Hello there! My name is Richard McMunn from the Royal Navy recruitment website, How2Become.com.
And in this tutorial, I'm going to teach you how to pass a Royal Navy officer interview.
So it does not matter which specialism or branch you are being interviewed for as part
of the Royal Navy, if you have an officer interview coming up, please do make sure you
watch this tutorial from beginning to end, because I'm going to cover a number of interview
questions and suggested answers to help you pass. Before I do that, a very warm welcome
to this Royal Navy officer interview training tutorial. My name is Richard McMunn. That's
me there in the centre of the screen. I am a former member of the Royal Navy myself,
and also a former Fire Officer of 17 years. And since then, I've been helping people to
pass their interviews. And I always do that by giving you top scoring answers to the interview
questions you can't find anywhere else. On that basis, please do make you make sure you
SUBSCRIBE to the channel by clicking the red button below the video, and then you won't
miss out on any of the weekly training videos I upload. I would also very much appreciate
your support if you gave the video a LIKE! Thank you very much. That tells me you enjoy
the content and I will therefore spend more time creating it for you. Thank you. You can
also connect with me on LinkedIn.com if you want to. I've put my LinkedIn.com link in
the description below the video, and it's always good to connect with like-minded professionals
such as yourself. Let's get into the training. The first Royal Navy Officer interview question
I want to tackle is: Why do you want to join the Royal Navy and not the Royal Air Force
or the Army? Here is my suggested answer to help you prepare. “I want to join the Royal
Navy for four specific reasons. The first reason is, I want to work for an organisation
that sets high standards, and that expects nothing less from all of its staff. Although
I am still young, I have come to realise that the only way you can get on in life and make
a success of yourself is by having high standards. The second reason why I want to join the Royal
Navy, is because I want to develop the skills and qualities I already have whilst learning
new ones that I would not be able to get elsewhere. The third reason is based on teamwork. Even
though I am applying to become an Officer with the Royal Navy, whereby I will be required
to manage and lead men and women, I still want to work as part of a team. This is because
the sense of achievement you get from working as part of a team far outweighs individual
gains. Finally, I would feel a great sense of pride if I get to become an Officer in
the Royal Navy. The reputation this organization has around the globe is second to none, and
that’s the reason why I have my heart set on the Royal Navy and no other service.”
What I like about that answer, is you are giving a set number of reasons. You've thought
about this, and I've given four reasons there why I want to join the Royal Navy and not
the Royal Air Force or the Army. The second Royal Navy officer interview question I want
to tackle is: Why do you want to become an officer in the Royal Navy? Here's my suggested
answer. “I have considered very carefully the level of responsibility that comes with
being an Officer with the Royal Navy, and having analysed my own skills, qualities,
values and traits, I feel I have the potential to achieve great things as an Officer. For
example, whenever I am at work, or if I am with my friends, and a problem occurs, I naturally
want to step up and take responsibility for sorting things out. I also feel I can persuade
and motivate people quite well, and obviously given the level of training I would receive
as an Officer, this is something I could develop and use effectively when leading a team of
men and women. My desire and passion to become an Officer with the Royal Navy has only grown
with the more research I have conducted. Whilst I am certainly not perfect, and I have a lot
to learn, I really do feel I could make a good Officer and help the already established
leadership and management team of the Royal Navy continue to grow and thrive as the years
go by.” That's a very good answer! It's a confident answer, and it gives some really
good reasons why you may want to become an officer in the Royal Navy. The next Royal
Navy officer interview question number three, what's the difference between leadership and
management? This is a tough interview question that does come up quite often during the Admiralty
Interview Board interview. Here is my suggested answer. “Management is essentially a set
of processes that maintain the effective functioning of an organisation. In respect of the Royal
Navy, those processes would include planning, preparation, solving problems, the Royal Navy
budget, staffing, recruitment and retention, and also measuring staff performance through
appraisals. Leadership, on the other hand, is about motivating, directing, inspiring
and supporting Royal Navy staff, and the men and women of your team, to achieve a specific
objective or goal. Leadership is how you get your most valuable asset (the men and women
of the Royal Navy) to use the resources and equipment at their disposal
to achieve the objective as an officer in the
Royal Navy.” The next Royal Navy officer interview question number three is, tell me
what you know about Royal Navy officer training and which aspects you will find the most challenging?
Here's my suggestion answer. “There are three initial phases of Officer training.
Phase 1 is Militarisation which consists of 15 weeks basic training covering fitness and
medical assessments, leadership and weapons training, basic seamanship, CBRN and Damage
Control training, and also Battlefield Studies in France, and a four-day Practical Leadership
Assessment on Dartmoor. Phase 2 is another 15 week course entitled Marinisation. This
is where I will put my leadership skills into a maritime environment. This will include
advanced planning in the form of Maritime Tactical Estimate, boat handling and navigation
training, a 3-week Sea Acquaint onboard a Royal Naval Warship, Critical Thinking presentations
and also a four-day practical leadership maritime exercise. Once I have completed phases 1 and
2, I would move on to Professional Training, whereby I would learn how to speclalise in
my chosen role. This would include time at sea and also time in the classroom. In regard
to which aspects I would find the most challenging, I feel this would be navigation skills. I
have not previously carried much navigation training; however, to improve my knowledge
in this area, I have undertaken two online study courses from the website Udemy to help
me get up to speed in this area in preparation for Officer training if I am successful. So,
obviously, that's an in-depth answer. My advice is to go that that level of depth with regards
to what you would be required to do during your training. I would also recommend that
you look into your professional training on what you would be required to undergo, because
that shows that I know what I'm going to go through, but also which areas I may struggle
with. Now, you might think there aren't really any areas that you would struggle with, but
I think we would all, if we're being honest, admit that there are some aspects that we
would struggle with. So this question might be assessing your levels of honesty, whether
you really know yourself, what you're good at and what you're not good at. What I like
about that, is I have shown that I'm doing something about it before I apply to join.
There's a website called Udemy.com. You can find lots of courses on there. And even though
the level of training I would receive on that website with regards to navigation training
wouldn't be to the same standard you get in the Royal Navy, it shows an intent that you
are trying to learn and develop yourself, which I think is the most important aspect
of that answer. So let's take a look at another Royal Navy officer interview question. Describe
a situation in which you have shown moral courage? So we have to understand what moral
courage is. Let me give you an answer. “I was carrying out some part-time work in a
bar during my university days. Whilst serving a customer, I overheard another member of
staff being rude and using inappropriate language to a female member of the bar staff. As soon
as I heard his comments, I challenged him calmly, but assertively. I said that the comments
were not only unwelcome and not fair to our work colleague, but that it wasn’t good
for our customers to hear that kind of language. Later on, the person who made the comments
complained to me in private that he felt I was out of order for challenging him, and
that it was just a bit of banter. I told him that respectable banter was good for morale,
but that when the comments made are offensive, they would not be tolerated all the time I
was working there. He then backed down and said he respected my view and that he wouldn’t
say anything like that again.” I think that's a really good answer, because not many people
would challenge inappropriate behaviour, but we should do in those situations, especially
if we are going to be a leader and an officer and a manager within the Royal Navy, which
is a brilliant organization! I think that's a really good answer. Next interview question
for Royal Navy officer selection is, talk me through any past leadership experience
you have? Here is my suggested answer. “Whilst working in a previous job, our manager at
the time called an urgent staff meeting. She informed everyone that, due to the company
experiencing difficult trading conditions, some members of staff would be moved to different
departments which meant we would need to take on extra duties. The vast majority of people
in the team were not happy with the proposed changes. Once the meeting was over I decided
to speak to everyone to motivate them and explain to them how these changes would actually
be good for all of us in the long term. I explained that we would not only be helping
out the organisation in its time of need, which is what we all should be doing, but
that we would also get to learn some new skills in the process. After a bit of heated debate,
everyone agreed with my suggestion that we should to give the changes a try and embrace
the changes positively. After 4 weeks of the new working practices, everyone was fully
onboard with the new way of working and morale was back up to its previous levels.” Even
though you are not being a direct leader there, you are showing leadership skills and potential,
because you are stepping up and saying to everyone… “Come on, we need to take on
board these changes and adapt to them because it's going to be good for us and also good
for the organisation.” That's a really good answer in my opinion. Now, if you want more
help with your Royal Navy officer interview, and in particular the AIB, the Admiralty interview
board, CLICK THAT LINK at the top right hand corner of the video. It takes you to my website
How2Become.com and you can literally GET ACCESS to my online training course within two minutes
from now. It will really help you to prepare effectively for the Royal Navy officer selection
process and the entire Admiralty Interview Board, including planning exercises, practical
leadership tasks, the whole lot! It's a really good course. I recommend you get access to.
Thanks for watching. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn.com. Please do SUBSCRIBE
and hit the LIKE button. I appreciate your support. Thank you for watching. I wish you
all the best. Have a brilliant day.