DWP Recruiting Again - 2012

SpiralGalaxy

WandaFish wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I've been looking at this thread for weeks now and I've finally taken the plunge and registered lol.

Thanks to everyone who has posted really good advice and words of encouragement on here.

However I just think people should be cautious about going completely overboard on the 'system' and their poor marks. It's obviously frustrating when you don't get the marks you wanted to get but to imply that the system is flawed and that the best people aren't going to get the job is a little bit insulting to those of us who have done well. I personally scored relatively poorly on the online tests, only achieving 49% percentile, while others on here were getting 90+! And fair play to them.

But I feel I have redeemed myself with a score of 9,9,7,8,9 on the competencies which I am absolutely over the moon with. But I people saying things like 'hopefully they'll see what a poor system it was' is taking the shine off it a little bit. I scored highly on the maths online test and very poorly on the situational test. And to be honest I don't particularly think they should be used because it's not the same as being in the situation lol!

But while maybe I don't do well at the situational tests, people are saying "Well how was I meant to know to use STAR?". Well because the information was there. Maybe it could have been clearer but it was there and if you didn't know what it was you should have researched it like I did. People saying they're going to write to their MP's is crazy and could draw out this process even more for those expecting interviews. Of course different sifters will give different marks and it's rubbish. But interviewers will also ask different questions and some might be easier than others. That's the way life is.

I see what you're saying, but we could be going around in circles here. You imply that people not finding the competency guidelines didn't research the job, which is an assumption. The best way is to provide that info with the application in a clearer way, otherwise you will miss out on recruiting talented people who didn't know what they were meant to look for. I know how to do it now, and so do most of the people in this thread, but that's no consolation after the fact for those of us who didn't.

Competencies are notoriously subjective, and that has been their main criticism for years. I actually don't think so much emphasis should be placed on those over the test results. Many employers are increasingly moving in the direction of competencies, ignoring potential problems with the method (it introduces as many as it solves). That doesn't change the fact that your scores are excellent, and well done.

But those individuals who feel the system as it is could use improvement ought to say something about it. If you've done the job before and been good at it, and been rejected over competency scores, it's logical to look at whether the process is testing suitability, rather than testing the ability to write competencies (the ability to write competencies may as well be a competency in itself).

I am sure you will not lose out because some applicants are raising questions about this: I doubt anyone who does will suddenly find themselves invited to interview. The point is that they could make some small and significant improvements in future. Well done on your scores, again.

aidan123180

Mommarat i have had exacly the same scores as you and no feedback either, exactly the same layout as your feedback too, so dont feel bad, this was for the Birmingham area, i have not had any of my scores for other districts yet but feel that my comps were not that bad! 5 x 1s!!!!!! something is seriously wrong! i would be willing to pm my comps to another sensible member for a second opinion if theres any takers???

mint25

WandaFish wrote: »

You mean if I'd failed and was completely out of the running lol? no i wouldnt care! In that respect I am being selfish. But also when I did do badly on the tests I accepted that it was because I didnt quite get what they were looking for. I didnt start saying the test was flawed and I would write to my MP lol

It will be interesting to see if you get an interview and whether your online test score will just be forgotten as you have done so well in the comps. To be fair on all those that have failed though, it is very hard to do the comps correctly and I do sympathise. But on the other hand, complaining about it gets you nowhere. I know I personally will do better next time now I know a little bit more about it.

devilot

aidan123180 wrote: »

Mommarat i have had exacly the same scores as you and no feedback either, exactly the same layout as your feedback too, so dont feel bad, this was for the Birmingham area, i have not had any of my scores for other districts yet but feel that my comps were not that bad! 5 x 1s!!!!!! something is seriously wrong! i would be willing to pm my comps to another sensible member for a second opinion if theres any takers???

This has to be a mistake, I'm betting system error here.

mommarat

WandaFish wrote: »

You mean if I'd failed and was completely out of the running lol? no i wouldnt care! In that respect I am being selfish. But also when I did do badly on the tests I accepted that it was because I didnt quite get what they were looking for. I didnt start saying the test was flawed and I would write to my MP lol

Dwp accepted there were problems with the test that's why they extended the closing date to give themselves a chance to sort it out.

WandaFish

devilot wrote: »

Firstly, congratulations on such high scores, no wonder you are over the moon.

However some people here HAVE used STAR, have had their examples looked at by line managers, JCP managers and in some instances, were doing the job until recently, and in some cases still are! Yet they have failed, why would this be the case if the system wasn't flawed? What I will say is that while some people have spoken of 'cheating' the test, at least there was a 'right or wrong' and a pass mark and it was marked by a computer. The competencies are completely subjective and subject to how the person who marked it felt on that particular day - certainly in mommarat's case, someone seems to have just wanted to get rid of her application as quickly as possible, how can someone who is doing the job right now score 1 for each competency? So in that sense, I would have to disagree with you that it IS flawed and should have been organised better.

All said, I do wish you well in your interview.

I don't disagree with you because there may well have been errors and it is subjective. But so was the situational test, wasn't it? You can try to illustrate these fictional characters personalities in writing, but there will always be areas which you have to interpret for yourself. One of the examples was about someone not doing as they were told and the options were whether you should let them do as they chose to do, remove them from the team or make them do what you wanted. Either one of them could be correct depending on the circumstance and no one would really know how to deal with it until they were faced with it in real life, at which point you would take on board a whole load of background information. But regardless, someone/some people somewhere decided 'Option X is the best here, top marks for those who choose this one'.

And again playing Devils Advocate just because someone scores 1's doesnt mean someone wanted rid of their application. I could follow STAR and have my useless manager look at it and it could easily get a 1. We had the information in front of us and the sifters had theirs. Also already doing the job does not mean you deserve an interview. I'm sure the person is question is brilliant and would be a better and more logical option than me because of the experience they already hold but that's not how it works. You have to do the application and you have to do it well. I think i'm good at my current job but if I applied for a level transfer and just mashed the keyboard instead of writing an answer I wouldnt expect an interview.

sherrilou

I agree Wanda with alot of your points. Well done fantastic scores. I dont think people are intentionally taking the shine off people that have passed the competencies but there is a grey area and dont think it is a fair way of sifting people. You may have been one of the lucky ones in your area to get your competencies looked at at all as some areas were only looking at those who scored 80 percent in the online testing and if thats the case your fantastic scores in this area would not have counted. Which i personally do not think is fair. On the other hand we have heard posts on here from people who know the online sifters, the recruitment line, employees of jcp, etc etc none of it is from the horses mouth so to speak so could be all hearsay until we hear from them personally. We dont know what a pass or a fail is, every area is different.

It is a kick in the teeth for people already doing the job (waste of money also) to have their competencies scored at 1 out of 9, when their managers have looked over them and then for them to not pass the sift.

I personally dont know what my scores are yet, that not he outcome is what i find most frustrating, the waiting so its not always people not accepting what their scores are and then having a moan, but over the weeks have enjoyed hearing everyones optimism, views and have helped me no end through the process but at the end of this I cant help feel a bit for some of these people who have tried hard and put time and effort into this process and feel a bit agrieved.

Good luck on you app. Your scores are really good and you have a right to be over the moon, I would be too

WandaFish

Just for the record though I think 5 x 1's without feedback is disgraceful. If they had decided a fairly certain cut off point they could have just given feedback to those below it and then to those above it feedback could have been given at interview stage.

I would assume this is a genuine error though and may well mean the scores aren't accurate either.

mommarat

aidan123180 wrote: »

Mommarat i have had exacly the same scores as you and no feedback either, exactly the same layout as your feedback too, so dont feel bad, this was for the Birmingham area, i have not had any of my scores for other districts yet but feel that my comps were not that bad! 5 x 1s!!!!!! something is seriously wrong! i would be willing to pm my comps to another sensible member for a second opinion if theres any takers???

don't take this the wrong way but in a perverse way it has made me feel better. I was thinking about PMing my comps but because they are all work related and because of where I work thought it may cause a problem. Have you applied for other areas

Janabiyah-Jane

I just thought I would add my tuppence worth so to speak... I spoke to an ex colleague (who still works for JCP) today and they have heard that there has been a lot of talk about the compentencies and some districts are unsure what to do, as many have misunderstood how these should be written (for obvious reasons) and therefore many have not met the criteria!! They are looking at lowering the passmark of these now...

I don't think being pious is very helpful if you do have a good score and also believe that it is all totally subjective... I do know that some just made up their competencies and asked others to help with them, I think the previous recruitment process made it more certain that you were getting the right candidate, but then again I would say that as I got through with flying colours...

Good luck all, I believe right now that this process is all a bit of a lottery...