Garda Recruitment - Stage 1a(2) - The Aptitude Test Results thread

Archer3083

Scouser wrote: »

they wouldnt assign marks? then how would you pass or fail?


im glad you answered honestly - I have no idea why you wouldnt



you said you didnt think it was important. Im aghast as to why anyone would think that. but anyway....moving on

They did determine what the pass/fail mark was. Pass/fail, means you either pass or fail like exams in college for certain subjects. In other words, all that matters is you pass or you fail. You're not ranked based on your results. I can understand them ranking us on aptitude tests. I've never had any experience of being a guard, and I more than passed the questionnaire. So, why did some reserves fail the questionnaire section. I'm sure they tried their best. You'd think that all reserves would get high marks, much higher than those that have no experience of the guards.

I'm going to repeat this cos it doesn't seem to be getting through. I didn't think the questionnaire was important in terms of marks. Obviously I took it seriously when I was completing it. I passed it afterall, and got nearly 6,000, so well above the passing mark, which means they must think I'm suitable to be a guard. It's the marks I was talking about. I'm also on record as saying I don't think that the aptitude tests are that fair in general. I think there are people in Band 2 and Band 3 who would make great guards but maybe their nerves got the better of them on the day of their tests etc.

Scouser

Archer3083 wrote: »

They did determine what the pass/fail mark was. Pass/fail, means you either pass or fail like exams in college for certain subjects. In other words, all that matters is you pass or you fail. You're not ranked based on your results. I can understand them ranking us on aptitude tests. I've never had any experience of being a guard, and I more than passed the questionnaire. So, why did some reserves fail the questionnaire section. I'm sure they tried their best. You'd think that all reserves would get high marks, much higher than those that have no experience of the guards.

I'm going to repeat this cos it doesn't seem to be getting through. I didn't think the questionnaire was important in terms of marks. Obviously I took it seriously when I was completing it. I passed it afterall, and got nearly 6,000, so well above the passing mark, which means they must think I'm suitable to be a guard. It's the marks I was talking about. I'm also on record as saying I don't think that the aptitude tests are that fair in general. I think there are people in Band 2 and Band 3 who would make great guards but maybe their nerves got the better of them on the day of their tests etc.

thanks for that

no idea why you brought reserves in, but sure why not

earlier you said you didnt think it was important and that you didnt take it seriously. now your saying you didnt think the marks were important but you did take it seriously. but anyway

ill draw the line here

best of luck in stage 2!

OscarWhiskey

Id agree with Archer here to a huge degree. I was much more focused on the verbal and abstract tests more so on the personality test. Id even go as far as saying I took the personality test as a 'warm-up' to the two 'real' tests that day. Lucky for me Im a reserve which helped me to get a decent mark in it, had I been told before hand about the importance of it I'd have probably gone with more politically correct answers...

WilcoOut

Stage 1 assessment was given in 3 formats

Why you would percieve two to be more important than one is a bit naive

thestar

WilcoOut wrote: »

Stage 1 assessment was given in 3 formats

Why you would percieve two to be more important than one is a bit naive

get over it, how many times does the lad have to say it? he doesn't have to explain himself to anybody

Xios

OscarWhiskey wrote: »

had I been told before hand about the importance of it I'd have probably gone with more politically correct answers...

I'm under the impression that any step in the recruitment process is of significant importance. And i'm fairly certain you were told this in the emails and before each test.

Scouser

Xios wrote: »

I'm under the impression that any step in the recruitment process is of significant importance. And i'm fairly certain you were told this in the emails and before each test.

thats exactly the impression I was under

for any recruitment process, for any job, anywhere in the world!

WilcoOut

Xios wrote: »

I'm under the impression that any step in the recruitment process is of significant importance. And i'm fairly certain you were told this in the emails and before each test.

Spot on my good man

Zadie10

I was under the impression that this thread was for posting our results and queries about stage 2, not for bickering and nitpicking!!!

buckinit

I myself was under the impression that the personality questionnaire was not used toward your test results, however, would be used to gain an insight as to what sort of a person you were. Many others of whom I have discussed the test with taught so too. This doesn't necessarily mean they put any gibberish down to get over it, they (and myself) took it as seriously as the verbal and abstract reasoning.

redout

Personality questionnaires are used in lots of fields for screening purposes. A lot of employers are usually looking for a specific personality type and if you don't fit it then tough ****e sadly.

LadyLucinda

Hi everybody, I'v been keeping an eye on this since I first applied so said I'd set up an account. Since there are only 20% of the amount of tests to correct this time I'm hoping that the results are gonna be out a lot quicker than Mid March?

KERSPLAT!

LadyLucinda wrote: »

Hi everybody, I'v been keeping an eye on this since I first applied so said I'd set up an account. Since there are only 20% of the amount of tests to correct this time I'm hoping that the results are gonna be out a lot quicker than Mid March?

Fluent Irish speakers are doing Stage 2 from noon today till noon Friday. I'd expect the results sometime after the 10th March. That's just a guess though

LadyLucinda

all 11 of them?

OscarWhiskey

I wonder what way they will filter out the lads with Irish? Will they be put into their own pool, all Irish speakers in a separate pool and then drip fed into stage 3 with the hope that a certain amount will pass that stage?

Will the Irish speakers that are in band 1 only have other Irish speakers as competition?

Chem Lord

OscarWhiskey wrote: »

I wonder what way they will filter out the lads with Irish? Will they be put into their own pool, all Irish speakers in a separate pool and then drip fed into stage 3 with the hope that a certain amount will pass that stage?

Will the Irish speakers that are in band 1 only have other Irish speakers as competition?

That's what I was wondering. There must be a certain quota of fluent irish speakers they have to have, so I'd say at this stage, they have their own competition for places.

Archer3083

Chem Lord wrote: »

That's what I was wondering. There must be a certain quota of fluent irish speakers they have to have, so I'd say at this stage, they have their own competition for places.

I suppose I can help out a little with this point. I selected "fluency in Irish", and I'm in Band 1. I got the same email that all Irish speakers got, saying to reply if you were still interested in continuing with the "fluency in Irish" module. We all got the standard generic reply afterwards saying keep an eye on your message board for further developments. Then Band 2 Irish speakers were invited to do the Stage 2 aptitude tests. As I was already in Band 1, I sat the aptitude tests with the rest of Band 1 members. My guess is that there must be a quota. I think that obviously PAS felt they didn't have a big enough Irish speaking pool after Stage 1 and they felt they needed to allow more Irish speakers into the process. I'm also guessing Irish speakers may have 2 bites of the cherry so to speak in certain situations.

LadyLucinda

Archer3083 wrote: »

I suppose I can help out a little with this point. I selected "fluency in Irish", and I'm in Band 1. I got the same email that all Irish speakers got, saying to reply if you were still interested in continuing with the "fluency in Irish" module. We all got the standard generic reply afterwards saying keep an eye on your message board for further developments. Then Band 2 Irish speakers were invited to do the Stage 2 aptitude tests. As I was already in Band 1, I sat the aptitude tests with the rest of Band 1 members. My guess is that there must be a quota. I think that obviously PAS felt they didn't have a big enough Irish speaking pool after Stage 1 and they felt they needed to allow more Irish speakers into the process. I'm also guessing Irish speakers may have 2 bites of the cherry so to speak in certain situations.

You do realize that you will have to do your interview through Irish?

Archer3083

LadyLucinda wrote: »

You do realize that you will have to do your interview through Irish?

It wouldn't matter anyway. But I doubt that will be the case. I assume it will be an Irish written and oral exam. And then you will have a separate entrance exam through English.

LadyLucinda

Your interview is definitely through Irish and I'm 100% on that, doesn't sound like that will be a problem to you however. You would be kinda sickened though if you were stationed in one of the most rural and Irish speaking areas in the country just because your fluent in Irish.

Archer3083

LadyLucinda wrote: »

Your interview is definitely through Irish and I'm 100% on that, doesn't sound like that will be a problem to you however. You would be kinda sickened though if you were stationed in one of the most rural and Irish speaking areas in the country just because your fluent in Irish.

Are you sure it's the interview, and not just a language test. The reason I ask is that that's what I've gone through before in similar circumstances. Sure, there would have to vacancies in Gaeltacht areas, and I would imagine that alot of the 300 that will be trained first will be sent to urban centres for the first few years, maybe Dublin, Limerick, Cork. It's just a guess.

LadyLucinda

Ring PAS and they will tell you..

Archer3083

LadyLucinda wrote: »

Ring PAS and they will tell you..

It won't make any difference to me. So, are you going down that route too?

LadyLucinda

No the only reason I know is that my friend ticked that box even though he has very little Irish..(don't ask me why)

LadyLucinda

Postman went early with my last message, He rang PAS asking the what the story was and they told him that his interview was through Irish, he wasn't long reverting back to the queens godforsaken language

Archer3083

LadyLucinda wrote: »

No the only reason I know is that my friend ticked that box even though he has very little Irish..(don't ask me why)

I'd say he's got a month or 2 to brush up on his Irish. I'm a native speaker, and for the most part, you don't always get native speakers, or even very good Irish speakers interviewing you in these situations. So, your friend's Irish wouldn't have to be perfect, but it would have to be quite good. My advice, talk to Irish speakers, read Irish books and newspapers, listen to RnaG, and watch TG4. I don't know how much it would help at this stage to get groins, but definitely tell your friend to do all the rest, time permitting of course.

Archer3083

Archer3083 wrote: »

I'd say he's got a month or 2 to brush up on his Irish. I'm a native speaker, and for the most part, you don't always get native speakers, or even very good Irish speakers interviewing you in these situations. So, your friend's Irish wouldn't have to be perfect, but it would have to be quite good. My advice, talk to Irish speakers, read Irish books and newspapers, listen to RnaG, and watch TG4. I don't know how much it would help at this stage to get groins, but definitely tell your friend to do all the rest, time permitting of course.

No problem, you can disregard my last message so, but it's good advice for other people I suppose.

D Trent

LadyLucinda wrote: »

No the only reason I know is that my friend ticked that box even though he has very little Irish..(don't ask me why)

Which band did he end up in?

druidsland

awkward situation with Irish speakers as, i believe, there is more people that speak polish in Dublin alone, than Irish in whole Ireland

Archer3083

druidsland wrote: »

awkward situation with Irish speakers as, i believe, there is more people that speak polish in Dublin alone, than Irish in whole Ireland

what makes you say that?

Archer3083

druidsland wrote: »

there is difference between ability to understand few words and ability to actually speak it.

I still don't understand what point you're trying to make

druidsland

then why not to have a stream of any other language as there are few definitely to be worried about

Archer3083

druidsland wrote: »

then why not to have a stream of any other language as there are few definitely to be worried about

Honestly. I'm finding it difficult to understand what point you're trying to make. You can have a stream in another language as long as you provide translations in English. As far as I know that's the rule with Boards.ie. And there is a stream for the "Sraith Gaeilge". And if you want, I'm sure you can set up a stream in Polish as long as you provide translations in English, but best to check first with the moderators of Boards.

druidsland

get a sleep then. i am not about boards, i am about a future of AGS to be more precise its about ability to interference with other (foreign) communities that ties now are very weak. its not all about get drunks out of the local pub

D Trent

druidsland wrote: »

get a sleep then. i am not about boards, i am about a future of AGS to be more precise its about ability to interference with other (foreign) communities that ties now are very weak. its not all about get drunks out of the local pub

Hi druidsland can I ask what community are you a part of? Is it the polish community. I understand to an extent your point of having various streams in the college

druidsland

thank you D, i am just telling that pools of other languages must be done as well, not suggesting other languages should be brought to Templemore. yes, i am foreigner and English is my second language. no i am not Pole, but i can speak little bit Polish as well as 2 other languages. and correct me if i am wrong but 99% Irish speakers speak English as well, so after few extra planes landed there can be more Spanish tourists in this country with no English than actual Irish speakers with no English. and it will definitely not help much in overall crime prevention and solving as i believe crime rate in that community is near to total zero, of course that close to zero has to be tackled, but some real priorities has to be made.

WilcoOut

druidsland wrote: »

awkward situation with Irish speakers as, i believe, there is more people that speak polish in Dublin alone, than Irish in whole Ireland

Your right!!


Iv never had to use Gaeilge on duty - but polish and chinese mandarin would have been fierce handy dozens of times.


but fair play to the gaelgors

mycro89

Are we guessing when stage 2 results will be out ??

ann.lewis

Yea..
its a week today at noon that was the cut off to do the tests so I was thinking maybe during the week.. Wednesday coming ?

Just a guess/hope

stargazer9

druidsland wrote: »

then why not to have a stream of any other language as there are few definitely to be worried about

I would not be happy if people who speak foreign languages were given an advantage over others.
Irish speakers are needed as it is an official language in this country, and people have a right to deal with any government body in Irish, if they want to.
I don't think priority should be given to Polish, or any other foreign language. There are translators available for that.

Xios

stargazer9 wrote: »

I don't think priority should be given to Polish, or any other foreign language. There are translators available for that.

Translators won't be there when you're sorting out a family feud and everyone is shouting in chinese. I'd honest prefer to have a garda who can speak a foreign language for this reason.

Now i get why they want to have Irish speaking gardaí, it's a national pride thing and I wouldn't like to see it go away. But in practical terms, we don't need that many Irish speaking Gardaí.

stargazer9

Xios wrote: »

Translators won't be there when you're sorting out a family feud and everyone is shouting in chinese. I'd honest prefer to have a garda who can speak a foreign language for this reason.

Now i get why they want to have Irish speaking gardaí, it's a national pride thing and I wouldn't like to see it go away. But in practical terms, we don't need that many Irish speaking Gardaí.

I see your point, but there is a legal requirement to deal with people in the official languages of this country; English and Irish. AGS is legally obliged to provide this.
Other languages definitely are practical for Guards in their day to day work, but not legally required.
I suppose it's linked to the debate about whether immigrants to this country should be required to learn English and/or Irish. There's not a lot we can do about EU immigrants but for those coming from outside the EU, I think there should definitely be an obligation to learn English/Irish. It would make life easier for everyone, from Gardaí to teachers to sales assistants and everyone in between.

El_Triboy

Xios wrote: »

Translators won't be there when you're sorting out a family feud and everyone is shouting in chinese. I'd honest prefer to have a garda who can speak a foreign language for this reason.

Now i get why they want to have Irish speaking gardaí, it's a national pride thing and I wouldn't like to see it go away. But in practical terms, we don't need that many Irish speaking Gardaí.

I do agree that its no harm if Gardaí can speak more than one lanugage but its not a 'national pride thing'. Go down to Carraroe or Gaoth Dobhair on a Saturday night and see what the people speak, they speak Irish as a community language. Many of them especially from the 20 year old age group and up are not as comfortable speaking in English as they are in Irish.

People need to step back and realise there is a difference between people in English speaking areas who learned Irish as a second language and people who grew up in Irish speaking communities and learned it as their first language. The intake is 10% Irish speakers, they probably will struggle to get people with the required fluency to deal with Gaeltacht communities. It doesn't cost anything more to recruit Irish speaking gardaí, and to maintain whats left of our national heritage and for the sake of maybe the 30 - 40 Gardaí that are required to police the Gaeltacht, its not that much in a force of several thousand.

Neddieog

El_Triboy wrote: »

I do agree that its no harm if Gardaí can speak more than one lanugage but its not a 'national pride thing'. Go down to Carraroe or Gaoth Dobhair on a Saturday night and see what the people speak, they speak Irish as a community language. Many of them especially from the 20 year old age group and up are not as comfortable speaking in English as they are in Irish.

People need to step back and realise there is a difference between people in English speaking areas who learned Irish as a second language and people who grew up in Irish speaking communities and learned it as their first language. The intake is 10% Irish speakers, they probably will struggle to get people with the required fluency to deal with Gaeltacht communities. It doesn't cost anything more to recruit Irish speaking gardaí, and to maintain whats left of our national heritage and for the sake of maybe the 30 - 40 Gardaí that are required to police the Gaeltacht, its not that much in a force of several thousand.

El_triboy, I have to say your post is spot on. I hail from the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht and you're right, Irish is my first Language, and indeed I am more comfortable speaking Irish than English. On a Saturday night, it is in fact Irish you hear in the pubs and clubs. To say I am quite proud of those facts would be an understatement. As was discussed on the Irish Stream forum last night, I recently spoke to a native Irish speaker and a retired member of the force and he said that it is actually 6% they are seeking. Furthermore, there was recent controversy regarding my local barracks that there were no Irish Speaking Gardaí stationed there, therefore they got replaced. Two Gardaí who were born and raised in this parish are now serving in their local station. Mind-boggling!

pugsnotdrugs13

Guys I'm terrified I won't get in. I got place 4191 in stage one and I'm worried that my place from the stage 2 exam won't be enough. I don't think it's fair people who submitted late got accepted, this is a competition, I took a day off work to do the exam on the Tuesday. I'm taking this sooo seriously. Anyone else in the same boat?

ShodenMcClane

You probably won't get in. Most of us won't, the numbers are against us. I'd move on with your life and if you get any further treat it as a bonus. Live your life.

WilcoOut

pugsnotdrugs13 wrote: »

Guys I'm terrified I won't get in. I got place 4191 in stage one and I'm worried that my place from the stage 2 exam won't be enough. I don't think it's fair people who submitted late got accepted, this is a competition, I took a day off work to do the exam on the Tuesday. I'm taking this sooo seriously. Anyone else in the same boat?

Plenty of people currently feeling hard done by and many more will come results next week

just pray that your in the group that marches on. Thats what im doing

billie1b

Neddieog wrote: »

El_triboy, I have to say your post is spot on. I hail from the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht and you're right, Irish is my first Language, and indeed I am more comfortable speaking Irish than English. On a Saturday night, it is in fact Irish you hear in the pubs and clubs. To say I am quite proud of those facts would be an understatement. As was discussed on the Irish Stream forum last night, I recently spoke to a native Irish speaker and a retired member of the force and he said that it is actually 6% they are seeking. Furthermore, there was recent controversy regarding my local barracks that there were no Irish Speaking Gardaí stationed there, therefore they got replaced. Two Gardaí who were born and raised in this parish are now serving in their local station. Mind-boggling!

A bit off-topic but id love to visit a Gaeltacht area and sit and have a pint while people around me speaking as Gaeilge, My wife is Polish and I love sitting have a beer listening to the language, it intrigues me. I honestly love languages

OscarWhiskey

Ya there'll be alot of heartbreak next week/week after. I'm being told by everyone I come in contact with, both guards (especially) and friends, that I'm mad to go into the guards. I get the whole 'its not the job it used to be' and 'morale and conditions are bad'...

From where I'm standing I can see that there's a lot of guards that want out, but are tied by mortgage's etc. I question my ambition to be a guard regularly and am wondering am I arrogantly not taking the advice being given to me.

The hardest stage of this recruitment process for me will be the penultimate decision to quit one job for another, should I be lucky enough to get that far...

pugsnotdrugs13

WilcoOut wrote: »

Plenty of people currently feeling hard done by and many more will come results next week

just pray that your in the group that marches on. Thats what im doing

Are they out next week? This things my only hope at the moment as it looks like my current employment company isn't surviving well. Jobs are impossible to find.