Calming Nerves

[ands]

I have the test of my life in a couple of months, Electrical Capstone (final test of my apprenticeship). Practical one on one with an assessor, 100% required to pass and they recently changed it to no second chance (have to wait 6 months to rebook!) Anyone out there have any tips that will help me calm my nerves and clear my head, so I can pass this thing (I know what to do, the problem is making mistakes under pressure!)? Cheers!

 

[CapnBirdseye]

Study hard.
Practice past papers.
Exercise an hour a day.
Sleep properly every day.

Do not omit any of the above.

 

[trainspotter]

Study and believe in yourself and your abilities. Setup a "mock test" with a qualified person with questions you know will be asked. Try not to "choke" on the situation. Good luck

 

[grace]

Deep breathing will help calm nerves beforehand. Otherwise, it is a practical exam, so lots of practice prior to the day as others have said.

To relax during a test or whatever in life, I ask myself "what is the worse thing that could happen if I failed this?"....Normally the answer is not life threatening so.......I relax, stay calm, and don't get nervous. It is kind of reverse phsycology a bit. For me it works, but each to their own.

 

[Krusty the Klown]

1. Practice until you can do it in your sleep or do it without thinking - just like musicians do.

2. Like the last post - the world will not end if you do not pass. Keep that in mind. It sounds lame but put it in perspective with other things in life.

 

[michael_t_f]

Dont stress, I'm a sparky and have done the test it's not so hard. Remember your testing procedures in the correct steps. Get out the AS3000 and read through it regularly. You will be OK, just use common sense in your answers.
Hardest part for me was the maximum demand and design on a multi story three phase building.

 

[nunthewiser]

lots of sex before the game i got told is a great way to help things.........

 

[Smurf1976]

That particular test wasn't around when I got my electrical license but electrical inspectors, testing people etc tend to be especially worried about:

1. Maximum demand, voltage drop, cable selection etc calculations. You need to know this backwards, fowards and every other way. And I'd be expecting the questions to be about multiple domestic, commercial and/or industrial installations not a simple freestanding house. Probably a lift, a few motors, some water heaters and maybe even a welder buried amonst the detail just to make it more complex.

Personally, I find it much easier to understand the reasoning behind things rather than relying blindly on the formula. Otherwise I tend to just forget the formulas. Each to their own though...

2. Installation testing proceedures. There's more than one way of going about it and doing a thorough test, but the assessor won't be interested in that. Do it exactly they way you were taught at TAFE - odds are that's the only way they'll accept. Don't make stupid mistakes like selecting the wrong voltage on the Megger, forgetting about the MEN link or the equipotential bond to the water pipe.

3. I'd expect some earthing questions in there somewhere and probably some deliberate "faults" on any set up you are required to test.

Can't really help with the nerves bit, but I'd strongly suggest that you focus absolutely on this - just make AS3000 and AS3008.1 your life for a while and leave the partying until the test is passed.

As I said, I have NOT done a Capstone test, it wasn't around at the time, so the above is just my guess based on own experiences and that more recently with training apprentices (including those who have sat, and passed, Capstone tests).