stuff to do in my life before AIB

ill be having my AIB in a few months and now im racing to do stuff taht could help me in anyway as so far ive done fcuk all cept for school based stuff and boxing

i saw a crash course availabel at my local leisure for lifeguard training, it takes four days and id have basic qualification and i was wondering could i use poetic license to say that aquiring this used both leadership, teamwork, and communication (some of the things they mark upon at AIB)

 

Poetic licence is a vital attribute, which will come in handy as life as a Naval Officer. And learn the art of having absolutely no idea what you are doing then taking a subordinate's suggestion and giving the impression that it was your idea in the first place... cynical? Moi? No, just tired and experienced...

 

was also reading a post in the FAA section about aircrew prospects, which arn't apparantley as good as a WO

anyway, getting to point, i had my guns brought to bear on a career as a WO but now im not sure, aircrew sounds sexy to me, but i dont know if the AIB will see my change in heart as hesitancy and that im not fully commited (btw the navy is all ive EVER wanted to be)

 

Have a stab anyway; it's better to have at least given it a go and not pass than to not bother and regret it for the rest of your life.

Btw, Aircrew is a hard branch to get to, but possibly more worthwhile and deserving. Then again a few ACMN take their commission as an SD, although I'm no expert on matters involving petrol pigeons. Perhaps post something on the FAA forum...

 

i think ill pop into an AFCO and just speak to somebody, get their advice and make a decision what to go for

 

But never take their first answer. They have a quota to fill for each particular branch, so they'll probably persuade you to join the Warfare Branch or something, but tell you "...and you can change branches after you join up"! Don't fall for it - stick to your guns and call their bluff; they'll recognise your determination as a virtue.

Good luck anyway, whatever you choose.

 

Not being picky,but i would brush up on your spelling.

 

my spelling and grammar are fine, my typing skills are not

 

If you are struggling to find things to do to enable you to convince the AIB then what makes you think that you are cut out to become an effective officer?

 

Welshbird: Harsh but true!

 

I'm afraid I agree with Welshbird, I sat the AIB at 17 and failed due to the fact I lacked a broad range of experiences to discuss in the interview. Mostly I could only talk about sea cadets or school. I was fine in other aspects however and they told me to come back in 12 months when I had more "proof" of officer-like abilities/qualities.

 

becasue i know i have the qualities they need, at least i reckon so, i just need them to reckon so

this is why im looking to do anything i can, ie lifeguard crash course

my school dont do the d of e award or anything and im not a cadet of any sort.

btw, my ALCO said that as long as you demonstrate you can do it on the tasks they are less critical of life so far

 

Fair enough you're looking for things to do, eg lifeguard course, but take it from me - they will be very critical of preceisly what qualities this demonstrates. If you say it has potential to put you in a leadership position they will ask "how exactly?" - that sort of thing. Just trying to give you an idea of what they will be like. Even on the obvious ones like being a team member on a D of E hike they will ask exactly how you played a part in the team.

 

i know how critical they are, got my nervous right now, but way i say it, i could have 4, 5 months to put some time in, do some stuff, and if i fail, i can always see if the pongos need an officer

 

How about local voluntary activities? If you were to volunteer to do something that would benefit others that would go in your favour and might provide some situations in which you have to display communication ability/leadership/teamwork etc... just a thought. Are there any voluntary jobs near you that involve working with the public? For instance near me there is an old historic ship on which you can volunteer to show people round. Obviously it doesn't have to be naval related but that sort of thing would reflect well on you.

 

im looking into stuff like that, im hoping for maybe something sports or activity based.

To be honest, im pretty shocked at the strictness etc of the AIB, ive been just dossing for years thinking acedemic ability and a fair bit of physical fitness would do

apparently not

 

If you are dead set on becoming an officer things you really need to do are.
1. Insert Plum in mouth
2. Remove back bone
3. Forget any CDF you have ever learnt
4. Begin to consider anything you are told by more experianced persons to be lies.

4 simple steps sucess in the wardroom.

Enjoy

 

that sounds like good advice, and also sounds like their is a fair bit of snobbery and bitching between officers, i might not know what im getting in to

 

In January 2005 the last elements of "what school did you go to" (and so forth) at the AIB were removed. Now it's a totally objective assessment - ie the board watching you on your tasks and speaking to you in the interview. Also it used to be that the CPO who looks after you would tell the board what he thought of you as part of the assessment; they no longer do that. Doubtlessly there is a lot of snobbery in the wardroom but I would guess that this is going to start dieing out now.

In other words you could be Prince William and today's AIB would still fail you if you didn't tick the right boxes on the leadership tasks or whatever. As for the Army however..... they might be different, who knows

 

im looking to do something voluntary related to sport, prefereably something where i can really blow the leadership bugle