Ice Sa

[500pearl]

Waiting to send out TO's until all applicants in a particular group are done with their panels, my prediction exactly [referring to my previous entry]. If the second group (85-89) TO will be distributed sometime after the 4th, then the third group (80-84) should have finished their panels by now and TO will distributed maybe by early August?

Not even sure if there is a fourth group (70-79) because 70 is considered a passing score but not sure if ICE will interview or consider people with scores below 80.

[glockpacker]

I had a friend who scored in the high 70's who was selected to interview recently. He had to push his interview date back once and then when they told him a second later date, he wasn't sure if he could make that and they said it was now or never. From that I draw 2 conclusions: 1) ICE has interviewed people in the 70's range (perhaps all of them... or atleast all that they are going to) and 2) There were no later interview dates to give him because the last of the interveiws were going to be concluded at that time. If that is the case then interview season for March/April 2008 testers is drawing to a close and now on to the the next phase for everyone.

[SHSURobert]

Thanks, Glock. Now, the question is... What was the latter interview date your friend was given?

[glockpacker]

His interview was late last week - so I need to call him and see what happened and if he learned anything. I'll update soon.

[ifineed2]

Glock he didn't, they didn't give him an idea about hiring or numbers at all. He said it went well though, same process as everyone else's, very to the point. Said they told him it could be 3 months or 3 years...lol, very typical.

[epff48]

Hello to all, I am new to the forum and I am a fellow April/08 tester. I had my SI in late May and still awaiting NOR's. I'm worried about the written sample, can anyone share how in-depth the samples are scored or maybe have an idea on what they base the grading on? I would really appreciate any responses...

[glockpacker]

The NOR is pass fail - with no feed back what so ever. The following is taken from a public section of the ICE website. It says what is graded. I would guess that Organization and presentation of ideas carries the most weight (as the other categories can be corrected by spell/grammar check).

"Your writing ability will be evaluated in relation to the following skill areas: organization; presentation of ideas; grammar, punctuation, and spelling; and vocabulary. Candidates must receive a “pass” in order to continue in the hiring process."


Hope that helps.

[YYZsurvivor]

Anyone hear anything further about classes being booked for August/September? I've been checking other forums neurotically and saw one post about an August class.

[glockpacker]

I am scheduled for a class in mid August.

[epff48]

The NOR is pass fail - with no feed back what so ever. The following is taken from a public section of the ICE website. It says what is graded. I would guess that Organization and presentation of ideas carries the most weight (as the other categories can be corrected by spell/grammar check).

"Your writing ability will be evaluated in relation to the following skill areas: organization; presentation of ideas; grammar, punctuation, and spelling; and vocabulary. Candidates must receive a “pass” in order to continue in the hiring process."


Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reponse, I have read that specific section on the ICE website.
Grading a written sample on a pass or fail bases seems a bit subjective, so I guess what im trying to say is are they just trying to determine whether you are an effective writer or a super technical writer? How in depth are these samples scored? Is this part of the process more of a technicality, it doesnt seem like a whole lot of people are getting eliminated by it?

Thanks again...

[echoshot3]

To me it seems that they just want to see that your not a complete idiot. Can you form a logical thought and sentence? Can you break up ideas into coherent paragraphs? Can you come up with some insightful ideas? Are your grammer, word choice, and puncuation at a college level? All these seem like relevant questions posed by this assignment. Most people that get this far have college degrees and experience so I would hope that they can answer the above mentioned questions within this writing piece. Then again, the most common complaint of employers about people coming out of college is about their inability to write so hopefully you can do it

[YYZsurvivor]

I have to also agree, with the writing sample it's best to keep it simple. If you start whipping out crazy punctuation you'd best know how to use it.

I kept it basic and simple. If you put together coherent paragraphs that run in a nice pattern and paint the picture you'll be fine.

Just don't get too tricky unless you are some kind of a grammar savant.

[YYZsurvivor]

I am scheduled for a class in mid August.

Glock, congrats on the call. You must be psyched! What's the class number?

[ifineed2]

YYZ today is "supposedly" the day we're "suppose" to hear something...what do you think the odds are?:D

[YYZsurvivor]

YYZ today is "supposedly" the day we're "suppose" to hear something...what do you think the odds are?:D

I've bet on longer shots than that. . . I'll cross my fingers, but I won't hold my breath:rolleyes:

I'll post if I hear anything, I'm planning on calling today anyways, went for the PP test on Thursday, and want to make sure my urine didn't end up lost in the mail due to the holiday weekend. :confused: