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Prioritisation Task 4
You are a university student applying for Physician Associate Studies; outline the order in which you would prioritise the following five tasks:
- Your university examinations commence in 3 months, and you have yet to commence your revision.
- Your friend has requested your assistance to re-paint the outside of their new house.
- Your younger sister has asked you to help her with GCSE Maths homework.
- You have your first PA interview in 2 weeks, and you have little idea what to expect.
- Your form tutor has asked you to assist with the university workshop programme, which runs every day from 15:30 – 18:30.
Average Candidate Response
- Many students often feel pressured into providing instant answers and don’t use the time provided to assess the options available before providing a response. This often leads to hesitation and pauses between sentences and selection of subsequent tasks. Additionally, a lack of planning may cause candidates to change their prioritisation order half way through the task.
- Additionally, whilst this case states the need to prioritise the tasks, many students will stop at this alone. It is essential to not only prioritise, but also justify each prioritisation.
Excellent Candidate Response
‘BlackStone Tutors 5 Step Approach to Prioritisation Tasks’
Alternatively, if the task were based in ………….I would prioritise taking……….
My immediate priority would be preparing for my upcoming PA interview, as I have worked very hard to reach this position and pursuing a career as a PA is a long term objective of mine. Additionally, this is the most time specific and pressing task with the interview two weeks away, and preparation is likely to take at least this period of time.
My next priority would be to assist my younger sister with her GCSE Maths homework. Given that I was recently in this position, I can relate to the challenges and pressures that she may be facing and am sure that she would appreciate my assistance. Furthermore, having covered these topics relatively recently, this task would not be overly time consuming and would subsequently allow me to address alternative priorities.
With my university examinations three months away, now would be an appropriate time to commence my preparation for these vitally important exams. Given my interview in two weeks, initially this would be a secondary focus, however thereafter my examination preparation would be the primary objective. Initially, during periods of break from interview preparation, ensuring that my notes and preparation materials are in order would be an appropriate use of time.
Whilst I would want to assist daily in workshop classes, I recognise that this may not be practical as interviews and examinations approach. Rather than committing to this task and later dropping out, I think it would be more appropriate to establish if it is possible to assist with this important programme once per week, in order to ensure that I can provide a realistic long term commitment.
Finally, I recognise that it is important to support friends and family, however equally it is likely that my friend is also conducting his/her university examinations this year. Thus, I would explore the possibility of postponing the painting of his new house until the summer holidays, when we will both likely have far more time and will be able to complete this task to a better standard.
‘BlackStone Tutors 5 Step Approach to Prioritisation Tasks’
- Review the options available
- Identify your 5 preferred items/the ideal order to complete the tasks
- Explain why you have chosen these options/this order (making your explanations as specific as possible to the task, eg. Why some tasks are ranked highly)
- Explain why you did not choose the other options/why they are ranked lower
- Possible further mentions:
Alternatively, if the task were based in ………….I would prioritise taking……….
My immediate priority would be preparing for my upcoming PA interview, as I have worked very hard to reach this position and pursuing a career as a PA is a long term objective of mine. Additionally, this is the most time specific and pressing task with the interview two weeks away, and preparation is likely to take at least this period of time.
My next priority would be to assist my younger sister with her GCSE Maths homework. Given that I was recently in this position, I can relate to the challenges and pressures that she may be facing and am sure that she would appreciate my assistance. Furthermore, having covered these topics relatively recently, this task would not be overly time consuming and would subsequently allow me to address alternative priorities.
With my university examinations three months away, now would be an appropriate time to commence my preparation for these vitally important exams. Given my interview in two weeks, initially this would be a secondary focus, however thereafter my examination preparation would be the primary objective. Initially, during periods of break from interview preparation, ensuring that my notes and preparation materials are in order would be an appropriate use of time.
Whilst I would want to assist daily in workshop classes, I recognise that this may not be practical as interviews and examinations approach. Rather than committing to this task and later dropping out, I think it would be more appropriate to establish if it is possible to assist with this important programme once per week, in order to ensure that I can provide a realistic long term commitment.
Finally, I recognise that it is important to support friends and family, however equally it is likely that my friend is also conducting his/her university examinations this year. Thus, I would explore the possibility of postponing the painting of his new house until the summer holidays, when we will both likely have far more time and will be able to complete this task to a better standard.