civil service SALARY scale QUESTION!!

sapper

My cousin has been offered a clerical officer position in the civil service but she does not know yet if she will be offered any more than the first point on the scale. she has ten years experience in accountancy sector and is part-qualified accountant, do they take this into account? or does everyone just start on the entry point?
my cousin has a disability so the entire family is relieved that she has secured a job in the Civil Service. She has been finding it difficult to change jobs from her current role (Working for a large multinational who are quite impatient with her in relation to her disabilty). Although she has a good CV, agencies are unable to find any positions for her, they are eager to get in touch wither her when she mails them her CV, but as soon as they hear about the disability she doesn't hear back from them.
She is naturally conflicted about whether or not she should take a significant pay cut in favour of more amenable working conditions.
I would be grateful if anyone out there knows about the possibilities for promotion once you are a cerical officer. She is a very ambitious person with a very strong commitment to work.
I would like to help her to make an informed decision. Any insider information would be really valuable. Thank you

Ogie16

I think everyone starts on the first point of the scale regardless of past experience or educational qualifications. I'm not 100% certain on that but i think i heard it sometime in the past.

copacetic

it's possible she will start above the entry point, but it will depend on where she is going to and how relevant her experience is. promotion ops are good and open and transparent, when EO or HEO comes up places are reserved for current staff and they are ranked by the exam with places filled from the top down. tbh she will be treated well in the civil service in relation to her disability and if she can afford the pay cut it would be a good move for her imo.

Treora

sapper wrote:

she has ten years experience in accountancy sector and is part-qualified accountant, do they take this into account? or does everyone just start on the entry point?

Yep everyone enters on the first point of the scale. There are allowances if she does specific work or unsociable hours.

sapper wrote:

She is naturally conflicted about whether or not she should take a significant pay cut in favour of more amenable working conditions.

And amenable they are. They'll fall over themselves to accommodate her. Flexi-time, study leave, fully paid primary degree/vocation and 50% for relevant ones there after. And the leave just keeps getting better. But being a career student is a no no. Keep her old academic reciepts and hope she has a nice boss.

sapper wrote:

I would be grateful if anyone out there knows about the possibilities for promotion once you are a cerical officer. She is a very ambitious person with a very strong commitment to work.

There are internal competitions, but the getting 'stuck in a rut' may effect her morale. Disability makes no difference, useless you want to be a customs office dog handler or something. She might want to use CAF (decentralisation online facility) to move to the department of her choice or she might arrange an internal shift or restricted (to civil servants) promotion. By the sounds of it the Auditor General (become a qualified auditor), Dept. Finance (Administrative office (1st level policy creator) with the budget) or the Revenue Commissioners (inspector of taxes) is probably her best route. She can always take up to two sets of sabbitical (five years max. a piece) to make a go of it in private practice if the work becomes limited. But at least they try and move people around a little after every two years if she wants.

I also recommend that if she does go for it and is over 25 that she buys her pensionable years within the first 6 months i.e. if she is 30 she can buy 5 years. She must do this asap as HR are usually starring at their own ass or give the wrong info. Take a nice fixed loan if necessary while the rates are lowish as it will be worth her while to do it now. NIB on baggot str has a preferential rate for unionised civil servants so open a new account there and only there (its because they are close to Kildare street and have the best relationship with the service). And Danske bank are quite together now that NAB sold NIB.

Jo King

If she can stick the Civil Service it is a no brainer. The Civil Service pension benefits are second to none. There is a effectively a virtual pension fund created for every civil servant. The value of it depends on the salary on retirement. The value of a middle ranking civil servant's pension fund is in the order of €350K, given that the pension payments are updated annually in line with the pay of serving staff. How much of a pension will her current employer provide? The security of tenure and sick pay benefits are also second to none. Every Civil Servant will rise up the incremental scales over time and will if any way competent secure promotion from time to time. The only drawback is that one has to be able to tolerate inanity on a gargantuan scale. Stupidity and civil service management go hand in hand.

yabadabado

everyone starts on the same payscale around 22k.increments once a year plus the usual national payrise.so/eo exams evry year if she is ambitious she will get promoted easily enough but there is a big risk of getting stuck in a rut.the pension is the real bonus on retirement she wud get a lump sum of 1 and a half times her salary plus a pension of half her pay she finished on plus the gov. old age pension. as for her disability it will be of no setback to her in the cs

yabadabado

great point Treora anyone over 25 this is a must it will be brought up by hr only once in a blue moon.i think there is a way of getting a little bit more taken from ur wages to cover the missed years rather than get a loan.by the way stay away from the union they are a pure joke waste of money and most civil servants will tell u this unless they r involved and they pushing for new members