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My Joining Process - 2018

G

GlitterAndMud

Newbie
#1
#1
I know that this type of thing has been done before, but everyone is going to have a different experience whilst joining the Navy so I thought I would share mine as well.

In February 2018 my parents and I (F15), visited my local AFCO to discuss potential roles for me as there was some confusion over the age I was able to apply for the role I wanted. Once we had asked all the questions we needed and there was no more confusion, my AFCO told me the best thing I could do was to register my interest online and get as fit as possible before applying. When we got home I registered my interest online which meant I got sent periodic emails about life in the Royal Navy and how to best prepare. I also began going on 1.5 mile runs to try and achieve a good time (however i did not do this enough and am now having to work even harder to achieve a good time).

In July I received an email telling me I was now old enough to apply for a career with the Royal Navy and I was excited to say the least. As soon as I could I filled in the first form you get sent which includes basic questions like your name, age, nationality, etc and waited for the next form to be sent to me. I received it straight away and filled it in. After doing this it asked me to follow the steps on the next email which told me I needed to reset my account password. I had a lot of troubles with activating my account (due to glitches in the new system) and so I had to call the number they give about 4 times (to sort out issues such as: incorrect answer to security question, incorrect password). In the end they got this sorted out for me and I could access my candidate portal. This meant that I could now complete the long application form including things like: hobbies, interests, criminal convictions, education etc. I did this and sent it off.

The next day I received a call from my AFCO who wanted to arrange a date for my RT and initial interview. I now have this booked for about 2 weeks time and am doing my best to prepare for it by completing practice tests against the clock. A few days after the call from my AFCO I received a letter in the post telling me what documents I needed to take with me (passport, birth certificates, national insurance number etc). It also included the forms I needed to fill in and take with me on the day as well as the practice questions for the RT. I'm fairly confident with some aspects of the reasoning tests and also with my verbal ability however i am working on my maths and mechanical comprehension. To improve these areas I’m completing practice tests as well as working my way through mechanical comprehension questions online. If there is something I don’t understand I will research or ask someone so I understands how the answer is achieved.

On completion of my RT and initial interview i will give an update.
 
Last edited:
G

GlitterAndMud

Newbie
#2
#2
UPDATE:
A few days ago I sat my RT. I made sure I got a good nights sleep the night before by turning all screens off (including mobile phone) at least an hour before I went to bed. As expected the night didn't go as smoothly as planned and I woke up a few times in the night due to nerves. To get to my AFCO it takes about an hours travelling in total which meant an early wake up of 06:15 for me and both my parents who came with me. We got off of the train and I made my way to the AFCO, getting there at 09:15 for a 09:30 start.

I went wearing smart trousers and a shirt and I tied my hair up in a low bun. Already there was a boy in his 20's who was applying for an officers role. After I got there 2 other boys (both applying for the Royal Marines) arrived and in the end there were 9 of us (5 girls, 4 boys). At first we got called in individually to give them our identification and the application form we got sent in the post. After that we got taken to a downstairs classroom and our recruitment officer briefed us on what was going to happen (time limits, rules, etc) then we sat the tests. The questions on the test I found much similar (in a few cases a little bit harder) to the questions in the practice booklet. When we came out of the classroom we were told to meet back there at 13:00. A few of our group went off together but I called my parents to come and meet me for a much needed lunch.I thought that the tests had gone horribly wrong and spent the next hour and a half wondering what would happen next. However as time went on I felt more and more positive about it as I went through a few of the questions I could remember with my parents.

At 12:50 I met with most of the others and we waited together for the remaining few. The first few applicants got called in individually but none of them stuck around long enough for us to ask them how it went. The two boys who were applying to be in the Royal Marines got advised to go and talk to the Army so that's what they did. While one of us was in the office talking to our recruitment officer, someone from the RAF came to ask if they could borrow a chair but our recruiter said that no, they couldn't because he was going to talk to four of us at once in a minute. At this point there was only five of us left so we were all sitting in anticipation waiting for the last name to be called. It turned out to be one of the other girls who afterwards told us that she hadn't passed on account of her maths. The boy I spoke to first was left along with two other girls and myself. We were all joking with each other and said that we've either all failed, or all passed. A few minutes later our recruitment officer came out and told us to come in and he congratulated us on all passing. I went into a state of shock when he confirmed I had passed with a high enough score to do my first choice, engineering technician, weapons engineer. He gave us all of the paperwork we needed to do (medical questionnaires, etc) and explained the next steps for us.

I think what helped me most during the preparation was completing practice tests against the clock because timing wasn't a problem for me. My weakness is number sequences in the reasoning test so when it came to that part I put a random answer because you don't lose marks for wrong answers. When I finished I went back to them and worked them out properly and that method worked well for me.

I now have an eye test booked for about a weeks time.
 
FunkyJunky

FunkyJunky

War Hero
#3
#3
GlitterAndMud said:
UPDATE:
A few days ago I sat my RT. I made sure I got a good nights sleep the night before by turning all screens off (including mobile phone) at least an hour before I went to bed. As expected the night didn't go as smoothly as planned and I woke up a few times in the night due to nerves. To get to my AFCO it takes about an hours travelling in total which meant an early wake up of 06:15 for me and both my parents who came with me. We got off of the train and I made my way to the AFCO, getting there at 09:15 for a 09:30 start.

I went wearing smart trousers and a shirt and I tied my hair up in a low bun. Already there was a boy in his 20's who was applying for an officers role. After I got there 2 other boys (both applying for the Royal Marines) arrived and in the end there were 9 of us (5 girls, 4 boys). At first we got called in individually to give them our identification and the application form we got sent in the post. After that we got taken to a downstairs classroom and our recruitment officer briefed us on what was going to happen (time limits, rules, etc) then we sat the tests. The questions on the test I found much similar (in a few cases a little bit harder) to the questions in the practice booklet. When we came out of the classroom we were told to meet back there at 13:00. A few of our group went off together but I called my parents to come and meet me for a much needed lunch.I thought that the tests had gone horribly wrong and spent the next hour and a half wondering what would happen next. However as time went on I felt more and more positive about it as I went through a few of the questions I could remember with my parents.

At 12:50 I met with most of the others and we waited together for the remaining few. The first few applicants got called in individually but none of them stuck around long enough for us to ask them how it went. The two boys who were applying to be in the Royal Marines got advised to go and talk to the Army so that's what they did. While one of us was in the office talking to our recruitment officer, someone from the RAF came to ask if they could borrow a chair but our recruiter said that no, they couldn't because he was going to talk to four of us at once in a minute. At this point there was only five of us left so we were all sitting in anticipation waiting for the last name to be called. It turned out to be one of the other girls who afterwards told us that she hadn't passed on account of her maths. The boy I spoke to first was left along with two other girls and myself. We were all joking with each other and said that we've either all failed, or all passed. A few minutes later our recruitment officer came out and told us to come in and he congratulated us on all passing. I went into a state of shock when he confirmed I had passed with a high enough score to do my first choice, engineering technician, weapons engineer. He gave us all of the paperwork we needed to do (medical questionnaires, etc) and explained the next steps for us.

I think what helped me most during the preparation was completing practice tests against the clock because timing wasn't a problem for me. My weakness is number sequences in the reasoning test so when it came to that part I put a random answer because you don't lose marks for wrong answers. When I finished I went back to them and worked them out properly and that method worked well for me.

I now have an eye test booked for about a weeks time.
Click to expand...
Good effort, Well done.
Will get some decent qualifications in that role if you stick around long enough
 
G

GlitterAndMud

Newbie
#6
#6
@LegioIX Thank you! It was especially nerve wracking as we found out he was going to be talking to four of us at once at the end and there was only 5 of us left so we just had to wait for one last name to be called. Thankfully i was in the last four and we all got our first choice.
 
Sumo

Sumo

War Hero
#7
#7
Weldon young man, now the journey begins, but a word of warning you called 06:15 early, once you join you will come to think of that time as a lie in?:)
 
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