Is this a good sign?

[rogue0809]

hi there, as u may know ive recently come back from OASC and after almost 3 weeks still havent heard anything. now i wouldnt mind if no one else had who i went with but now i find out 8 out of the 10 have found out all last week and myself and another guy (although he may of recieved something over the past couple of days) have heard diddly squat. therefore im gettin majorly nervous and apprehensive. only 1 person of the people who have found out has actually been accepted, but he had already been last year so would that mean his response would be quicker due to security checks already made etc. i suppose what im trying to ask is, if i havent heard anything, is it a good sign or is it all done by random? sorry for the long windedness of it all.
thanks
regards
rogue

[Biggles1211]

It's unlikely to mean anything. A combination of OASC processing times and Royal Mail. Does your surname begin with a 'Z' or something?

[rogue0809]

hey biggles, no it begins with F and i know that the others surnames are mixed too! oh well . its just that i heard a rumour that the longer you have to wait then the better news it may be. just hanging onto hope i suppose. feel it went well but the branches i chose are fiercely competitive. oh well thanks for the reply anyway biggles.
regards
rogue

[letsrole]

Sorry this may be me being a dumb ass but are you waiting for results to see if you have passed OASC? Or to see if you have a place at Cranwell? Don’t the blokes at OASC tell you if you have passed there and then?

[chrisburden21]

I could only imagine it being a good thing.

When I went through selection nearly all the people I was in contact with,after OASC, found out relatively quickly that they had not been accepted. It may well be that your scored competitively enough to be considered and thus forwarded into the pools!!

The pools (from the best of my knowledge), these are reviewed every couple of months to filter out the best/most competitive people in each branch. If you fail the first review, you get forwarded to the second, failing this to the third and failing that asked to reapply in 1 year, 18months etc.

I would imagine the next review is October, so don't be worried if you havent heard until the 2nd week in October.

Good Luck either way.

Chris

[rogue0809]

hi there, cheers chris for your input and good luck with IOT in Nov.
letsrole, you dont find out there and then by any means at OASC , you have to wait for a letter to tell u if u have been accepted or not and this usually takes no more than 3 weeks so ive been told by the staff at cranwell and my afco but you just never know. like i said only 2 of us are left to hear anything if we have been accepted or not and its creeping up to 3 weeks now. its a v tough thing to go thru mate, believe me.
rogue

[picklepot]

Hi Rogue - Have you heard yet? I read your diary on your experience at OASC - probably the most valuable book I’ve ever read. Thank you for sharing it. It sounds like you gave a superb performance.

All the time I was reading it, I was certain you’d passed. Why weren’t you sure? Skeletons in the closet? Relatives buried under the patio,maybe?

Then I realised….just 10 out of 18 passed the interview, and then 7 of those 10 'not accepted’'. Does that mean they’ve failed? I had no idea it was so competative. All I can say is, I Wish You All The Luck In The World! You know you’ve tried your hardest.

Well I’m off now to look up some interesting trades…

[rogue0809]

hey picklepot, really appreciate your comments about the article. i actually really enjoyed it and just hope more people like yourself find it helpful and interesting. glad i could be of service!
anyway, i recieved my letter from cranwell on friday and it wasnt the news i had been hoping for but it certainly isnt the worst kind of news. ive been put into competition so i have another wait on my hands, but im deffinately not holding my breath now. was quite gutted as i really thought i performed well and by the sounds of the debrief, so did the selection board in general (my exercise phase report was glowing!), but to the greater wisdom of the selection board president he knocked me down a score from a 3 to a 3- and was no way near as positive as the board and much more critical (my problem solving let me down a bit for some reason, although i thought i did ok) but he has been doing it for years and they are the one of the best if not the best in the world at doing this so i certainly cant argue with what he has wrote.
i just pray (and i bloody mean pray with all my might!) that im competitive enough to get in thru competition in october. that really would be a dream come true and make it all worth while. there is no doubt in my mind now that OASC is the hardest thing to do and be successful at in this day and age, but it is achieveable!
thanx for all your feedback on my article and all your support and help, it means a hell of alot to me.
ill let u know of the outcome of octobers competition.
wish me luck
regards
rogue

[rogue0809]

hey there, sorry but i might actually be wrong in what i said about the president marking me down a notch from a 3 to a 3-. underneath the presidents remarks, i have a 3 in a bracket and next to it in a larger bracket there is a dash ( - ), now im not sure if this is where my score of 17 (which the board gave me) was meant to go and maybe because the president has agreed with the boards score has left a dash thru it (got a feeling this is unlikely, just trying to grap any positive stuff i can lol) or it is it actually a minus sign, can anyone shed any light on this? should the 3 - be all in one bracket or the minus in a separate bracket?
also does anyone know anything about competition, what are the chances of getting thru, etc, any stories of people going thru this process?
thanx again
rogue

[Big Cheese]

Hi Rogue,

Am I right in that your score was 17 and overall a 3? Does it mention what your overall OASC performance was?

I know what you mean about the president's remarks. I think that's nothing unusual, I like you were commented on my weakness being problem solving, hence why I'm doing all I can to practice the group/individual planning exercises.

I also received a 17 though overall a 2 last year, however, after 3 weeks I was told I was unsuccessful.

From what I can see hardly anyone gets told immediately and virtually everyone I know to be successful has been in the sift like you.

Hope this helps

BC

[chrisburden21]

Not much to say really,

You are obviously competitive, you were placed in your first competition.

Try and imagine it as your application sitting in a pile somewhere, of your chosen trade, with the highest scoring applicant at the top filtering down to the lowest scorer at the bottom. The 2 monthly review comes about, there are only X-amount of places to fill, what do the selection board do? Take the first X-number of applicants starting from the top, simple!! Your chances of getting through are proportionally related with where you are placed in the pile, which unfortunately is out of your control now.

I was in exactly the same boat last year, I found out I was unsuccessful in the first competition, and forwarded to february's review, finally being accepted and placed on Novembers IOT, provisionally until final confirmation of security, fitness etc were all confirmed. It is a long process and mainy sleepless nights come with the territory, but think positively and your will get the reward.

Here are some links taken around the time I had just completed OASC.

Good Luck

http://www.mfat.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 90cdcd84bf
http://www.mfat.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 90cdcd84bf

[rogue0809]

well thanx big cheese & chris, apprecite your postings. i was graded as acceptable as officer overall. glad competition is not so uncommon. seems the scores have changed also, as the guy who got thru scored a 3+ and scored 19. he was accepted for his 1st choice and is going to the feb iot. i certainly envy the position he is in.
like i was saying, it seems that the scoring has changed a bit because if u scored 17 and it was a 2 and i scored 17 and was a 3 then there is def some sort of change (bigcheese)
also bigcheese are u trying to get in the raf now then? if so do u have any dates yet?
anyway i appreciate your replies and certainly would welcome anymore info, as i take alot of comfort from it all as im a nervous wreck at the mo! lol
cheers all
regards
rogue.

[Big Cheese]

I'm waiting to get on a P1 presentation again, with a view of getting to OASC by March/April hopefully.

I guess it relates to competition. Mine also said 'acceptable'.

When I was there the white paper was looming and we received a brief stating that competition was fierce due to not knowing their projected manning levels and a general reluctance to recruit.

I was going for Regt, had some really good feedback from my PROAC but these things happen I guess!

I'm going to get myself onto a few station visits, iron out my fcuk ups, which were problem solving, and the bleep test. I only attained 10.3 (which is $hite - everyone should be able to get full marks on this!)

The great thing about having been there and getting my report is that I know have a much better idea about what to concentrate on compared to before. My first time round I invested so much effort into my interview that part 2 wasn't as rosy as I thought it might be.

Either way, perserverence (sp?) is the key. I know many say this but anyone who knows me knows how I feel about a career in the RAF, and having read through your posts you appear to have that same thirst!

Good luck buddy and keep us posted as to how it goes.

ANy questions you might have fire away!

[GemmaLS]

Hello Everyone, I'm a newbie on this site - just wanted to comment on how great everyone seems to be at helping each other out!

Rogue, Hope you get the answer you're looking for from Cranwell.

I'got a letter a while ago telling me I'm in the October competition (I did OASC back in May). Is that the one you're in?

[Alex Himself]

welcome