Merseyside Recruitment Process 2017

[GavinHunter86]

Application – Opened early Feb, Closed 27^th Feb:

The application asked for the following:

• Personal details
• Employment history
• Educational background – what high school/college/university you attended
• Supporting Evidence – a personal statement about yourself on why you are right for the position and what skills/experience you have
• Further qualifications/work-based training
• ·I also had to upload copies of my GCSE/A Level certificates, as Maths and English GCSE grade C was required.

Physical Assessment – 10^th Mar to 27^th Mar

This was a little different to previous assessments I have done. I carried out the following:

• Chester Step Test – carried out at the Sports Centre down the road
• Bleep Test – 9.6 minimum
• Manual dexterity
• Ladder climb/leg lock
• Ladder lift/lower using rope
• Ladder lift simulation using ‘standard’ device
• Dummy drag
• Dummy lift/lower using rope
• Equipment carry
• BA crawl

Assessment Centre – 1^st Apr to 27^th April

Carried out at their training centre were 6 of us took part in the following:

• There were cards on a table, all with an attribution or skill on them i.e. teamwork, leadership etc. You had to pick a card and had 5 minutes to plan a small (3 minutes ish) presentation about how that card is relevant to yourself, then present to everyone else
• We were put into pairs and had 20 minutes to discuss between us what we believed a day of a fire fighter consisted of
•  As a whole group, we had 30 minutes to discuss possible ways to improve road safety in Merseyside
• Still as a whole group, the last exercise was multiple teamwork activities such as juggling, ‘darts’ and even coming up with a poem. We had 90 minutes to carry out 6 activities (a further 2 backup ones), each completed activity offered ‘points’, some had deductions for failures and we had to score over 2,500 points

During the whole day, we had 3 assessors constantly taking notes in the corner of the room.

Swimming Assessment – 8^th May to 12^th May

Carried out at the water sports centre in the docks. You wore a dry suit, flotation vest and helmet and had to swim 50 metres. The rules were:

• You could only swim front crawl – use any other stroke, you fail
• Do not stop swimming – if you stopped, you fail
• There was a time limit, but I do not know this. I believe it differs depends on weather conditions

Interview – 15^th May to 19^th May

Consisted of 8 PQA/competency questions. As I uploaded my GCSE/A Level certificates during my application, I believe I was exempt from taking Maths and English tests. Other candidates told me they had to take such tests after their interview, if they could not prove their level of education in Maths and English

Medical – July

Yet to take this.

Courses 1 starts late Aug/early Sept, course 2 starts February.

Hope I haven’t missed anything out.

[Mike]

Blimey.

Well done chap

[GavinHunter86]

Thanks. I've never actually considered the amount of work required from start to finish until I typed all this and read it back. Not to mention the hours at home 'studying'.

[JT97]

Congratulations mate

[Luminoki]

Well done pal

[Noddy]

Well done and thanks for sharing such an insightful view into your process for others to see. 

[Carl]

Well done Gavin and thanks for posting a lengthy post. I am sure this will be helpful to many. 

Good luck

[Hibs10]

Well done @GavinHunter86 Great post too, thanks for the detailed info. Going through Merseyside recruitment myself now so this defo helps! ??

[NorthWestDan]

Hi Gavin, 

Congrats on getting through recruitment. I've also just been offered a position with MFRS. Got quite a while to wait for my start yet though. Only found out a week ago I've been successful. How long did it take from getting the phonecall to getting something in writing and a date for the medical? 

Hope you've enjoyed or are enjoying your training.

Dan

[GavinHunter86]

Hi Dan,

Sorry for such a delay, been a very busy few months. When I interviewed for Merseyside, I also interviewed for GMFRS and luckily I was offered for both. Merseyside wanted me to start 4th Feb (I think), whereas GMFRS wished for me to start 27th August. I therefore accepted GMFRS. I finished my training the week before Christmas and I am now on station. Best career ever! Good luck with your recruits course, it won't be that hard, promise 

Edited January 11, 2018 by Carl
Quote removed as not needed. See FAQ

[Hibs10]

NorthWestDan

Helll mate are you the same Dan that I met on the physicals day?

Andy here from London. Good to see you on here if it is you??

[Andy1]

@GavinHunter86 very helpful post Gavin thank you. I have been given a physical day to attend with Merseyside in about 10 days and the information they have provided is incredibly limited so your post is great. The assessment centre seems tough mind!