APC competency: fixing for final assessment

After many amendments, you have hit save on ARC and your submission is in. Now what? The assessment dates have been released: the first Land and Property panel is in Bolton on 1 May and the last one in Glasgow on 5 June. While a high percentage of candidates are allocated their first assessment centre preference, you should prepare for secondary options. You should receive confirmation a few weeks before the date itself. There is no “one size fits all” study plan, but now you know the dates you have a deadline for being “assessment ready”. Trying to prepare for the APC in isolation is far harder than working with others. Working with a study partner or group is a good idea. It helps set a timetable, facilitates sharing of information and mitigates against “blind spots” – obvious questions that you might have overlooked. You should practise answering questions from people familiar with the current APC process (preferably an assessor) in terms of both timing and approach to Level 3 questioning. Often we hear candidates who had mocks with someone who did their APC (or even the previous test of professional competence) years ago say “it was nothing like the real thing”. A core component of your preparation is familiarity with the current style of APC interview and knowing how to answer questions. Get a current APC assessor to go through your submission. The lists of questions that circulate are useful for Level 1 but won’t help with your assessment questioning on specific experience. To put questioning into context, expect to be asked 80 to 100 questions during the hour. Delivering your case study After a brief introduction by the chair, you will have 10 uninterrupted minutes to present your case study, followed by 10 minutes of questioning by the panel. This questioning will be on (and around) your case study, but assessors are encouraged to explore case study-relevant competencies during this slot. A good case study Q&A can address one or more of your declared competencies. Given that the case study is a third of the interview, you should be well prepared for it. You should have rehearsed your presentation timing so that it is no more than 10 minutes – but, importantly, it should not be materially less than 10. Eight minutes, for example, is way too short. You should have neatly written prompt cards, held together with a treasury tag in case you drop them, to be used only if you lose track – not to read from verbatim. The panel wants to see eye contact and engagement, not the top of your head. Presentation aids Many candidates now use a portable flipchart. If you do, make sure that it’s readable from a distance. Practise across a large table with a few people. It’s a delicate balance between being superficial and offering too much detail. Also, fill the page and do not use corporate templates. This is a personal interview, not a business pitch. Alternatively, consider a laminated A3 handout with some clear photographs and plans. Many assessors will print the submission in black and white, so detailed colour images are very useful for extra detail. Make sure, however, with photographs and plans that you can answer questions generated by them. For example, how can you tell the age/method of construction from the photograph? Look closely at the plans and be able to explain any markings, such as dotted lines or abbreviations, just as you might if a client asked you. Try not to read aloud what you have already written in the case study. That adds no real value. It’s much better to dig deep into some specific points on one of your key issues. If relevant (but it is not a requirement of the presentation), give the panel an update on what has happened since. Use that 10-minute slot to paint the picture and bring the project alive. That does not mean that you don’t summarise the whole project; it is about your choice of emphasis and making it interesting. Competencies Level 1 is about book knowledge or learning. Level 3 is about reasoned advice and a depth of understanding. They are complementary. You cannot advise on taking an “outside the Act” lease unless you understand security of tenure and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Level 1 knowledge is often the foundation of professional advice and you need to be able to demonstrate both. For all competencies, read your declared competencies in your Pathway Guide to see what you are expected to know. For your Level 2 and Level 3 competencies, ask yourself: “What Level 1 knowledge is relevant to this?” Hopefully, your submission was well crafted and makes explicit achievement of your Level 3 competencies through well-chosen experience-project examples. However, if on a re-read, you think it doesn’t, fear not. Rehearse answers that you would give to questions along the lines of “Tell me how you have provided reasoned advice for this competency?” Level 3 is about options and problems, how you analysed these and gave your client, internal or external, professional advice about what to do, so be able to talk about your reasoning, too. Just as there is a hierarchy of evidence, there is also a hierarchy of Level 1 knowledge. There are some documents that you simply must know and some on which the panel might show some latitude. Examples of must-know documents are Rules for Members, Rules for Firms, Surveying Safely (recently updated) and RICS Property Measurement. You need more than a superficial knowledge of these as they will be explored, and giving examples of them in use is a powerful way of demonstrating your learning in action. CPD If it is in the submission, it’s fair game for a question. If you went to a CPD event on recent developments in landlord and tenant case law, be able to name some recent cases and their relevance. Re-read what you say you attended and make sure you can explain what the learning outcome was. “Sorry, I can’t remember,” does not cut it in the interview. Conduct, rules and ethics Primacy or recency bias is the phenomenon that means that items near the end of a sequence are the easiest to recall, followed by the items at the beginning; items in the middle are the least likely to be remembered. This is true of APC interviews. Your knowledge and demonstration of conduct, rules and ethics are sometimes explored during the interview but will also always make an appearance in the last 10 minutes before the wrap-up. As a result, they are at the forefront of the panel’s mind when the door closes behind you. Ace that section and you might be forgiven for some earlier wobbles. Have a disaster, and previous strengths might be forgotten. I have little sympathy for candidates who are weak on rules and ethics. Not knowing, understanding and explaining the four requirements of CPD for professionally qualified members, for instance, will be looked on very badly. You have been warned. It’s probably harder to explain how you have demonstrated ethics – integrity, for example. Give this some thought and be prepared with some examples. Errors in the submission Assessors often get asked how best to deal with errors in the document that went unnoticed before submission. The answer is, it depends. If it is an absolute howler, a candidate may have to raise it at the beginning of the interview. If it is more subtle, raise it at an appropriate moment, should the need arise. Depending on the exact circumstances, be reassured that many submissions have typos and small errors – more than there should be – and assessors are used to it. However, always remember assessors’ ethical standards. You are responsible for what you have written and, as such, if it is a fundamental error it cannot simply be ignored. Focus: rules of conduct and professional ethics Five ethical principles: #2 – human behaviour This part of our ethical learning is always one of the most interesting because it is about how we view or value personal opportunity or benefit over the benefit of others. It can be linked to our sense of self-worth, importance and perceived value. Human behaviour is influenced by many things – such as power, humility, compassion, money or other tangible benefit. For APC it is about moderation and good ethical business, not allowing influence or bias to muddy the water or fuzz the edges of what clearly could become unethical. It is an inherent animal instinct to survive, but there are levels – and it is important to put the extremes into check and reflect on our actions. A good moral code and the interests of those around you as well as yourself will always prevail and an open attitude is often a start in the right direction. Resources DeLever APC Forum: in April 2019, Jon Lever will be discussing “hot topics” and you can feed in your thoughts DeLever critical dates sheet: includes all key dates and assessment locations  Final months support for APC candidates: mock interviews, final assessment practice, presentation masterclasses and more  Click on the links below to read the other features in this series: Submission possible: how to wow the APC assessors APC: negotiating the final hurdle APC competency: what to do if you’re referred APC competency: starting out on your journey Ralph Charlwood, FRICS, is a DeLever APC expert coach, mock interview assessor and RICS APC assessor and chair