On September 1, 2022, I received an invitation to the selection board scheduled for November 2022. It offered several date options, providing the flexibility needed to arrange time off from work. At that time, I had not informed anyone in my Chain of Command. I attended the board alone due to the unavailability of childcare. The interview took place at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel in London.

Choosing to stay at the same hotel seemed like the more convenient and stress-free option. I traveled down the night before, woke up refreshed, and avoided the rush hour traffic hassle. It’s worth noting that travel and accommodation costs are on you, and the dress code is business attire.

Day One

Medical Interview

0830 and it was a very relaxed start, the staff introduced themselves and gave an outline of the two days then left us to smash the free coffee and pastries. We were split into groups and I had the medical interview first. This is where the team’s doctor goes through all the medical info you sent and discusses any issues you might have. It lasted 15 min and they tell you at that point if you have passed the medical process or not.

My blood test showed high cholesterol which with my trade being aircrew made them reluctant to pass me and I needed to have some further tests done to see why it was so high. You can read more about this here: https://newadventuresdownunder.com/delays-due-to-medical-issues/

Psych assessment

The afternoon was called the Psych assessment, you will have received a mental health questionnaire in the weeks running up to the interview which they will discuss if it flags up anything. Then it’s a short-written essay; this initially freaked me out because I hadn’t expected it or prepared but I didn’t need to worry.

4 basic questions needed answering and I think it was 30 mins to complete the task. The questions were like “What can you bring to the ADF” and “What will be the major challenges you will face when moving over” its real basic stuff and I honestly think it’s to make sure you can sting a sentence together. If I passed you don’t need to worry about it lol. That was the end of day one, it was over by 3pm and I was in the pub by 3:05.

Day Two

Briefings

After more coffee and pastries we moved into a briefing room and had a number of presentations covering career management, housing, pay + benefits and general life in Australia. It was very chilled and this was open to partners. The presentations were sent to us electronically so you can take them home to show your family.

Lunch was booked for the whole selection board, the staff mixed themselves amongst the candidates and chatted all things Oz.

Interview

The afternoon is all about the interview. 3 of the staff ( A Lt Col, the career manager and a Psych Doc) were sat at a table Alan Sugar Apprentice style and called 5 of us into the room. They asked us to give a 2 minutes introduction about our life avoiding anything military – easier said than done. Once they explained how the interview will work they asked us to leave the room calling the candidates back in individually for the main event.

I was the last to get called in and by this time it was 5pm, this distracted me a little seeing everyone come out with a “yes” or “no”. I sat down and was asked 4 questions. On a white board in the coffee room were 4 really basic questions like; “What does a good offer look like to you?” the questions were up from day one so I had plenty of time to think about my answers and that’s what I got asked about first.

They then asked me about where I see myself in 5 years and made reference to stuff I had done in the past so they do read your file. The career manager went onto to explain where they wanted me to be posted and asked me what I thought. I then got asked how Australian aviation looks compared to the UK’s. It felt very informal for me and at no point did I feel uncomfortable.

I didn’t get asked any tricky trade questions or how many states Oz has etc, again this is only my experience and I think it can vary a lot. We discussed my starting date which can be brought forward with a conversation post the visa approval if needed. They stood up shook my hand and told me I had passed the selection board and that was it done, lasted about 20 mins.

Interview preparation

What preparation did I do?. The ADF had just published its 2023 defence review, this document was a great heads up as it talked about the restructure of units and locations along with new assets; the link is below. I looked at some military history stuff and basic aussie political stuff like who’s in power and how the government looks compared to ours.

I got an update on the situation in Taiwan and looked into how China is behaving in the south China sea – all from the news and open source stuff. I did some research on my trade and reached out to my mates already in the ADF to get an understating of how the future looks. I never got asked anything mental and I over prepared which isn’t a bad thing. I genuinely felt like they wanted me, just be yourself.

This has now been released and would be good to read for those on the 2024 selection board: 2024 National Defence Strategy and 2024 Integrated Investment Program.

https://www.defence.gov.au/about/strategic-planning/2024-national-defence-strategy-2024-integrated-investment-program

National Defence: Defence Strategic Review 2023 | About | Defence

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