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NCA Trainee Investigator/Intelligence 2019

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Reply 60
Avatar for mrtom616
mrtom616
OP
7
I was just shy of 1200 words, I thought they'd given us this word count for a reason so should probably use it, but as I was always told in school, its quality not quantity.
How many interviews do you think they will offer?
Reply 62
Avatar for mrtom616
mrtom616
OP
7
The advert said 200 positions overall and there's 20 locations, so my guess would be somewhere between 100-200 per location? I went for the hmrc criminal investigator role earlier this year and I think for the location I went for there were about 100 interviews.
Reply 63
Avatar for LeeG33
LeeG33
8
I'd be interested in this too! Honestly mine doesnt read like a personal statement because when I was researching how to write one it just didnt seem like I could fit it around the 3 questions given. I used the first question to answer like a personal statement and then about the qualities I basically gave a list and a reason as to why I thought it was needed and then how I applied it in my current role.
There were quite a few qualities I put down 😂
And I dont mind sharing this info now because I'll be very surprised if I get to the next stage.
Reply 64
Avatar for mrtom616
mrtom616
OP
7
Original post by LeeG33
I'd be interested in this too! Honestly mine doesnt read like a personal statement because when I was researching how to write one it just didnt seem like I could fit it around the 3 questions given. I used the first question to answer like a personal statement and then about the qualities I basically gave a list and a reason as to why I thought it was needed and then how I applied it in my current role.
There were quite a few qualities I put down 😂
And I dont mind sharing this info now because I'll be very surprised if I get to the next stage.

Yeah of course, just send me a message or some sort of comment to remind me later on down the line.
Reply 65
Avatar for Lozza!
Lozza!
2
Hi guys! I applied for both in the north west I’m lucky enough! I’m worried about the % percentile for the tests as I don’t know what the pass mark will be:frown: does anyone know? Good luck anyway!
Reply 66
Avatar for Ajguhhg
Ajguhhg
1
Assuming there will be 10-20 trainees per location?
Reply 67
Avatar for mrtom616
mrtom616
OP
7
I don't think we'll know until they start officially weedling people out. My guess though would be anyone above high 50's would be safe, though they might interview everyone who got the minimum, plus the personal statement counts for something, so someone with a low score but a stellar statement might still get an interview whereas the reverse won't. What we have to remember is they've set the parameters so we just have to sit on our hands and wait it out unfortunately.
I just noticed this thread after posting on the old one (the one from previous year). Let me repost here what i posted on the other one/old one below:

Hi All,

I have been reading a lot. Entire 24 pages....From what i can understand there is change in process and the entire application looks much more streamlined to what you guys are describing here from the past (last year). Someone said they ditched that CAPITA company (hopefully its a good thing).

I just applied for this opening that happened this year (just closed on 15th with online test CSJT). I am a bit worried as i passed with 62%. When i done preparations to this i passed with over 75%..a bit gutted i passed with lower mark on actual test.Hopefully this enough. I wrote 1100 words on my personal statement and covered almost all i wanted to say. Also speak second lang.

Lets wait and see and hopefully my personal statement was enough mixed with 62%....

To whoever else applied during this year run keep here everyone posted would be good to see everyone progress and also how its different from older years.. :>

Cheers
Original post by mrtom616
I don't think we'll know until they start officially weedling people out. My guess though would be anyone above high 50's would be safe, though they might interview everyone who got the minimum, plus the personal statement counts for something, so someone with a low score but a stellar statement might still get an interview whereas the reverse won't. What we have to remember is they've set the parameters so we just have to sit on our hands and wait it out unfortunately.

My assumption from reading through the candidate pack is that they firstly longlist all the applications based on their SJT scores and generate a list of those who have passed which we find out around 1st September (meaning our personal statements won't even be looked at unless we pass the SJT stage). The candidates who were successful at that stage then have their full application sifted by a panel and if successful get shortlisted and invited to an interview and assessment, which we find out around 9th September.
Original post by Weeping_angels
Thanks. Was panicking that I’d done something terribly wrong in the tests to be put on hold. Never applied for the civil service before so not entirely sure how the process works.

Yeah mine says on hold too. Don't worry. I think they will begin long listing around 1st sept. :>
Reply 71
Avatar for y4r4
y4r4
5
As 5000 people have apparently had a score high enough to pass the SJT phase (benchmark is 40%, right?), I am pretty sure they'll up the passing score quite a bit, at least for regions with a lot of candidates. I'm kind of worried about how high they'll push it ... I read somewhere (can't recall where though) that for the Civil Service Fast Stream (which has a lot of more applicants but still) they typically expect a score of 85 or above which seems pretty high to me and definitely would put me out of the running :/
I don’t think they will put it up that high, maybe 60-70?
They still need a larger enough pool of people to interview, if they put it up to 85 they would have to offer jobs to the majority of people they Interview- plus to double the initial pass mark from 40 to 80 would be very drastic
Reply 73
Avatar for y4r4
y4r4
5
Original post by 123uniof123
I don’t think they will put it up that high, maybe 60-70?
They still need a larger enough pool of people to interview, if they put it up to 85 they would have to offer jobs to the majority of people they Interview- plus to double the initial pass mark from 40 to 80 would be very drastic

That's true, these are pretty good points. Thanks for cheering me up a bit haha
Original post by y4r4
As 5000 people have apparently had a score high enough to pass the SJT phase (benchmark is 40%, right?), I am pretty sure they'll up the passing score quite a bit, at least for regions with a lot of candidates. I'm kind of worried about how high they'll push it ... I read somewhere (can't recall where though) that for the Civil Service Fast Stream (which has a lot of more applicants but still) they typically expect a score of 85 or above which seems pretty high to me and definitely would put me out of the running :/

Fast Stream uses a different set of tests and they practically half their numbers of candidates per stage.so I doubt their % is that high - I've applied and gotten the latter stages a couple of times and my CSJT scores vary from 70s to 90s depending when I do them etc.

If there's 250 jobs I imagine they'll cull numbers to around 750 -1,000 for the final stage so there's 3 or 4 people per job. Unlikely they'll cull it per location either, it'll be a blanket reduction by an increase in the pass mark percentage required,
Reply 75
Avatar for y4r4
y4r4
5
Original post by EngineeringOr
Fast Stream uses a different set of tests and they practically half their numbers of candidates per stage.so I doubt their % is that high - I've applied and gotten the latter stages a couple of times and my CSJT scores vary from 70s to 90s depending when I do them etc.

If there's 250 jobs I imagine they'll cull numbers to around 750 -1,000 for the final stage so there's 3 or 4 people per job. Unlikely they'll cull it per location either, it'll be a blanket reduction by an increase in the pass mark percentage required,

Ah, great, thank you for explaining a bit more! That's certainly (slightly) encouraging to read.

A question though - the Candidate Pack states that "the benchmark for passing the shortlist sift may vary per location as we may have more roles in one location than the other". Doesn't that confirm that the benchmark for areas with more applicants will be higher/more people will be culled, at least in the shortlisting stage (not that I expect to reach it lol)?
Original post by y4r4
As 5000 people have apparently had a score high enough to pass the SJT phase (benchmark is 40%, right?), I am pretty sure they'll up the passing score quite a bit, at least for regions with a lot of candidates. I'm kind of worried about how high they'll push it ... I read somewhere (can't recall where though) that for the Civil Service Fast Stream (which has a lot of more applicants but still) they typically expect a score of 85 or above which seems pretty high to me and definitely would put me out of the running :/


From what I understood - 5000 people took test. She didnt say 5000 passed it. There will be vast amount of people who didnt make the mark then you possibly looking at upping the level a little to weed out some of us....
Reply 77
Avatar for y4r4
y4r4
5
Original post by panther_ops
From what I understood - 5000 people took test. She didnt say 5000 passed it. There will be vast amount of people who didnt make the mark then you possibly looking at upping the level a little to weed out some of us....

Ohhh, I took "through the first test" as having passed it. But yeah, you could be right, it could just be referring to people who took the test lol
Original post by y4r4
Ohhh, I took "through the first test" as having passed it. But yeah, you could be right, it could just be referring to people who took the test lol

Yeah....deffinetly trough would be that they done it in general regardless of the outcome. This post was more to show overall scale - aka 5000 (a lot of people intrested). I can not imagine all 5000 people passing this means actual application numbers would have been in 10000-20000 or more...
Hey everyone, Just wondering if most of you are applying straight out of uni or not? I didn't do as well as I'd hoped on the test (56%) and I'm worrying my personal statement may be lacking. I've worked 20 hours a week part time during my degree in different jobs so have that experience but I'm just worried about not having any real life experience really, just part-time jobs and volunteering through uni.

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