Permanent Defence Forces Recruitment 2015

SasQuatch88

Dont get me wrong when i said 2 weeks for prepping i wasnt talking about the fitness as such i mean to pull it out of the bag for that extra bit.. i've been training for about 6 months 4 days a week... but i used to be 18 stone haha, down to 15 now and getting the 11 40 is going to be fun but not as easy for me.. but i'll manage..

It wasn't me!

John_D80 wrote: »

Not realistic? You kinda missed my point mate.

I'm looking beyond entry level fitness tests. The guy who works hard to get in, whether he aces the fitness test or gets a bare pass will be the same guy who will keep pushing himself when he's 9k into an 10k log run or on a 20k tab over the hills when he's up to his waist in snow.

The naturally fit/doesn't need to train kinda guy who has never known physical hardship on the other hand will quite possibly fall to pieces when he inevitably experiences that physical hardship. I've seen it myself in my own platoon as a recruit and as an instructor of recruits. Thats what I meant when I said I will always chose the dogged determined guy every time.

And to be quite honest, reading some of the posts here about the preparation (or lack of) that some guys are putting in, I (like you I assume) am quite disturbed at the apparent lack of aforementioned doggedness and determination.

Aye, think we're talking about the same thing in different terms alright. Best of luck to everyone. My only concern is that not only do the right people get their places, but that for the people who do get places, the army is the right job for them.

John_D80

SasQuatch88 wrote: »

Dont get me wrong when i said 2 weeks for prepping i wasnt talking about the fitness as such i mean to pull it out of the bag for that extra bit.. i've been training for about 6 months 4 days a week... but i used to be 18 stone haha, down to 15 now and getting the 11 40 is going to be fun but not as easy for me.. but i'll manage..

I actually wasn't referring to you buddy

Maybe_Memories

SasQuatch88 wrote: »

Dont get me wrong when i said 2 weeks for prepping i wasnt talking about the fitness as such i mean to pull it out of the bag for that extra bit.. i've been training for about 6 months 4 days a week... but i used to be 18 stone haha, down to 15 now and getting the 11 40 is going to be fun but not as easy for me.. but i'll manage..

Good on you mate. It's great to see people taking this seriously and working for it!

cork2

Well when it comes down to it were civies, we have jobs and responsibilities aswell as the army. The PDF are allocated time for fitness and fair enough they have to be fit no arguement but my job doesn't. I'm getting up for a run in the morning and it'll be my first run in ten days as last week i worked 72 hours and after all that there was no hope i was going out running! Now I was running it in about 11 mins ten days ago so I reckon a day or two and I'll be back to 11 mins give me a fortnight and no matter how much it hurts I'll knock at least a minute off it. What I found though was by cutting out breakfast rolls, takeaways, white bread, crips and alcohol etc, you loose weight in a flash and feel your runs are working better. Thankfully got my BMi down to 28 but I reckon I'll get that down mre too

goldie fish

Wills21 wrote: »

Yeah same as, I hit the gym first thing this morning and done 2.4km in 18min30sec!!

Needless to say I will be there every morning until the test to bring the time down, can I bring it down that much in such a short time is the question??

Anybody have any tips?? I worked it out that I need to stick to just over 12km/h which I just cant do at the moment, I ran about 500m and had to slow down to take a breather and then speed back up for another 500m or so.

Dude. I'm 40, overweight but still managed the 10k last year in 45 minutes.
You aren't trying hard enough.

Cathal_91

The sits up and push ups are easy to me, but the run sounds quite tough, I done a 10km race few days ago and done it in 49mins which is pretty decent and would be fair to say am fit enough after running that without stopping, but still in the gym on the treadmill I'm finding it hard to get to 2.4km in 11:49mins

I know on the day I'll just put more effort into it and run faster only tried it twice in the gym timing it.

How many officially applied? I heard theres only 500 places, so I hope loads of you fail the fitness test to be honest, gives me a better chance, it's a basic fitness test you dont have to big into fitness or sports to even pass it, 20 sits and push up is a doss, it should be 40, then I'd actually have to train for it.

swimfast

Cathal_91 wrote: »

The sits up and push ups are easy to me, but the run sounds quite tough, I done a 10km race few days ago and done it in 49mins which is pretty decent and would be fair to say am fit enough after running that without stopping, but still in the gym on the treadmill I'm finding it hard to get to 2.4km in 11:49mins

I know on the day I'll just put more effort into it and run faster only tried it twice in the gym timing it.

How many officially applied? I heard theres only 500 places, so I hope loads of you fail the fitness test to be honest, gives me a better chance, it's a basic fitness test you dont have to big into fitness or sports to even pass it, 20 sits and push up is a doss, it should be 40, then I'd actually have to train for it.

try taking it to the road map out a 2.5km route on google maps and do it thats what i did its considerbly faster than treadmil as treadmills stay at constant speed and you know were your finish point is and you will do everything to get there faster

Cathal_91

Yea you always get better times on the road or outdoors, does anyone know what the interviews will be like? Thats the only thing I'm worried about, should I mention my dad and uncles were all is the army and have good records would they care about that?

And I also applied for the reserves in November so I could mention that, that would show and prove that I have a genuine interest in the amry whether you get paid or not.

And yeah Ive actually just mapped out on google a distance along the bypass beside me that's 2.5km so I'll actually be able to have a good go at timing myself on the road one of the nights next week, cheers never thought of using google maps for that.

swimfast

no bothers man
dont have clue what interviews willl be like
any ideas what psychometric test will be like?

John_D80

cork2 wrote: »

Well when it comes down to it were civies, we have jobs and responsibilities aswell as the army. The PDF are allocated time for fitness and fair enough they have to be fit no arguement but my job doesn't. I'm getting up for a run in the morning and it'll be my first run in ten days as last week i worked 72 hours and after all that there was no hope i was going out running! Now I was running it in about 11 mins ten days ago so I reckon a day or two and I'll be back to 11 mins give me a fortnight and no matter how much it hurts I'll knock at least a minute off it. What I found though was by cutting out breakfast rolls, takeaways, white bread, crips and alcohol etc, you loose weight in a flash and feel your runs are working better. Thankfully got my BMi down to 28 but I reckon I'll get that down mre too

Sorry to burst your bubble bud, but quite a lot of (I would go so far as to say most) PDF units do not have the time or resources required for regular unit PT's and there is very little time allocated for physical training. The onus is on the individual to maintain their own fitness levels. For most this means training on their lunchbreak or in their own time, just like every one else in civvie street.

True enough a lot of the work we do is physical training in itself but organised physical training and allocated times for said training is not as common as you would think.

Cathal_91

As far as I know psychometric tests are like this :

1. I prefer to avoid conflict.
 
A) True False
 
2. I enjoy parties and other social occasions.
 
A) strongly disagree disagree C) neutrals D) agree E) strongly agree
 
3. Work is the most important thing in my life.
 
A) very strongly disagree strongly disagrees C) disagree D) neutral E) agree
F)strongly  agree G) very strongly agree


That's the first example I could find on google

John_D80

Cathal_91 wrote: »

As far as I know psychometric tests are like this :

1. I prefer to avoid conflict.
 
A) True False
 
2. I enjoy parties and other social occasions.
 
A) strongly disagree disagree C) neutrals D) agree E) strongly agree
 
3. Work is the most important thing in my life.
 
A) very strongly disagree strongly disagrees C) disagree D) neutral E) agree
F)strongly  agree G) very strongly agree


That's the first example I could find on google

I'm sure i read somewhere that the psychometric tests are on verbal and numerical reasoning. Could be way off though.

swimfast

thanks anyways

Turbine

Cathal_91 wrote: »

As far as I know psychometric tests are like this :

1. I prefer to avoid conflict.
 
A) True False
 
2. I enjoy parties and other social occasions.
 
A) strongly disagree disagree C) neutrals D) agree E) strongly agree
 
3. Work is the most important thing in my life.
 
A) very strongly disagree strongly disagrees C) disagree D) neutral E) agree
F)strongly  agree G) very strongly agree


That's the first example I could find on google

That's a personality test.

The army psychometric tests will cover verbal, numerical, and comprehending instructions.

Wills21

goldie fish wrote: »

Dude. I'm 40, overweight but still managed the 10k last year in 45 minutes.
You aren't trying hard enough.

It was my first run in about a year and it was 18.30. My second run was 16.40. How am I not trying hard enough?

groundshaker

Wills21 wrote: »

It was my first run in about a year and it was 18.30. My second run was 16.40. How am I not trying hard enough?

Well if you were 100% commited to getting in the army, ya wouldn't have waited till the recruitment competition started to get your fitness up, I'm sure there's many lads who've been doing training themselfs for months in anticpiation of this recruitment drive. Honestly even if ya were running it in 12 mins, that's still shocking bad.

swimfast

groundshaker wrote: »

Well if you were 100% commited to getting in the army, ya wouldn't have waited till the recruitment competition started to get your fitness up, I'm sure there's many lads who've been doing training themselfs for months in anticpiation of this recruitment drive. Honestly even if ya were running it in 12 mins, that's still shocking bad.

ye i will have to agree there you may have left it too late

ThatGuy93

Wills21 wrote: »

It was my first run in about a year and it was 18.30. My second run was 16.40. How am I not trying hard enough?

Infairness you did leave it until the last 2 weeks to get fit but you would be surprised what you can achieve fitness wise in 2 weeks (and if your lucky you might still have 3 weeks). Getting fit is like loosing weight the first few minutes will fly of your run time but your going to have to get serious about your diet and lifestyle (no heavy nights out) over the next few weeks to get that run time below the 11.40. You will literally have to base your life around fitness for the next few weeks. It can be done but your going to have to give 110%. Also make sure you warm up properly and be careful not to over do the running as you could risk injury, try alternating by doing other forms of cardio every couple of days. Best of luck!

cruasder777

Wills21 wrote: »

It was my first run in about a year and it was 18.30. My second run was 16.40. How am I not trying hard enough?

You have obviously not trained.

Wills21

ThatGuy93 wrote: »

Infairness you did leave it until the last 2 weeks to get fit but you would be surprised what you can achieve fitness wise in 2 weeks (and if your lucky you might still have 3 weeks). Getting fit is like loosing weight the first few minutes will fly of your run time but your going to have to get serious about your diet and lifestyle (no heavy nights out) over the next few weeks to get that run time below the 11.40. You will literally have to base your life around fitness for the next few weeks. It can be done but your going to have to give 110%. Also make sure you warm up properly and be careful not to over do the running as you could risk injury, try alternating by doing other forms of cardio every couple of days. Best of luck!

Thanks I appreciate the advice rather than telling me "I am not trying hard enough".

To be honest I wasn't 100% certain that a career in the PDF was for me and when I applied I didn't really count on getting called for the fitness test so I put it to the back of my mind. Since getting the email about getting through to the next stage of the competition I have started to train because I believe the PDF is for me.

I have an appointment with a personal trainer tomorrow afternoon so hopefully he can help me getting my time down as much as possible.

Thank's again for the advice.

Maybe_Memories

Question about the sit-ups.

What happens if one of your feet lifts slightly off the ground during one of the reps? Do you fail?

swimfast

Wills21 wrote: »

Thanks I appreciate the advice rather than telling me "I am not trying hard enough".

To be honest I wasn't 100% certain that a career in the PDF was for me and when I applied I didn't really count on getting called for the fitness test so I put it to the back of my mind. Since getting the email about getting through to the next stage of the competition I have started to train because I believe the PDF is for me.

I have an appointment with a personal trainer tomorrow afternoon so hopefully he can help me getting my time down as much as possible.

Thank's again for the advice.

Do some swimming it will do wonders for your breathing is a good form of cardio and best of all it's non impact virtually no risk of injury

SasQuatch88

Don't know if any of you guys have seen this, might be handy for the Psychometric testing..

http://careerservices.ie/army-recruits/preparation-course

This is what the page said:

Preparation Course

Important
This course is only for candidates who applied for the position of Army or Navy Recruit with the Irish Defence Forces through the website www.military.ie before midnight on Sunday the 22nd of April 2012.



Course Features

100% relevant material
Knowledgeable, experienced and friendly tutors
Structured approach to the Aptitude Test questions
Take-home practice questions
Courses in Athlone, Cork, Dublin and Galway

Course Benefits

Maximise performance for the Army/Navy Recruit competition
Be fully familiar with all the aptitude test question types
Have confidence knowing what types of questions will arise
By far the best quality as well as the best value on the market – €75.....

I'd say it will be handy for all of us applying.. have a look at least.

Wills21

SasQuatch88 wrote: »

Don't know if any of you guys have seen this, might be handy for the Psychometric testing..

http://careerservices.ie/army-recruits/preparation-course

This is what the page said:

Preparation Course

Important
This course is only for candidates who applied for the position of Army or Navy Recruit with the Irish Defence Forces through the website www.military.ie before midnight on Sunday the 22nd of April 2012.



Course Features

100% relevant material
Knowledgeable, experienced and friendly tutors
Structured approach to the Aptitude Test questions
Take-home practice questions
Courses in Athlone, Cork, Dublin and Galway

Course Benefits

Maximise performance for the Army/Navy Recruit competition
Be fully familiar with all the aptitude test question types
Have confidence knowing what types of questions will arise
By far the best quality as well as the best value on the market – €75.....

I'd say it will be handy for all of us applying.. have a look at least.

How hard is the Psychometric testing going to be??

SasQuatch88

Wills21 wrote: »

How hard is the Psychometric testing going to be??

Cant imagine that they will make it easy, i'd say they will want to weed out as many people as possible with it...

swimfast

Was talking to a friend who's inthe army he said it's not overally difficult it's the time limits that make it hard.. He said the interview stage is where they really get rid of loads of people

SasQuatch88

swimfast wrote: »

Was talking to a friend who's inthe army he said it's not overally difficult it's the time limits that make it hard.. He said the interview stage is where they really get rid of loads of people

I would actually well believe that as i'd say they would see through most of the ****e people would talk anyway..

swimfast

He said questionaire gets rid of 2% of candidates fitness test gets rid of 25-30% of candidates and psychometric about another 10-20%

BigDuffman

swimfast wrote: »

Was talking to a friend who's inthe army he said it's not overally difficult it's the time limits that make it hard.. He said the interview stage is where they really get rid of loads of people

Wouldn't agree with that. Of the 7500 only 100 are called to interview. From whay I've seen the majority are whittled down at the group phase. As only the strongest are taken from group. Only 3 people failed fitness (from what I saw) when I was there last year.

I don't know why they don't do the fitness test first! Would weed out the weeds and fatties.