Officer selection board

[Traceur]

I'm in Australia and i want to become a Weapons Electrical Egnineer Officer but before i can even get the enter score i would need i have to pass the officer selection board.

I need to know alot about training, pay, my motivation and what not but my question is, what can i say?

I was thinking of doing the whole serve my country, give something back, be part of a bigger picture blah blah blah but i've been told the officers see through that so any suggestions? stories? anything that can help me is appreciated.

[Kyoki]

Don't bother bullshitting. They're good at spotting it and they're quite aware that almost no one joins up to "serve their country". Work out a couple of reasons and how to defend them when they're questioned. On my board I gave a one sentence answer to that one.

Make sure you know EVERYTHING about the navy and the job you're applying for. Be ready to back up everything you say.

I had my board last year, though mine was army which is a bit different.

[Kyoki]

Forgot to ask, what stage of the recruitment process are you up to? If you've had your assessment day, just tell the board the same stuff. If you haven't, you'll need to work it out before then.

Unfortunately I can't tell you what to say etc (specifics about the boards are confidential), but if you know your navy and can speak confidently you should be ok. The best advice I can give is to relax and try to enjoy it.

[Traceur]

I've been to the YOU session and now I need to do the assesment day (i'm in yr 12 atm). Just one more question that is fairly vague so hopefully you can ansswer it without getting into trouble, I apparently need to know alot (I was given a checklist of things to study) so do they actually test you on ALL of it? Oh and how long did yours go for?

Sorry about all the questions but i want to be as prepared as possible.

[Kyoki]

They won't ask you about all of it, but they'll ask random tricky questions that make knowing all of it a good idea. I have to be somewhere in ten minutes so I'll add more later.

[Kyoki]

Your board will last pretty much all day. Your individual interview with the panel will be anything from five minutes to fifty, depending on what they've seen over the day and what they want to know about you.

Feel free to ask any questions you like. If I don't think I should answer one I'll just say so.

[Traceur]

I know what you mean by random tricky questions as I just got a call from the person in charge of my application and she asked me what the difference between management and leadership was. I knew the answer but off the top of my head...Anyway my assesment day is next thursday. 1 week from today for me.

The funny thing is that i can research most of the questions myself but the real problem is knowing what the questions will be.
I do have one question though, is it really important i know the Chief of the defence force, Chief of RAAF, Army and Navy?

P.S. Thanks for your help it's very appreciated.

[Kyoki]

If they tell you to learn it there's a chance they'll ask you about it. You will be grilled pretty hard by your "assessor" and the more info you know, the better the impression you make. It's not the only thing they're after, but it's the easiest to improve.