a PlanEx at AIB too. It is in the interview they'll ask about when you had to plan something, etc. They won't necessarily ask for a specific scenario when the plan went wrong, but they will be looking for logic in how you developed and carried out the plan and problems you may have encountered, if any.

Going back to the OP, planning a mountain climbing trip for a group of mates would probably be perfect for the 'tell me about something you planned' question (do it for charity if you can, then you help a good cause too) but not so ideal for the leadership question, unless it was a particularly hard challenge which required you to personally motivate the rest of your team to complete it.

 

They WILL ask when something went wrong and how you dealt with it, it is on the Q101 form sent to you by the AIB beforehand which forms the basis for much of the interview. I don't know if it is a recent addition but everyone I know who has sat their board recently has got that question.

 

They didn't ask when a plan went wrong, but they did ask when a leadership situation when wrong. Of course, the OP is struggling to come up with any leadership scenarios so they'll struggle to come up with one where it went wrong too!

 

Well that is effectively the same question just worded differently. The reason it is normally phrased that way is the questioning order:

N2: Career motivation and Naval knowledge etc.

N1: Courage and values - including 'when have you set yourself a challenge, when have you suffered a setback/ when has something gone wrong and how did you deal with it, have you experienced someone being treated unfairly'

Board President: When you have you been a leader, when have you been part of a team, how did you deal with difficulties in the team.

 

That's pretty much just as I thought. Once again the input is much appreciated, just a shame it's a hell of a way off (which is a benefit, I really need to get in shape for the PJFT!).