Agreed
Not sure all the old style criteria work these days.
Camp places are a lottery (and becoming rare).
PTS courses depend on location and interest/availability of CFAV as well as cadets’ interest.
Competency based interviews are one approach but likely less suited to Cpl than snco promotions.
I’d almost be tempted to have a list of ‘jobs’ a Cpl could do on Sqn and ask them a. which they ‘d do and b. why they’d be good at it and c. How they’d overcome some challenges that come with it.
But then I don’t do the NCO interviews so I’m not best placed to say
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That’s why most squadrons only use them as guidelines, rather than requirements. The people (or person) making promotion decisions will know their local circumstances so should be factoring that in when looking at suitability.
Problem-solving is a big JNCO thing. Asking how they would deal with X situation. Like ‘a cadet comes up to you and says they’re feeling really hot and starting to get a headache’. Or ‘a cadet comes up to you and says another cadet has been calling them names which has upset them’.
That, at least to me, is the bread and butter JNCO stuff. They need to be able to look after themselves, and look after their mates. Everyone mocks the climatic videos for that phrase, but I think it’s really relevant to being a JNCO!
Plus decent drill and dicip too, of course. But again, they need to be good and need to be able to help others with their drill and dicip,
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I used to have a whole bank of questions. At a previous unit, these questions were arguably the most important step in the application. Scenario based questions that are realistic to situations they will come across.
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Can’t find the old bank of questions, but ChatGPT is great for this kind of thing:
Welfare & First Aid (8 Questions)
- A cadet comes up to you and says they’re feeling really hot and starting to get a headache. What do you do?
- During a field exercise, a cadet says they’re feeling dizzy and can’t carry on. What steps do you take to help them while keeping the rest of the group safe?
- You notice a cadet sitting alone looking pale and withdrawn. When asked, they say they’re fine. What would you do?
- A cadet injures their ankle during sports. They say they’re okay to carry on. What do you do?
- You find out a cadet hasn’t eaten since the morning and it’s now late in the day. How would you deal with this?
- A cadet faints during drill practice. What immediate actions do you take, and how do you manage the rest of the group?
- You see a cadet taking off their jumper and drinking lots of water during a parade rehearsal on a hot day. Another NCO questions their discipline. How do you respond?
- You’re on a camp and a cadet tells you they’re feeling unwell but doesn’t want to miss out. What steps do you take?
Discipline & Leadership (8 Questions)
- You notice a group of cadets not paying attention during parade practice and disrupting others. How would you handle the situation?
- A cadet talks back to a senior NCO in front of others. What would you do immediately, and how would you follow up?
- You’re asked to supervise a task and one of your friends is not taking it seriously. How do you handle this without damaging your relationship?
- Another NCO gives an order you don’t agree with. A junior cadet questions it in front of you. What do you do?
- You’ve been given a tight deadline to get a group of cadets changed and ready for parade. Some are slow and distracted. How do you enforce discipline while staying calm?
- During a public event, a cadet behaves in a way that reflects badly on the squadron. How do you address it in the moment?
- You see two cadets arguing loudly in front of others. How do you defuse the situation and maintain discipline?
- A cadet keeps challenging your authority and undermining your instructions. How do you handle this over time?
Teamwork & Delegation (8 Questions)
- You’re leading a small group on a drill task, but one cadet keeps getting it wrong and holding everyone back. How do you manage this while keeping the team motivated?
- You’ve been given responsibility for organising part of an event, but two of your team members aren’t pulling their weight. What do you do?
- You’re leading a team of cadets through a timed activity, and one cadet freezes under pressure. How do you support them while keeping the team on track?
- Another NCO steps in and changes your plan in front of your group. How do you handle the situation?
- You’re given a group of cadets you don’t usually work with and have to quickly get them to function as a team. What approach do you take?
- Your team has finished a task ahead of time, but some members want to relax while others want to help elsewhere. How do you manage the group fairly?
- You’re supervising a mixed ability group for a competition. Some cadets are frustrated by others’ lack of experience. How do you encourage cooperation?
- There’s a disagreement within your team about how to complete a task. What do you do to resolve it and move forward?
Initiative & Problem-Solving (8 Questions)
- Your Flight Sergeant is running late and you’ve been left in charge of getting cadets ready for final parade. What do you do?
- A cadet tells you they’ve forgotten part of their uniform before an important inspection. What do you do?
- You’ve been asked to run a drill session last-minute with no preparation. How do you approach it?
- You’re halfway through a lesson or activity when the venue suddenly becomes unavailable. What do you do?
- Your squadron has been assigned to help clean up after an event, but there’s no clear plan. How do you take control?
- A piece of equipment essential to an activity is missing. How do you adjust the plan and still make the activity worthwhile?
- You find out the transport for your group is delayed by an hour. How do you keep the cadets engaged and supervised?
- You’re the only NCO present and a situation arises that you’re not trained to handle. What do you do?
Safeguarding & Inclusion (8 Questions)
- You overhear a cadet making a joke that makes another cadet visibly uncomfortable. What action would you take?
- A quieter cadet is constantly left out by the rest of the group. You’ve noticed they’re starting to disengage. How would you handle this?
- A cadet confides in you about being bullied outside of cadets. How do you respond?
- You notice that a cadet avoids participating in mixed-gender activities. What would you do?
- You overhear a cadet making a comment about someone’s race, religion, or background. What do you do?
- A cadet is struggling with mental health and isn’t opening up to staff. They seem to trust you. What should you do?
- You’ve been assigned to lead a group that includes a cadet with special educational needs. How do you ensure everyone is included?
- A cadet tells you they feel unsafe around another cadet but won’t give many details. What steps should you take?
Communication & Instruction (8 Questions)
- You’re asked to teach drill to a group of new cadets, but they’re struggling to follow your instructions. What do you do to adapt?
- A cadet doesn’t understand the plan for the day and keeps asking questions. You’re short on time. How do you manage this?
- You’ve been asked to brief your group before an activity, but there’s a lot of noise and distractions. How do you ensure they’re paying attention?
- You’re giving instructions and one cadet keeps interrupting or joking around. How do you regain control of the group?
- A younger cadet is clearly struggling to understand a task but is too embarrassed to ask for help. What do you do?
- You’re explaining a new drill movement and a few cadets keep asking you to repeat yourself. How do you change your delivery?
- You’re tasked with briefing a group for the first time. How do you ensure you come across as confident and clear?
- You’re halfway through teaching a skill when you’re told to wrap up in 2 minutes. How do you prioritise what to communicate?
(And for those interested, the prompt was this: Can you come up with some scenario based questions to ask a cadet in the RAFAC who is applyiong for Cpl. For example ‘a cadet comes up to you and says they’re feeling really hot and starting to get a headache’.)
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I think you have to be careful with scenarios / situations - it can turn into a tick box answer which is learnt by rote rather than gauge their decision making.
Better question maybe to give an example where they had to adapt to a sudden changing situation or where they worked as part of a team to achieve a common goal.
A good theoretical question is how would they deal with their fellow applicants who fail to be promoted.
The question always needs to be at every stage of the promotion process : “what am I trying to find out about this person” and “how will it demonstrate to me that they can do the role”
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We don’t do JNCO interviews, but we’ve started incorporating scenarios into our NCO training.
(They also do it on SNCO courses)
I’ve been thinking about how we could apply the principles of apprenticeships, collecting evidence against a series of Knowledge, Skill and Behaviour competencies, against promotions.
I’ve initially put together KSB’s based on the ACTO 7 Cpl and Sgt specifications and am thinking that I’ll get cdts and NCOs to rate their own performance against each competence as a way of helping cadets understand when they might be ready for promotion.
Edit added image of the Behaviour competencies
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I like this! but I think it’s a little much at Cpl selection level
personally I would only be interested in K2, K6, K7 & S2,s4 &. S7 for cadets applying to corporal (the rest should be trained/experienced post promotion (
L/cpl debate potential high )
However if a OC Wg issued this as guidance to Sqn cdrs of “assess potential against this for new promotions & development for those currently on rank” I would probably go along with it (with a couple of OC Sqn tweaks).
It needs to be simple for 14 year olds to understand & apply
I almost see this as a general ‘cadet CV’, not just for JNCO though. Allows for great personal reflection.
Bearing in mind, as I said I put those together based on the ACTO 7 specifications which suggest they are for a “fully trained” corporal or sergeant, as I bring this in to my Sqn I’ll be looking at “progressing towards” most and excelling at a few
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If anyone wants the excel spreadsheet of these, happy to share it, but it’s very much a work in progress.
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Following on from these, I’ve put together this form for my Cadets & NCO’s to track their development.
It’ll almost certainly get some changes over the coming months as I introduce it, but the intention is for the self-evaluation section to be re-visited along with chats with the Sqn SNCO to set goals for development. And then space overleaf to collect evidence of them applying competencies, just as they would need to document in an apprenticeship.
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