clerical positions in the civil and public service

Clerical Positions

in the

Civil and Public Service

Stage 1

Pre-Test Information Booklet

This is an important document so please set some time

aside to read it in advance of the test session.

©Public Appointments Service

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your application for Clerical positions in the Civil and Public Service.

The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the central recruiter for the Civil and Public Service.

Through this competition, PAS will establish panels of suitably qualified individuals from which

clerical vacancies may be filled. Please note that not all vacancies will be filled through the

PAS competition.1

The PAS is committed to the principles of good recruitment practice and these principles

involve fair and impartial selection. This selection process has been developed to assess the

key skills and attributes necessary to perform in a clerical role. Candidates will be required to

take a number of assessments and tests which are designed to evaluate their potential for this.

The process comprises several stages.

The first stage consists of:

(Part A) an Assessment Questionnaire, and

(Part B) Aptitude tests.

You will take these tests online and in an unsupervised environment, as previously outlined in

the Information Booklet for Candidates.

This purpose of this pre-test information material is to help you to understand Stage 1 of the

selection process and introduce you to the format of the Assessment Questionnaire and tests.

Work through this information carefully as it will help you understand what you have to do and

what you can expect during Stage 1 and it will also ensure that you are prepared to perform to

the best of your ability.

Information on Stage 2 (Supervised Aptitude tests) and each subsequent stage of the selection

process will be made available to the candidates who progress.

PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS SERVICE

July 2014

©Public Appointments Service, 2014

The reproduction of any part of this document by any process whatsoever is breaking copyright law.

1 Some Public Service organisations may conduct their own recruitment independently of PAS


Overview

To facilitate candidates the initial selection stage will be conducted online. Therefore you will

require a PC or laptop to complete the tests.

As indicated earlier, Stage 1 of the selection process is divided into two parts as follows:

(Part A) Assessment Questionnaire, and

(Part B) Aptitude tests.

Candidates must reach the required standard in both Part A and Part B. Those who achieve

the required standard will be ranked accordingly. Only those who qualify and are placed

highest at Stage 1 will be invited to Stage 2. However, the number to be invited forward will be

determined by the PAS from time to time, having regard to the likely number of vacancies to be

filled in the particular locations.

Qualification at Stage 1 is no guarantee that a candidate will be invited to Stage 2 or

subsequent stages.

There will be a set time window during which you must take the Questionnaire. A separate

time period will be allocated to you in which you must take the Aptitude tests. You are strongly

advised to complete all of your tests early in each testing window.

Please note that while candidates complete these assessments online in an unsupervised

environment, those who qualify and are placed highest on the order of merit may be required to

sit similar tests in a supervised environment at a later stage in the process. If a candidate’s

performance at a supervised test is outside the expected scoring range from their unsupervised

test, it will call into question the validity of their unsupervised test scores and they may be

excluded from subsequent stages of the selection process.

Please note:

You may take the tests in a venue of your choice wherever you have access to a

computer and a reliable internet connection;

As the tests will require your full concentration, please ensure that you take the

Assessment Questionnaire and tests in a quiet environment, where there are no

distractions and where you will not be disturbed;

You are advised to take the tests on a PC or laptop and to use a mouse you are familiar

with. Do not attempt to take the tests on a smart phone, mobile or tablet device;

Close down all other applications except for your browser windows and internet

connection, and stop all other activity on your computer e.g. printing could cause the

assessment / tests to terminate;

Please be aware that taking these tests within a secure IT network e.g. such as your

work or college network which may have firewalls or other security technology in place,

may cause you technical difficulties. In such instances PAS (or any company or service

provider operating on behalf of PAS) will not be liable;

Further information on the PC /Laptop requirements to take this Questionnaire and the

Aptitude tests is provided at Appendix 1 at the end of this document;

During the period of the tests, email support facilities will be available to deal with any

technical issues you may have in relation to the Questionnaire and tests themselves.


Honesty Contract

Integrity and honesty are key values within the Civil and Public Service. As potential

employees you are expected to honour these values, both in how you approach this

competition and by agreeing to follow the rules and procedures laid down. By taking part in the

selection process, you are confirming that you are the person named on the application and

you agree to complete the Questionnaire and tests honestly and without assistance. A third

party must not personate a candidate at any stage of the process. Your attention is drawn to

the important information set out on page 12. By accessing or attempting any assessment / test

materials you are agreeing to be bound by the terms set out.

Stage 1

Part A – Assessment Questionnaire

In order to assess your potential suitability for the clerical role, the Assessment Questionnaire

collects information on (a) your skills, interests and preferences and (b) your responses to

potential scenarios you may face in the role.

It is essential that you answer all of the questions on this Questionnaire within the dates and

time allocated to you.

If you do not complete and submit the Assessment Questionnaire you will be deemed to have

withdrawn from the competition. You will not be invited to undertake the aptitude tests if you

have not completed and pressed the Submit button at the end of the Assessment

Questionnaire.

Next Steps

1. You will have received information regarding your allocated testing window for Part A to your

publicjobs Messageboard.

2. At the appointed time you will receive the link to your Assessment Questionnaire. This will

be delivered to your publicjobs Messageboard.

3. You will have up to 90 minutes to complete the Assessment Questionnaire. Once you start

the Assessment Questionnaire you must complete it within that time. You may choose any 90

minute period to answer and submit the Questionnaire during the timeframe allocated to you.

You are strongly advised to complete the Questionnaire in one sitting. Give yourself sufficient

time and do not wait until the final hours of the testing deadline to complete the Questionnaire.

4. Once the deadline for your testing window has passed, you will not be able to commence the

Questionnaire. No time extensions will be given.


Equality Monitoring

You will find some additional questions some additional questions in the Assessment

Questionnaire which are included for the purpose of equality monitoring. They do not form part

of the assessment. They are to help PAS to ensure that the selection processes are fair and

equitable to all candidates. Answering these particular questions is entirely voluntary. Non-

completion of this will not affect your candidature. You will also be given the opportunity to

provide feedback on the Questionnaire.

Accessing the Assessment Questionnaire

Once you open the link in your Messageboard you will be taken directly to the introduction page

of your Assessment Questionnaire. You should check that your name appears on the screen. If

not, to seek assistance, use the support link on the top right hand corner of the screen. Please

ensure that you read carefully the instructions provided on the screens.

The Assessment Questionnaire should take you less than 1 hour to complete but, to ensure

you have sufficient time, you will be allocated 90 minutes to complete it. However, you must

complete and submit the Questionnaire within the specified test window allocated to you.


Part B – Aptitude Tests

In order to receive the link to your Aptitude tests, you must have fully completed and submitted

your Assessment Questionnaire.

A number of days after you have submitted your Assessment Questionnaire, you will receive an

update to your publicjobs Messageboard outlining when you should expect to receive the link to

your Aptitude tests.

You will then receive an email with the link and will be given a limited number of days in which

to complete and submit your aptitude tests. As with the Assessment Questionnaire, you are

strongly advised to give yourself sufficient time and not wait until the final hours of the testing

deadline to take the tests. No time extensions will be given.

The link to the aptitude tests will be sent to the email address you provided on your publicjobs

profile. It is important that this is an email address to which you have ready access during this

campaign. For example, if you give your work email address and intend taking the test at

home, you must be able to access that email address at home, and vice versa.

Please note that you must NOT change your email address during the selection process. The

PAS will not be responsible for non-delivery of messages to any new/revised email addresses

you may provide.

You will receive your link in an email from [email protected] for all three

tests on the day your test window opens.

If you experience any difficulties you should contact the technical support:

[email protected]

It is strongly recommended that you add both of these email addresses to your ‘safe senders’

or ‘contact list’ within your email account. This will ensure that you receive the emails as

occasionally, email service providers may block them or flag them as spam. If you do not

receive the email by the appointed time, please check your junk and/or spam email folders. If

you continue to have difficulties locating the email you should email [email protected]

The Aptitude tests comprise three separate elements:

Error Checking (6 minutes time limit)

Verbal Comprehension (16 minutes time limit)

Numerical Comprehension (16 minutes time limit)

You must attempt all three Aptitude tests; if you do not take all three tests you will be deemed

to have withdrawn from this campaign.

These tests, including instructions and examples, will take you approximately 90 minutes to

complete. You should therefore set aside sufficient time to allow you to read the instructions, do

the examples and take the actual tests.

mailto:[email protected]




Overview of the Aptitude tests

The online Aptitude tests are delivered and administered on behalf of PAS by Saville

Consulting.

These tests should be completed in one sitting. You should note that these are timed tests and

they will automatically finish after the allocated time has elapsed. For your convenience a timer

will appear on the screen and will indicate the time you have remaining on your test. It is

recommended that you work quickly and accurately through the tests. However, it is expected

that not all candidates will finish all questions. There is no negative marking for incorrect

answers on these aptitude tests.

After logging in, you will be required to accept the data protection and terms and conditions by

ticking the relevant boxes. Before beginning the tests, you should see a screen similar to that

below:


Practice Material

Practice material for the aptitude tests is currently available online at:

https://www.savilleconsulting.com/comprehension-practice

We strongly recommend that you read the preparation guides very carefully, then complete the

examples and the timed practice tests. This will help you understand what you have to do

before you undertake the real tests.

The practice tests are designed to give you an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the type

of questions you can expect to face in the real test. They are similar in structure and format to

the real tests but remember the number of practice questions is less than the number of

questions on the real test.

You will have 4 practice questions in each of the 3 timed practice tests. At the end you will be

told the number of questions you answered correctly and incorrectly. You can access this

practice material as often as you wish.

Helpdesk Support for Part B - Aptitude tests only In the unlikely event that you experience technical issues when taking (Part B) Aptitude tests,

Saville Consulting will provide email support. This will be available during office hours (Monday

to Friday) i.e. 8am to 6pm, and at the weekend (Saturday & Sunday) 9am to 11am for the

duration of the test window. Their contact details are given below:

Email – [email protected]

Verbal Comprehension Test

This exercise is designed to assess your ability to understand written information. The Verbal

Comprehension test consists of 8 sections (testlets). For each section you will be presented

with a passage of text followed by 4 questions. Your task is to choose the best answer to each

question from the options given. Remember to base your choice only on the information

contained in the passage.

There is a time limit of approximately 2 minutes for each section. Before you begin the actual

tests you will be presented with some pre test example questions.

When you wish to exit these examples and instructions and begin the actual test you must

select the ‘Abort’ button on your screen – failure to do so will lock you out of the system. You

should click ‘Next’ to start the test.

Remember:

Once the test is downloaded it is not affected by loss of internet connection;

Once you start the test you should not use the ‘back’ button on your browser – this will end the assessment;

You can either use the ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons to move between questions in a testlet, or you can skip a question and come back to it by using the ‘question number panel’;

You cannot go back to a previous testlet once that testlet has finished;

Do not click ‘Abort’ during the test as this will end your test session.

Once the allocated test time has elapsed, the test will close regardless of the number of questions completed.

https://www.savilleconsulting.com/comprehension-practice



Screen shot of Verbal Comprehension test

Numerical Comprehension Test

This exercise is designed to assess your ability to understand data. The Numerical

Comprehension Test consists of 8 sections (testlets). You will be presented with a series of

tables and graphs, each followed by several questions. For each section you will be presented

with 4 questions. Your task is to choose the best answer to each question from the options

given.

There will be a time limit of approximately 2 minutes for each section. Before you begin the

actual tests you will be presented with some pre-test example questions.




Remember:








Screen shot of Numerical Comprehension test

Error Checking Test

This exercise is designed to assess your ability to check information. The test consists of 4

sections (testlets).

You will be presented with lists of information to be checked. Your task is to compare each

item in the Transposed Information at the bottom of the screen to the Original Information in the

upper half of the screen.

For columns marked with an asterisk ‘*’ you have to check whether a coding key has been

applied correctly. Each set of questions follows a different format and has different coding keys.

There may be more than one error in an item, and some items may have no errors at all.

Select all options that apply. To change your response simply deselect it and select a new

response.

There is a time limit of approximately 90 seconds for each section. Before you begin the actual

test you will be presented with some pre-test example questions.





Remember:







Screen shot of Error Checking test screen


IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Terms and Conditions

Your attention is drawn to this important information. By accessing or attempting any assessment / test

materials you are agreeing to be bound by the terms set out below.

1. All test and assessment materials are subject to copyright and all rights are reserved. No part of the tests/ assessment materials (including any text, questions and/or potential answer options) or associated materials (including practice and/ or familiarisation materials) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, printing, photographing, recording, written or otherwise, at any stage. To do so is an offence and may result in you being excluded from the selection process. Any person(s) who contravenes this provision, whether an applicant or other, or who assists another person(s) in contravening this provision, is liable to prosecution and/ or civil suit for loss of copyright and intellectual property.

2. Your attention is drawn the Commission for Public Service Appointment’s Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions in the Civil Service and Public Service. In particular please note Section 5 - Responsibility of Candidates (see below).

Canvassing

Candidates should note that canvassing will disqualify them and will result in their exclusion from the appointments process. Candidates’ obligations Candidates in the recruitment process must not:

Knowingly or recklessly provide false information

Canvass any person, with or without inducements

Interfere with or compromise the process in any way. A third party must not personate a candidate at any stage of the process.

Penalties for failure to comply Any person who contravenes the above provisions, or who assists another person in contravening the above provisions is guilty of an offence. A person who is found guilty of an offence is liable to a fine and/or imprisonment. If a person found guilty of such an offence was or is a candidate in a recruitment process, then:

Where he/she has not been appointed to a post, he/she will be disqualified as a candidate

Where he/she has been appointed subsequent to the recruitment process in question, he/she shall forfeit that appointment.

3. The admission of a person to the competition, or invitation to undertake any element of the selection process is not to be taken as implying that the Public Appointments Service is satisfied that such a person fulfils the essential requirements.


Appendix 1

PC/Laptop Minimum Specification Requirements

The following are the minimum requirements to successfully take the tests on a PC or laptop.

Most computers will meet these requirements.

Operating system

Windows 2000 or later

Apple Mac: MAC OS X

Your Adobe TM flash player will need to be up to date: adobe flash plug-in v11

To take a test, we recommend a broadband internet connection with a download speed

of at least 256kb/s. Users with dial-up connections and broadband connections with a

download speed less than 256kb/s may have difficulty rendering some items.

Supported browsers:

Internet explorer versions 7 +

Google chrome 4.0+

Mozilla firefox 3.0+

Safari 3.0+

Opera

Netscape 7.0.2

The tests will work best with the following minimum resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels. A screen

resolution lower than this will cause the pages of the test to scroll. The tests will check the

screen resolution at the start and a warning is given if the available screen is not big enough.

The test delivery software requires pop-up windows and session cookies are enabled in your

browser.

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