Concerns about ALO Interview

flieger83 said:
Hi!

Okay, let's take your question: "What impact does the ALO Evaluator interview have on you receiving an appointment if you do well or poorly during the interview? "

Let's take this piece by piece. The interview is subjective. The evaluator ALO has his/her set of questions (or not, they may just take them as they come) that they will "probe" the candidate with. I have a list of questions that I send the candidate prior to our "meeting." It gives me some "meat" for the writeup and gets the candidate thinking.

From that point on...the interview is what it is. How the candidate responds to the questions, what they have told me, what they offer up...all of that is factored into the ratings I give. At the end of the day, I have to rate the candidate in nine areas:

Character/Core Values
Self Confidence
Human Relations
Planning/Organizing
Communicative Skills
Leadership
Motivation toward the USAF
Any additional factors I wish to add/comment upon
Overall recommendation

What impact does the interview have. Let's cut to the chase: can an ALO torpedo a candidate? The honest answer is yes. HOWEVER, in 28 years of being an ALO, I've done this exactly twice. In both instances the candidate lied to me, at least twice. In each instance I gave that person the opportunity to "recant/retract/change" and yet they doubled-down.

The role of the evaluator ALO is NOT to "weed out the weak." Far from that, our role is to complete the "picture" admissions has of the candidate. We supply the mental image that the paperwork might not. In that case, we have to be subjective: is the candidate nervous? Are they so gung ho that they're responses as a bit...flubbed due to nerves? And the like. Let's face it, we all get nervous and second/third guess our answers. That's completely normal! I try to structure my interviews more as a casual conversation...we'll talk about flying, deployments I've had, things I did silly at the academy that they should avoid, etc. All the while I'm asking them questions, very conversationally, and I'm getting the information I seek; many times without them realizing it.

And after all that, I choose the rating I give and complete the form. Will my evaluation "ruin" their chances or "ensure" their chances? My ego would love to say yes, but in reality, no. It will help or just clear up questions. It almost never hurts unless the record just isn't there in which case, the ratings will be low, but that's not due to the interview.

Does this help?

Steve
USAFA ALO
(Evaluator and Mentor)
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Thank you, for this information. Does a high rating improve your chance of getting an appointment? In your rating can you make a recommendation for an appointment?
 
Avenger2027 said:
Thank you, for this information. Does a high rating improve your chance of getting an appointment? In your rating can you make a recommendation for an appointment?
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The answer is "maybe/perhaps/if all things are equal..." My rating, alone, is just one piece of the puzzle. In and of itself, no, it won't improve the chances. Taken in aggregate with all the other parts, it will contribute and "might" in some small cases, be a deciding factor. I tell candidates: "don't count on this being THE decider...there's SO much more in the package!"

Can I recommend an offer be made? ABSOLUTELY! And if warranted, I do. In no uncertain terms!

Of course, USAFA doesn't have to act upon my recommendation, but I'm told a strong recommendation IS looked at. Beyond that...

Steve
 
flieger83 said:
The answer is "maybe/perhaps/if all things are equal..." My rating, alone, is just one piece of the puzzle. In and of itself, no, it won't improve the chances. Taken in aggregate with all the other parts, it will contribute and "might" in some small cases, be a deciding factor. I tell candidates: "don't count on this being THE decider...there's SO much more in the package!"

Can I recommend an offer be made? ABSOLUTELY! And if warranted, I do. In no uncertain terms!

Of course, USAFA doesn't have to act upon my recommendation, but I'm told a strong recommendation IS looked at. Beyond that...

Steve
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Thank you once again, Sir. I truly appreciate the valuable insight into the ALO Evaluator interview and rating process.
 
I can get what I need to complete my evaluation in 30 minutes. If an interview is that short it means the candidate gave me the bare minimum answers and usually ends up with a very average eval.

My strongest candidates end up at 1 hour +. They elaborate in their answers, tell good stories, and have insightful responses... actually have something to say!

My all-time worst interviews?
- The candidate that stood me up for a scheduled interview and then zoomed in from a supply closet when we rescheduled
- The son/brother of officers that couldn't tell me why he wanted to serve in the Air Force, just that he wanted to be an airline pilot
 
flieger83 said:
The answer is "maybe/perhaps/if all things are equal..." My rating, alone, is just one piece of the puzzle. In and of itself, no, it won't improve the chances. Taken in aggregate with all the other parts, it will contribute and "might" in some small cases, be a deciding factor. I tell candidates: "don't count on this being THE decider...there's SO much more in the package!"

Can I recommend an offer be made? ABSOLUTELY! And if warranted, I do. In no uncertain terms!

Of course, USAFA doesn't have to act upon my recommendation, but I'm told a strong recommendation IS looked at. Beyond that...

Steve
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How is the rating scored for each category and what is the breakdown of the overall rating? (Exceeds, Meets, Average...etc)
 
Avenger2027 said:
How is the rating scored for each category and what is the breakdown of the overall rating? (Exceeds, Meets, Average...etc)
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Each category has a "point value" assigned and a LENGTHY description of what that rating means/should mean/should reflect. I don't think I'm at liberty to give out the category point values, the overall point scoring system, or such; that's proprietary.

However, don't fret this. Don't focus upon "how do I get the most points, what do the categories mean, etc." That's not the purpose here.

The ALO evaluation is one of a myriad of tools the admissions folks use to help them make their decision. It will NOT be the decider. Oh, I suppose if two candidates were quantitatively the same...then perhaps it "might" but even then...

The ALO evaluation is as much subjective as it is qualitative. To give you an idea...let's say it's worth 500 points. What if I told you that a "good, very competitive score" was in the 340-390 range? Scores above 400 are uncommon, and above 450 they're as rare as hen's teeth. Would you buy that? Because that's similar to the real deal (no, the evaluation is not worth 500 points, these are just made up for explanation).

One should not worry about this interview. Treat it like any other. The ALO is just trying to learn about the candidate, what makes them "who they are?" Why do they want to do this? What are their goals and aspirations? Do they realize that the academy is about military service? (some, especially recruited athletes do not). I will ask questions that make the candidate think. At least one will be a question that I KNOW they can't answer. I want to see how they respond. Will they try to bluff me? (BAD idea) or do they have the moral courage to honestly say "Uh, wow, uh...sir, I don't know." (GOOD ANSWER!!!) And then I'll respond with "Okay, that's no big deal...take a moment, think about what I asked, and then tell me what you think." There's no "right or wrong" here, I just want to know how they think, and how they respond after having given me an honest, and difficult, answer.

It's supremely difficult NOT to focus on "I need the most points possible, get everything I can..." but on this one thing, that's a challenge.

Just go into it as relaxed as you can, ready to answer any question you're asked, be completely honest, and it'll turn out great!!

We're they're to help, not harm.

Steve
USAFA ALO
(Evaluator and Mentor)
 
T-37IP said:
One of son's interview was 15 minutes, at the most, the other was an hour and a half plus, they are both at USAFA.Both were November appointments, non-athletic, regular people
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As a parent of a “non-athletic, regular people”, I am glad to hear that they can make it to the Academies…just hoping your regular and my regular are similar. (It astounds/concerns me that our local school district considers a 3.5 ”academic middle” on a 4.0 scale).
 
HereToLearn said:
As a parent of a “non-athletic, regular people”, I am glad to hear that they can make it to the Academies…just hoping your regular and my regular are similar. (It astounds/concerns me that our local school district considers a 3.5 ”academic middle” on a 4.0 scale).
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By "non-athletic", I meant not USAFA, division 1 athletes, in high school they were multi-sport varsity letter kids.
 
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