ADF Assessment Day

On Monday this week I went through one of the more difficult stages of the ADF recruitment process…the Assessment Day.

The Assessment Day is something that all aspiring military personnel in Australia must go through, however it varies slightly depending on the role being applied for. For many, it is the second step in their recruitment process and comes right after the YOU Session, however for me it was the third step due to the requirement for specialist aircrew tests when applying for the role of pilot (see my previous articles about the recruitment process here). The day literally is a whole day, candidates arrive at 0800 and are told to expect to finish anywhere up up to 1700 with a lot of waiting around. The Assessment Day is statistically the second most likely point in the process at which a candidate will be rejected, in fact combining the totals for all steps in the process so far leaves roughly only 50% of the original candidates. Each year the ADF gets approximately 500 applicants for the role of pilot. Of those, 275 make it through the Assessment Day and on to flight screening. 

The day consists of 3 main components. Firstly, there is the psychological interview. For those people applying for an Officer role, including myself, the day starts with a short period to write. 15 minutes is allocated to each candidate to answer 3 questions about themselves in essay form. It is quite strenuous and the point of the exercise is to give the recruiters an idea of the candidates’ written communication skills and how they handle doing it under pressure. I wrote maybe 250 words in the 15 minutes, overall I was fairly happy with what I wrote. The candidates then move on to the main component of the psychological interview which involves sitting in a room across a desk from a contracted ADF psychologist. The psych runs through the answers given on the psychological assessment sheet, then through the medical questionnaire and also the applicant’s resume and and other supporting documentation, asking probing questions along the way. I for one did not really enjoy the psych interview; it was very invasive and aggressive, and it was quite obvious the psychologist was looking for inconsistencies and other ways of tripping me up. The interview lasted for 35-40 minutes after which I was told to sit down and wait for the next step. I discussed the results with other applicants waiting with me and was informed by another candidate that the fact that I was sitting back in the waiting room was a good sign, since he had personally failed the psych interview a few times and in that case you are sent packing almost immediately. This made me feel a little better.

Next up, I was expecting to do the medical component of the assessment, however I was called in to do the other part of the day, the Defence Interview, after about an hour and a half of waiting. The Defence Interview can be very tricky and requires a lot of preparation. As a candidate, you must know as much about the RAAF as possible, including current events, structure, what you want to do, what to expect in regards to training, pay, career progression, your own strengths and weaknesses, etc. Pretty much what you would expect from a job interview for a large corporation.  Luckily, I was interviewed by a very friendly member of the RAAF who helped make the interview very relaxed and informal. This helped calm my nerves and I was able to give answers that I were very happy with. At the end of the interview, he told me that he had heard all he needed, and that he was going to recommend me for the next stage, Flight Screening. I was quietly ecstatic. He elaborated that while I had shown good motivation in getting my CPL and aviation degree, I had few examples of leadership and teamwork that I could reference. He advised me to improve what I could in that area, and warned me that flight screening is very competitive and that there are guys there that live and breath aviation and who fly every day (whoop do doo I thought to myself, it’s not my fault I cant afford to fly around whenever I want). I was then told to go back to the front room to await my medical.

Finally for the day, I had the medical component. The medical is fairly basic, as you would expect from a check-up from a General Practitioner but with a more military focus. There were blood pressure checks, BMI, breathing, hearing etc. There were also some checks involving sitting height to see whether I would fit in the ejection seat of the training aircraft, some squatting and walking in underwear and some more…invasive…checks. Apparently two out of three candidates leave the Assessment Day with some issues that need clearing by external referrals, and unfortunately I was one of them. There was an easy one to do with my ears, but also a more difficult one involving some of the troubles I had a few years ago. In short, I need to get a letter from a psychologist saying that the medication I took some time back relating to emotional problems was a one time thing. Apparently the ADF doesn’t look too favourably on that kind of thing, and there is only a 50/50 chance that I will be deemed fit for service because of it. It seems very silly to me, and those around me, as I am a very capable and content individual. However, rules are rules.

Overall I was happy to get recommended for flight screening, as that truly is an achievement in itself. However I am a bit concerned about the outcome of the medical component of the day. For now, my future is out of my control and that is frustrating, but I know that even if I am deemed unfit for service for the ADF, I will still have a long and rewarding career as a pilot somewhere else. For now all I can do is do as they ask and focus on preparing for flight screening should I get to go.

Some of my notes for inspiration before Assessment Day.