Calgary Police Service

[YC]

what exams are u waiting for write? the written one?
(to Journey2cps)

[journey2cps-redux]

Hey YC,

Both the WCT(written communication test) and the APCAT (Alberta Police Cognative Ability Test). they run both on the same day, the WCTis first and is about an hour long, then there is a short break, and then the APCAT starts and it lasts for about 3.5 hours. PLus side is getting the marks the same day, right after you write!

[Phil]

Hey Journey, I was just reading this topic after coming back to the board after a bit of hiatus from the whole "police" thing for a bit, and I'm glad you are going for it. I know that whole RCMP thing kinda bit you in the ass, but I'm sure CPS will prove to work out for you. BTW, I never got on at Chinook's station doing volunteering; I should be working at Crimestoppers or something like that fairly quickly. I did appreciate the lead though.

As far as you getting your marks on the same day.. I dunno who told you that, but I don't recall that ever happening unless you were from out of town. Farther than Airdrie, that is. I received my marks about a week later, and my interview date was a month and a half after that. Unless they have changed something, don't expect your marks the same day. If they have changed the process, lemme know.. I'd be curious to hear what might have made them decide to do that.

Perhaps all this talk about them being "so starved" for applicants is making them think twice about how they string out the process into something way longer than it should be? We'll wait and see.

BTW, have fun on the WCT/APCAT. Both are very easy (from my perspective) and you shouldn't have any trouble.

Later,

Phil

[journey2cps-redux]

Hey Phil,
Good to hear from you again! Too bad about the volunteering, but crime stoppers is a great place from what I've heard...I know one girl who went from there to CPS, she just graduated the end of Oct.

The marks the same day came from the info session I attended and was said again by recruiting, but someone else was saying that you have to hang around for a few hours to get them. I was also told to expect my interview within 2 weeks of completing the exams, so they are really picking up the pace on applications. It is not unrealistic to expect to be in a class by Jan but I think Feb is more likely...My god 3 months from app to training!! How will I make it through the waiting!! Oh wait this isn't the RCMP, no waiting required!! (JK ;D gotta get my jabs in...)
CPS is still hurting for applicants, they are filling the classes but just barely, and starting in '04 they are uping it to one class starting a month (so I hear, not verified yet though) If that's the case then they are either planning on getting more applicants or something.

I've been told by alot of people that the APCAT is pretty easy compared to the RPAT and as for the WCT I spend alot of time every week writing out reports and witness statements so it shouldn't pose any problems.

[malaka]

Any tips on the WCT? What is the scenario like? What kinds of conclusions derived?

[Phil]

As far as the WCT goes, it is a simple matter of writing the facts and nothing but the facts.

It is of the utmost importance that you notice everything and note it accordingly. If you don't, they will ding you points for missing important facts and clues as to what is happening in the scenario. Do not speculate based on your perception of the situation.. you should not have any perceptions other than what is actually going on in the scenario. I say this because they lay out every single fact you need, and a bunch you don't, and you should be able to easily derive a conclusion as to what happened. There is only one right answer, and like I say, you shouldn't have any answer other than the right one simply because of the wealth of information involved.

Manage your time wisely, and remember to write all the important facts down. I know I've said this already, but I can't stress it enough. Also, make sure you write down the facts in a linear fashion.. you would be surprised at how many people write them down in a way that comes to the right conclusion, but are scattered and do not happen in order. Once again, penalties for doing that. You must also pay careful attention to grammar and sentence structure, and avoid run-on sentences, etc.

Other than that, have fun. I thought the WCT was a blast, and I was proud of myself for figuring out the scenario and writing a report about it. Remember, it's a big part of the job we all want to do one day, and this is a very important indicator of future performance.

Anymore questions, email me.. [e-mail]. I know some people in recruiting, so if you want any tips.. let me know. I hope I can help you out. I couldn't quite help myself out on one competency in my interview, but that is a personal problem and has no relevance to what I know about the APCAT/WCT, and interviewing.. etc. But thems is the breaks!

[malaka]

Thanks for the input, very much appreciated.
What was your exam like? Could you briefly describe the scenario and explain your conclusion? Would love to know the steps that you took, to derive at a conclusion. I think the example on the website is very vague and short.

[Phil]

Malaka, no problem at all.

As far as my exam went, it was a pretty easy scenario, all in all. It involved a bunch of vehicles hitting each other, swerving to avoid each other, a bunch of logs on the road, bad weather, etc.. and a whole lot of extraneous information.

The first thing I did was started writing down facts as I read them. Because you are not allowed to make marks in the booklet or highlight them, I would suggest doing as I did. Then, I made a little diagram on my scrap paper, and put all the cars on it in relation to each other and anything else that may have been involved, as decribed by the scenario. I then read through all the facts, and pieced together what happened. Then I wrote a little report about it, and that was about it. Like I mentioned, just put everything on paper in a way that makes it easy for you to see what happened, and you will arrive at the conclusion fairly easily.

[Malaka]

Thank very much Phil, your scenario sounds totally different from the one on the website example. Someone contacted me and asked me about a scenario involving a a pizza store. I don't know anything about it, sorry. I wouldn't mind hearing about the scenario though if anyone had any comments. I just think all different kinds of input from everyone is very useful. Phil's input is great, nice to see people here helping others no matter what stage they are at in the recruiting process. I have met some very selfish people who wouldn't give any advice just because they are also competing for a position.

[journey2cps-redux]

Well, the exams are done, and I'm confident that I passed both exams. You were right Phil they didn't give our marks. They were marking the WCT while we were writing the APCAT, and I could have found out my marks if I wanted to hang around for a couple of hours, but I had places to go people to see...so I should get the results in a week or so.

As for the exams, both were fairly straight forward. There were around 40 writing both exams
The WCT is an exercise in time management!!! Holy crap, I was busy writing away with the facts when I realized I only had 15 min left to do the report!!! Got it all done and had the same conclusion as alot of the others writing. So unless we were all wrong I should be fine on that. I was suprised that there was no non-disclosure form like with the RCMP. Our WCT was about the accident outside the pizzeria for those who have written with CPS...
The APCAT was...not simple...but unlike the RPAT there were not really any "trick" questions. With the APCAT if you weren't sure of an answer you could eliminate the obivously wrong choices and then figure out the correct answer from there. With the RPAT (as anyone who has written it can tell you) there was almost always 2 answers that said almost the same thing just with different words, and sometimes, all four answers were like that. The memory section was alot easier than the RPAT, you had the standard half hour to memorise the book, but instead of writing an exam for an hour before you get to the memory stuff (RCMP) the first 20 questions (CPS) are all based on the memory book, so most people should be able to handle that.
I've rambled on long enough for the time being. more to come when I get some info.

[silvrangl]

Journey2CPS,

Yeah, I heard there was alot of people writing the exam this weekend. I'm sure you rocked the test. Let us know when you get the results.

Running my PARE tomorrow. Hope it goes well compared to the simulated course I ran upstairs in the Simpson Gym. Did terrible on that.

Does anyone know where I can get the eye examination done? Apparently for the Horizontal Field test that require more than 130 degree can not be done manually but requires a machine which not many optometrist offices have.

[journey2cps-redux]

Hey silvrangl

Thanks for the confidence! I'm sure you'll rock the PARE!

My eye Dr was able to do the horizontal vision test manually. It just gets verified by the machine when you do the occupational medical. Its possible that your Dr was just worried that if he/she didn't do it accurately it may come back to bite them in the butt down the road...
Otherwise if you want to get it done with the machine, the best bet is an eye Dr certified to do Transport Canada medicals (I had one done downtown in the Calgary Tower Profesional Building, but I can't remember the Dr's name. It was over 6 years ago) but then you're probably looking at around $100...I can recomend my Eye Dr if you want, he charges $65 for exams and CPS forms.

[Malaka]

On to the next stage, the panel interview. So.... any input from anyone? What kind of questions should I try to prepare for?

[journey2cps-redux]

I got in trouble from the RCMP last time I tried to help people with the interview....

It's the standard Behavioural Event Interview. Write down all relevant experiences in the STAR format, and Calgary will ask 2 questions not in that format. One at the begining, "Tell us about yourself" and one at the very end, "Why should we hire you". The last one is one of the most important. It is your final shot at selling yourself and your skills to the Calgary Police. In a lot of cases it is this answer that decides the pass/fail for the person, not JUST this question, but if someone is close one way or the other this can make or break you...

[MALAKA]

Thanks for the input. I would like to hear from anyone with some constructive information. I guess I was in the same examination room as you. Wish you luck, I received my results after I wrote the exam. Anyways now that I have that obstacle taken care of, onto the next.