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January Sift

Does anyone know if there is a set pass mark at OASC that allows you direct entry without going through the ordeal of a sift? I was informed that if you achieved a 3+ or higher you were given straight entry. I have heard of other people gaining direct entry with a 3. Thgis system sems very strange and a little unfair to me. I am assuming they set a pass grade for each trade depending on the numbers required.

Reply 1

JoeMason

It all depends on what trade your going for. Obviously im no expert but I think for afew trades all the applicants go into a sift, and for some, only the weaker applicants go into a sift to compete for the left over places. If your trade is not recruiting at the moment then you will go into a sift so that they can discuss whether or not its worth giving you one of the future places. I know people who have been given a straight yes for Pilot who have the same scores as people who are in the sift for Int. I also know of people who have got a 3+ but got rejected befor the sift and people who got in after the sift on a 3-. The best thing to do is not to worry, you can't control it!

Oh, and, I rang OASC yesterday and the sift is expected to be late this month and we should have heard by early Feb!

Reply 2

GR29KHS

2

I don't think many people understand how OASC works to be honest. Rest assured that as long as you've acheived a 3(-) or higher, you have every chance of being selected.

Reply 3

GR4pilot

Yea, I got a 5 overall and got straight in as pilot. so aim for that.

I am of course lying I got a 3+ :biggrin:

Reply 4

big_pd

OP

1

Well i thought i did really well at OASC. Got a 3+ with a 'strongly recommended' by the wing commander and got put in the sift! I just hate the waiting at the mo. it's driving me insane! Well i just got to hope those results come out asap!

Reply 5

GR29KHS

2

Well I got in with a 3-, it's all down to how many places there are and how high the scores are of the people you're competeing against if you do go into a sift.

Reply 6

GR4pilot

OF course I don't know but with a 3+ and a strong recommend I wouldn't worry too much.

Reply 7

Wzz

11

In the good "old" days it went up to 7. You knew where you stood; or didn't, as no-one would debrief you unless you failed. Ah well.

Reply 8

Sam-J-J

This may seem like a ridiculous question to most...

...but whats a sift?

Reply 9

Wzz

11

It's what you do with flour prior to using it in cooking.

Reply 10

reggie_boy

Wzz

It's what you do with flour prior to using it in cooking.

You really are a modern man Wzz. BH has you trained well it seems :p:

bet you are baking scones as I type this

Reply 11

reggie_boy

Sam-J-Jewell

This may seem like a ridiculous question to most...

...but whats a sift?

I would think it is were the OASC board sit down and go through the applicants for a certain period of time ie OASC from August to November. But I may be wrong, when Wzz has finished his cherry bakewells I am sure he will put us in the picture :p:

Reply 12

Wzz

11

I can't make scones.

When one sifts flour, all the good, fresh flour falls through to the bottom. The crappy lumpy bits get stuck.

So it's when they go through all the candidates they've collected that haven't yet been given a definite yes or no, and decide who's getting the remaining slots.

Reply 13

Sam-J-J

Wzz

So it's when they go through all the candidates they've collected that haven't yet been given a definite yes or no, and decide who's getting the remaining slots.

Lol, gotcha, thanks.

Reply 14

Huxley

big_pd

Well i thought i did really well at OASC. Got a 3+ with a 'strongly recommended' by the wing commander and got put in the sift! I just hate the waiting at the mo. it's driving me insane! Well i just got to hope those results come out asap!

Getting an instant yes is a lot less common than people think. I believe a decision like that can only be made at the Group Captain's discretion - for exceptional candidates, and where there is a clear need to fill/allocate places.

Almost all successful candidates (in ground branches at least) are put forward to the competition (sift) stage.

There are (effectively) 12 grades awarded by OASC Board Presidents, ranging from 1- to 4+

As far as the competition stage is concerned, the OASC Board numbers mean very little. The numbers are used as a guide when producing the written narrative; the grades have to be be justified, detailing specific observed behaviour.

During a competition/sift meeting, the selection officers focus on the written narratives alone. It's possible that someone who scored a 3- at OASC may have a better narrative report from their OASC Board President than someone else with a 3+ (though it's unlikely discrepancies that broad will occur). It is likely however, that certain people will float a little higher in the rankings once the narrative reports are viewed clearly together in isolation.

It's difficult for people to believe that the numbers eventually get ignored, but it's important to know that they are simply used to help Boarding Officers place people in their own minds, and pitch their narrative at an appropriate level. The selection board will be much more focussed on what your Boarding Officers (and in particular, the Board President) actually wrote about you.

If the words STRONGLY RECOMMENDED were written about me by the Board President, I'd be very, very pleased - his/her comments would have to be entirely justified in the narrative though, and would then be read/compared to a cross section of candidates with almost the same closing sentence - it's a very fair procedure.

The other thing to remember of course, is it's a competition, and the numbers are finite. Anyone who gets selected for IOT has done very well indeed!

Reply 15

reggie_boy

Huxley. Fantastic post thanks, makes the whole OASC/sift/competition process seem a lot clearer.

Reply 16

GR4pilot

Wzz

I can't make scones.

When one sifts flour, all the good, fresh flour falls through to the bottom. The crappy lumpy bits get stuck.

So it's when they go through all the candidates they've collected that haven't yet been given a definite yes or no, and decide who's getting the remaining slots.