Garda Trainee 2016

General Stream Only

Stage 1

Familiarisation Material

This is an important document.

You are advised to set time aside to read it in advance of your test.

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your application for the Garda Trainee 2016.

The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is undertaking the selection process on behalf of the Garda Commissioner. The PAS is committed to the principles of good selection practice and these principles involve fair and impartial selection. Candidates will be required to take a number of tests and exercises which are designed to identify their potential to become a Garda Trainee. This selection process has been developed to assess the key skills and attributes necessary to perform effectively as a Garda Trainee.

The selection process comprises several stages. The first stage consists of an Assessment Questionnaire and Aptitude Tests. You will be required to take these tests on-lineand in an unsupervised environment, as outlined to you previously in the Garda TraineeNotes for Applicants.

This familiarisation materialis to help you to understand Stage 1 of the selection process. Work through this informationcarefully, as it will help you understand what you have to do and what you can expect during this part of the selection process.

Information on each subsequent stage of the selection process will be made available to the candidates who progress.

PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS SERVICE

January 2016

© Public Appointments Service, 2016

The reproduction of any part of this document by any process whatsoever is breaking copyright law.

© Public Appointments ServiceStage 1 Familiarisation Material

Garda Trainee 2016

Page 1

Overview
To facilitate candidates the initial selection stage will be conducted online. Therefore you will require a PC or laptop to complete the tests. In order for you to access the tests, a link will be sent to your publicjobs message board. Further details and instructions are set out in this booklet.

Stage 1 of the selection process will comprise the following questionnaire and aptitude tests:

a) Assessment Questionnaire, will take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

b) VerbalComprehensionand Abstract Reasoning test (16 minutes duration each).

Candidates will be ranked based onthe combined scores achieved on the Assessment Questionnaire and Aptitude Tests. They must qualify in each and those ranked highest will be invited to the next stage of the selection process in batches as required.

You are strongly advised to complete all your tests early in the testing window.

Please note that while candidates complete these assessments online in an unsupervised environment, those who qualify and are placed highest on the order of merit will be required to sit similar tests in a supervised environment at a later stage in the process. If a candidate’s performance at a supervised test is outside the expected scoring range from their unsupervised test, it will call into question the validity of their unsupervised test scores and they may be excluded from subsequent stages of the selection process.

Next Steps

  1. You will receive an e-mail to your publicjobs Messageboard by Thursday 21stJanuary 2016, containing the link to the Assessment Questionnaire only.(Part A)
  2. You will be able to complete the Assessment Questionnaire at any time between Thursday 21st January & 12 noon Wednesday 27thJanuary 2016. You are advised to set aside approximately 70 minutesto complete the questionnaire.(this also includes time for instructions). Once 12 noon on 27thJanuary 2016 has passed, you will not be able to commence the questionnaire. If you do not complete the questionnaire in the timeframe allocated, your application will be deemed withdrawn.
  1. All candidates who complete the Assessment Questionnaire in the timeframe allocated will receive another message to their publicjobs messageboard by Wednesday 10th February containing a link to the Aptitude tests (Part B).

You will be able to complete the Aptitude tests at any time between Wednesday 10thFebruary & 12 noon Tuesday 16thFebruary 2016. The tests should be completed in one sitting; therefore you are advised to set aside approximately 60 minutesto complete them(this also includes time for examples and instructions). Once 12 noon on 16thFebruary 2016 has passed, you will not be able to commence the Aptitude tests. If you do not complete the tests in the timeframe allocated, your application will be deemed withdrawn.

  1. As you have a limited amount of time in which to complete and submit your questionnaire and aptitude tests, you are strongly advised togive yourself sufficient time and not leave taking them to the final hours of their respective deadlines. No time extensions will be given.
  2. Resultsof Stage 1 tests (Part A and Part B) will be available by the end of February and will be sent to your Messageboard.

Getting ready to take your tests

  • You may take the tests in a venue of your choice wherever you have access to a computer and a reliable internet connection.
  • As the test will require your full concentration, please ensure that you take the test in a quiet environment where there are no distractions and where you will not be disturbed.
  • You are advised to take the tests on a PC or laptop and to use a mouse you are familiar with. Do not attempt to take the tests on a smart phone, mobile or tablet device.
  • Please be aware that taking these tests within a secure IT network e.g.such as your work or college network which may have firewalls or other security technology in place, may cause you technical difficulties. In such instances PAS (or any company or service provider operating on behalf of PAS) will not be liable.
  • While taking these tests you will be unsupervised. Youmust take the tests during the specific timeframe allocated to you. No alternative times will be granted.
  • During the testperiod,e-mail support facilities will be available to deal with any technical issues you may have in relation to the tests themselves.

PC/LaptopMinimum Specification Requirements

The following are the minimum requirements to successfully take the tests on a PC or laptop. Most computers will meet these requirements.

  • Operating System:
  • Windows 2000 or later
  • Apple Mac: MAC OS X
  • To take a test, we recommend a broadband internet connection with a download speed of at least 256kb/s. Users with dial up connections and broad band connections with a download speed less than 256kb/s may have difficulty rendering some items.
  • Supported Browsers:
  • Internet Explorer Version(s) 9+
  • Google Chrome 20+
  • Mozilla Firefox 19+
  • Safari 6.1+

The test delivery software requires pop-up windows to be enabled in your browser.

Assessment Questionnaire

Overview

In order to assess your potential suitability for the Garda Trainee role, the Assessment Questionnaire collects information on (a) your skills, interests and preferencesand (b) your responses to potential scenarios you may face in the role.

In part a) you will be given a series of statements. For some of these statements, you will be asked to indicate how well they describe you, for others you will be asked how important various characteristics are in terms of what you want from a job. The final element of part a) asks you to rate how good you are compared to others you have worked or studied with on a range of skills.

It is important that you answer each of the questions honestly and remember that we will look for evidence to support the answers you provide.

In part b) you will be given a number of scenarios similar to what you may encounter in the role of Garda Trainee.

A sample scenario and a number of possible actions are set out below:

It is Saturday afternoon and you are off-duty. You come upon an incident where two Gardaí are attempting to arrest a youth. The friends of the youth are attempting to prevent the arrest. You are in a hurry to catch a train which runs only once an hour and you are already running late for an appointment. You do not know the two Gardaí but can see that they are in trouble.

Rate each of the following actions in terms of their appropriateness:

  1. Ring the local Garda station and explain the situation.
  1. Identify yourself and assist them as much as you can.
  1. Keep the scene under observation until assistance arrives.
  1. Continue on your journey and call the local Garda station once you have got on the train.

Your task is to rate how appropriate eachaction is for the situation. For most real life situations, there is no completely perfect solution. What we seek is a solution that meets the needs of the situation well. The ratings that you will use are:

  • Excellent response - meets all of the needs of the situation very well
  • Good response - meets the needs of the situation well
  • Adequate response –is acceptable but may have some shortcomings or omissions
  • Weak response –falls below the acceptable level
  • Bad response –is incompetent and falls far below the acceptable level

Looking at the example given, you may feel that (A) is an 'Adequateresponse' but not a‘Good response’ and so give it a rating of 'Adequateresponse', that (B) is a good thing to do and so rate it as‘Good response’ and that (C) and(D) arebothvery poor responses to the situationand so rate them as 'Bad response'. (These are not necessarily the ‘correct’ answers, they are just illustrations.)
You should consider each option in isolation, and rate it as if it were the only one you would take. For example, it may be that in reality you would first do (a) and then, you might do (b). However, that is not an option here.

NB. Not all of the questions necessarily have a ‘good’ response as one of the options, or even a weak or bad response. You may score all of the responses to one scenario as ‘Good response’ and all the responses to another as ‘Bad response’ if that seems right to you. Judge each response on its own merits.

If you need help while completing the questionnaire there are 3 links on the left hand side of the screen which can be used at any time.

View Instructions

View FAQ’s

Email Support

Accessing the Assessment Questionnaire

The link to the on-line Assessment Questionnaire will be sent to your publicjobs message board by Thursday 21stJanuary 2016.

Once you open the link you should check that your name is printed in the top right hand corner.Then follow the instructions on the screen.

On the Welcome page you will be asked to confirm that you meet the conditions for entry and are eligible to participate in the recruitment process for the Garda Trainee. Should you wish to check the eligibility requirement you can copy and paste the following link into your browser bar and scroll down to the Garda Trainee campaign.

Click on the link to the information booklet to see the educational and other conditions for entry. If you meet the conditions for entry and are eligible to participate in the recruitment process, please click ‘Proceed’.

The Assessment Questionnaire should take you approximately 1 hour to complete. However, there is no time limit other than that you must complete and submit it within the specified test window. i.e.between 21st and 27th January.

It is essential that you complete all of the questions on this questionnaire. If you do not complete all questions on this Assessment Questionnaire you will not be invited to the next stage of the campaign and your application will receive no further consideration

Aptitude Tests

Overview

The aptitude tests will comprise a Verbal Comprehension andan Abstract Reasoning. The link to the on-line Aptitude Tests will be sent to your publicjobs message board by Wednesday 10th February 2016. Further details will be issued to candidates in due course.

You are advised to set aside approximately 60 minutes to take the tests. This includes reading the instructions and completing the practice questions. The real timed tests are 16 minutes for the Verbal Comprehension and 16 minutes for Abstract Reasoning. You should note that these are timed tests andthey will automatically finish after the allocated time has elapsed. It is recommended that you work quickly and accurately through the tests. However, it isexpected that not all candidates will finish all questions.

During the actual test, you must NOT:

  • Click the “back” button on your browser
  • Press the F5 on your keyboard
  • Refresh your browser page

If you do, your test will be invalidated, you will be unable to finish and your responses will not be saved.

‘Test –drive the tests’

Practice material for the Verbal Comprehension and an Abstract Reasoning tests arenow available online at:

We strongly recommend that you read the instructions very carefully, then complete the examples and the timed practice tests. This will help you to understand what you have to do before you undertake the real tests.

The practice tests are similar in structure and format to the real tests you will be invited to take, however the number of practice questions is less than the number of questions on the real test. The practice tests are designed to give you an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the type of questions you can expect to face in the real test.

There are eight questions (2 testlets of 4 questions) in the practice tests. These tests are timed; you will have 2 minutes to complete each testlet. You will be told at the end of the practice test the number of questions you answered correctly and incorrectly. At the end of each testlet you will be able to return to the examples you have just completed

You can access this material as often as you wish.

Verbal Comprehension test

This is designed to assess your ability to understand written information. You will be presented with a series of text passages, each followed by several questions. Your task is to choose the best answer to each question from the options given, based only on the information provided.

There is one, and only one, correct answer to each question. Click on the answer that you think is correct. When a response has been selected a black dot will appear in the centre of the button.

The total time limit for the actual test is 16 minutes. (excluding examples).

32 questions, 8 testlets with 4 questions in each.

When answering the questions within a testlet you may skip a question initially but this question must be answered within the timeframe to continue to the next testlet.

To help you manage your time, a timer is displayed in the top right of the screen. This will count down the time remaining for each testlet.

On the day of the actual test there will be one practice testlet. This testlet contains 3 questions.

When you start the actual assessment, if you answer all the questions in each testlet in the time allowed a ‘Finish’ button will appear. If you timeout you will automatically be presented with the next testlet.

When all testlets are finished you should be brought into the final screen below.

Abstract Reasoning

This test measures your ability to discover logical rules. You will be presented with a series of patterns, where one of the items in the pattern has been replaced with a ‘?’. Your task is to find the answer option that could best replace the ‘?’.

The total time limit for the actual test is 16 minutes. (excluding examples).

32 questions, 8 testlets with 4 questions in each.

To help you manage your time, a timer is displayed in the top right of the screen. This will count down the time remaining for each testlet.

On the day of the actual test there will be one practice testlet. This testlet contains 4 questions.

When you start the actual assessment, if you answer all the questions in each testlet in the time allowed a ‘Finish’ button will appear. If you timeout you will automatically be presented with the next testlet.

When all testlets are finished you should be brought into the final screen below.

Example

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Terms and Conditions
Your attention is drawn to this important information. By accessing or attempting any assessment / test materials you are agreeing to be bound by the terms set out below.
  1. All test and assessment materials are subject to copyright and all rights are reserved. No part of the tests/ assessment materials (including any text, questions and/or potential answer options) or associated materials (including practice and/ or familiarisation materials) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, printing, photographing, recording, written or otherwise, at any stage. To do so is an offence and may result in you being excluded from the selection process. Any person(s) who contravenes this provision, whether an applicant or other, or who assists another person(s) in contravening this provision, is liable to prosecution and/ or civil suit for loss of copyright and intellectual property.
  1. Your attention is drawn the Commission for Public Service Appointment’s Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions where the Garda Commissioner has Statutory Responsibilities. In particular please note Section 5 - Responsibility of Candidates (see below).
Canvassing
Candidates should note that canvassing will disqualify them and will result in their exclusion from the appointments process.
Candidates’ obligations
Candidates in the recruitment process must not:
  • Knowingly or recklessly provide false information
  • Canvass any person, with or without inducements
  • Interfere with or compromise the process in any way.
A third party must not personate a candidate at any stage of the process.
Penalties for failure to comply
Any person who contravenes the above provisions, or who assists another person in contravening the above provisions is guilty of an offence. A person who is found guilty of an offence is liable to a fine and/or imprisonment.
If a person found guilty of such an offence was or is a candidate in a recruitment process, then:
  • Where he/she has not been appointed to a post, he/she will be disqualified as a candidate
  • Where he/she has been appointed subsequent to the recruitment process in question, he/she shall forfeit that appointment.
  1. The admission of a person to the competition, or invitation to undertake any element of the selection process is not to be taken as implying that the Public Appointments Service or the Garda Commissioner is satisfied that such a person fulfils the essential requirements.

© Public Appointments ServiceStage 1 Familiarisation Material