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Interview with Rod Powers
Interview with Rod Powers
About
Rod Powers
Rod Powers retired
from the Air Force in September 1998 with
22 years of service, 11 of those years as
a first sergeant. He's been stationed around
the World (both in Europe and Asia). Powers
is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," and
has been a featured speaker at various military
ceremonies. His decorations include the Meritorious
Service Medal with three oak-leaf clusters.
Mr. Powers holds an Associate Degree in Personnel
Administration from the Community College
of the Air Force. He's also a distinguished
graduate of the Air Force NCO Academy, Senior
NCO Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant
Academy.
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INTRODUCTION: Rod Powers is a retired Air Force First Sergeant
and military author. His informative articles about joining
the military have appeared in numerous military and civilian publications.
He has also authored a book about the ASVAB, entitled "ASVAB
For Dummies". Military.com recently spoke with Rod about
the ASVAB
and strategies for success. If you're going to take the ASVAB, be
sure you read this interview!
Military.com: Can you tell us about your background and how
you became an ASVAB expert?
Rod Powers: I spent 23 years in the Air
Force. 11 of those years were in the position of First Sergeant.
A substantial part of my duties as a first sergeant was to counsel
and prepare my people for re-training opportunities. The ASVAB test
was part of this.
A first sergeant makes many, many contacts in the course of his or
her business. Many of my contacts were those in the recruiting world
(for all of the services, not just the Air Force). Over the years,
I've cultivated friendships among recruiters, recruiting first sergeants,
recruiting commanders, and MEPS personnel. After my retirement, I
used these contacts to extensively educate myself on the recruiting
policies, regulations, and practices of all of the services.
Military.com: What is the best way to prepare for the ASVAB?
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Rod Powers: Questions on the ASVAB are not difficult. None
of the topics ask questions beyond the high school level. The best
way to prepare for the ASVAB is to determine your areas of weakness
by using a practice test (such as those contained in "ASVAB for Dummies").
Use the results of the practice test to discover which particular
subject areas you need to study.
"ASVAB for Dummies" is written with this concept in mind. It's not
simply a collection of practice questions, as many other ASVAB study
guides are. Each ASVAB subject area is covered with explanations of
how that particular subject area applies to the overall ASVAB Score
(if it does), and how it applies to specific military job qualifications.
Additionally, there are extensive tips for further study in each area
to help the applicant improve their specific scores.
Military.com: If you don't do well on a section of the ASVAB
that you need for an MOS, but score well overall, can you still get
that MOS? For example, you could get a 99 for your AFQT (math and
verbal sections), but still miss all of the auto & shop questions.
If you did this, could you still get a MOS such as aircraft/engine
repair?
Rod Powers: The overall ASVAB score is known as the AFQT (Armed
Forces Qualification Test) score. This score is used to determine
whether or not one is (overall) qualified to join the service. This
score is comprised of only four subtests of the ASVAB (math and verbal
subtests), and is a percentile score (1 to 99). For example, the Air
Force requires an AFQT score of 40 or higher to join. The Army
requires an AFQT score of only 31 or higher, but one must score at
least a 50 to qualify for certain incentives, such as enlistment bonuses.
Actual job qualification, however, is not based on the AFQT Score.
Each of the services have developed a "composite score" system, which
is based upon individual subtests of the ASVAB. Composite scores determine
job qualification. If one does not achieve the required composite
score that the job requires, they don't qualify for that job. It's
that simple. There are provisions for composite score waivers (not
more than five points), but such waivers are approved only in exceptional
cases (such as the individual has extensive civilian education and
experience that relates to the job).
Military.com: What section(s) are usually the most troublesome
for recruits?
Rod Powers: Depends. Males usually do well on the electronics
and mechanics section, but have problems with the English (vocabulary,
reading comprehension, etc.) sections, while females generally do
well with the English sections, but not as well on the electronics
and mechanical areas. Most of it depends on courses/experience from
high school, and fewer females take auto or shop classes. However,
the mechanical and electronics sub-tests are not used to determine
overall ASVAB scores, and most females who are interested in electronic
or mechanical military jobs, are the ones who are likely to have taken
such courses in high school.
Military.com: What are some typical mistakes recruits make
in preparing (or not preparing) for the ASVAB?
Rod Powers: The biggest mistake applicants make is to purchase
an ASVAB study guide, and then waste time trying to memorize the answers
to the questions presented in that guide.
The ASVAB test is a highly controlled test. No author of any study
guide has access to the actual questions on the test. At most, we
can present similar questions. By the rarest of random chances, one
might find one or two questions on the ASVAB that are the exact same
that one saw in a study guide; but, for the most part, that's not
going to happen.
ASVAB study guides are valuable tools which can show one the specific
areas that one needs to concentrate on in order to score well on the
ASVAB. The correct way to use available study guides is to give yourself
a "self-test," determine which areas you don't do so well in, then
use other resources (high school and college text books, available
in any public library) to study those areas.
Military.com: How much do time limits become a factor, or do
most people finish well within them?
Rod Powers: The time limits are not much of a factor for most
people. Most applicants finish the specific sections well before the
time limit. The exception is some specifically-timed sections of the
ASVAB which are "speed tests" (such as the "coding speed" section,
which is being deleted). In those sub-tests, individuals are not expected
to complete all the questions, just as many as they can.
Military.com: How much of an effect do your ASVAB scores have
many years down the line, when you might be looking to become an officer?
Rod Powers: Depends on the service. The Army is the only service
that uses ASVAB scores exclusively for "officer test" qualification.
In the Army, one needs an Army "GT" (General Technical, which is Word
Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension plus Arithmetic Reasoning) composite
score of 115 to qualify for commissioning programs. The Air Force
and Navy
both have separate officer qualifying tests. In the Marine
Corps, one must have a GT score of 115, or one must achieve a
minimum score on the Math and Verbal sections of the SAT or ACT.
One of the most significant factors for commissioned officer qualification
is college grade-point average. With the exception of the Army, which
allows enlisted personnel to apply for a commission after earning
90 college credits (if they can finish their degree within one year),
commissioned officers *must* have a bachelor's degree. Officer qualification
test scores, college grade point average, and military record are
the primary means of selecting officer candidates.
Military.com: Along the career development track, if you're
2-3 years into your MOS, and you want to transfer to a completely
different job, can you take the ASVAB over again? Do they look at
your old scores at all?
Rod Powers: In conjunction with retraining, one can retake
the ASVAB, if they wish. When taken in-service, it's given a different
name -- the Armed Forces Classification Test (AFCT); but, other than
the name, it's the same test. The scores used are the scores achieved
on the last test taken, not the highest scores. That means one could
potentially qualify to re-train into a specific job, then take the
AFCT, get a lower score and no longer qualify.
Military.com: Can you skip a section and come back to it later?
Rod Powers: No. If one takes the paper version of the test,
one is given one section of the test at a time, and not given the
next section until they finish the first section. If one is taking
the computerized version of the test, the computer will not present
the next section until the previous section is finished (or the time-limit
for that section runs out).
Military.com: How many times can you take the ASVAB? How long
is it valid for?
Rod Powers: Depends. The ASVAB scores are valid as long as
one is in the service. In other words, if one re-trains after 10 years
in the service, the original ASVAB scores are used for job-qualification
purposes (unless one elects to re-test, in which case, the latest
test scores are used).
If one is not in the service, the ASVAB scores are valid for two years.
If one took the test over two years ago, and now wants to join the
service, they would have to retake the ASVAB.
There are special provisions that govern ASVAB retests. With the exception
of the Navy (discussed below), one cannot re-take the ASVAB for the
specific purpose of raising line-scores in order to try and qualify
for a specific job. One can only retake the ASVAB if they fail to
achieve the minimum AFQT score required to enter that specific service.
For example, lets say someone is joining the Army and got an overall
ASVAB score (AFQT score) of 50, but didn't didn't get a composite
score high enough for the specific job they wanted. That's just tough.
Because they scored high enough overall to join the Army, they cannot
re-take the ASVAB.
However, let's say that same person scored a 30 on the AFQT. That
person would be allowed to re-test, because he/she failed to achieve
a minimum qualifying score.
There is an exception to the above rule. If one can show that something
unusual happened during the test that affected their test-score, one
can request a re-test, even if they achieved a qualifying score. For
example, both of my daughters (twins, now serving in the Air Force)
first took the ASVAB (paper version) at a local National Guard Amory.
On the day of the test, the air conditioner broke, and the room temperature
was higher than 95 degrees. Even though both achieved a qualifying
score, they were allowed to re-test, because the test conditions were
such to negatively affect their test scores.
One must wait a minimum of 30 days for the first re-test, 30 days
for the second re-test, and then a minimum of six months for any re-tests
thereafter. There are no limits to the number of times the ASVAB can
be taken (keeping in mind the above rules).
The High School ASVAB (the ASVAB that is given to students in high
schools) does not fall under the re-test rules. If one takes the ASVAB
in high school, one can enlist using those scores, or one can elect
to retake the ASVAB through the recruiter, regardless of scores achieved
on the high school test. However, the latest scores, not the highest,
are the ones used for enlistment qualifications.
The Navy is the only service that will allow an applicant to re-take
the ASVAB for the specific purpose of raising individual scores for
job qualifications. However, in order to do so, the applicant must
show that there is a substantial chance that the retest will result
in a higher sub-test score. For example, let's say a Navy applicant
wished to qualify for the Nuclear program, but didn't have high enough
math scores. If that recruit took some college math courses, he/she
could then request a re-test.
Military.com: If you're at MEPS and suddenly get sick or get
too anxious, can you cancel your test and try again later? What if
you have already started?
Rod Powers: Any test that is officially started is considered
a valid test, and falls under the retest rules above. So, if it is
a first test, one would have to wait a minimum of 30 days to retest.
If it's a re-test, and the applicant gets sick or anxious, then he/she
won't be allowed to test again for six months (this can be waived
by the recruiting squadron/battalion/division commander, but such
waivers are rare).
Military.com: If you're stuck on a question, should you pass
the question and come back to it later (while you're still in that
same section of the test), or should you just guess and move on?
Rod Powers: This is certainly possible on the paper version.
It is not an option on the computerized version of the ASVAB, since
the computer will not go onto the next question until the previous
question is answered.
One advantage of the computerized version is that ASVAB questions
are "weighted." In other words, harder questions are granted more
points than easier questions. On the computerized version, if one
gets a question correct, the computer will then choose a harder question
(worth more points) for the next question. If one gets a question
wrong, the computer will choose an easier question for the next question.
On average, this system results in higher overall ASVAB Scores. Those
who take both the paper and computerized ASVAB generally find that
they score higher on the computerized version.
