Minimum attendance period?

[Maverick00]

Just got a letter from AIB confirming my POC result and they said that if I wish to attend another POC in the future I should contact my liason officer and then the AIB can arrange another POC place for me "once the minimum attendance period has expired." Any clues on what that means anyone? My guess is they mean the interview with the ACLO but im not sure. Can anyone enlighten me?

[scottishmatt]

Maverick00, unless you were told otherwise at the POC the standard period is one year. I went last year and got pulled off because of an injury, heading back down for my second attempt in May. Good news is that you won't have to do all the paperwork again. All you need to do is write a letter to the AIB before the end of December stating that you wish to continue with your application and go to POC again. They then send you your date which will be just over one year from your first attempt.
Best thing to do is arrange to see your ACLO in November, that way they still know you are interested.

[Maverick00]

Cheers Matt, much appreciated. I was told to come back whenever I was ready but will leave it until next year. Must say its a relief that I haven't got to go through all the paperwork again. Do you still have to do a medical though?
Ill contact the ACLO asap to get my name back in the hat so to speak.

[scottishmatt]

Your medical is only valid for 9 months, this has to cover your AIB as well so you will probably have to attend another one, I had mine on Monday. If you want to try for entry in September 2005 you need to contact AIB and have your application reactivated before 31st December 2004.

[Maverick00]

I've just been checking some old posts - somebody said poc's are held throughout the year. Seeing as the Captain that interviewed me said I could come back whenever I felt ready is it possible that I dont have to wait as long as next feb? Or am i misinformed?

[scottishmatt]

If the Captain that interviewed you said that then you can go back whenever. You might even be able to get a second POC by the end of May, if so you would still be able to go for September 2004 intake. You need to make sure you give yourself enough time though. Also I see that saffer has been given a POC date of 17th May so it looks like they could already be all booked up. Give your ACLO a call asap is the best bet and find out from him, or talk to the people at AIB, they have been very helpful to me and they should be able to tell you when there are vacancies on a course.

[Maverick00]

Cheers matt you've been loads of help. I dont think ill be fit enough by then - or at least as fit as i'd like to be by then. Also I think it would be an error to rush into it. Id like to leave it later than may, but im not sure if they run poc's during/late summer for the 05 YO batch. Ill have to give my ACLO or AIB a call and see what they say.

[scottishmatt]

POC's run about once a week from November to May then slow down a bit to once a fortnight maybe having a break during the summer, i think. I'm sure you can do POC's for Sep 05 entry from July/August 2004 onwards.

I'm just starting to kick my training into overdrive as my POC is 14 weeks on Monday.

Out of interest what were the subjects given to you for the discussion exercise? And, what subjects were people going to give as their mini lecture?

[Maverick00]

I wrapped before discussion topic so i couldnt help you there. From what I know from guys that have done it before it can literally be anything. I would say hutton report/wmd claim would be likely, as would gun crime and israel/palestine. To be honest these are just guesses. Just do as much reading around as you can so youre informed on most topics. Putting the hours in on this part of selection can create a very good impression. Depth of knowledge will help you write a good essay though.

Subjects for lectures varied widely - triathlon, cow-milking, sports nutrition, weight training and snake venom for example. Content doesnt really matter as long as its well prepared and carried out confidently and clearly. May i suggest using some kind of props or visual aids, i didnt think many candidates would do this but nearly all of them had some kind of visual aid or prop preapred.

On both of those areas its more about communication skills than the topics in question. When you meet your candidates I suggest you agree to help each other out on the discussion exercise by being co-operative and allowing others to speak rather than all trying to "beat" one another. At the end of the day you're all trying to reach a standard, it's not a competition.

Hope this helps. Any other q's let me know. Butch, Kwew and a few others should be back by now so they may be able to provide you with more info.